Kinijit

The Candle that is Burning on Both Ends

As my mother used to say, “Eyerotu Yetatekut, Eyerotu Yifetal” which loosely translated means, “What was Done on-the-go, gets Undone on-the-go”!  Already, the vocal Diaspora appears to have run out of steam and momentum like a con athlete whose steroids have suddenly been taken away from him. So much for a party that was built in haste on a foundation of hate to topple a government through noise, lies and deceit!

Kinijit did not have the time and principle, nor were they capable or willing to put-up with the sacrifice and dedication, required to stay in the game of politics and win fairly and squarely.  Instead, they opted for a short cut and devised a risky plan to bring the government down by inducing pressure both from within and outside the country.  They decided to accuse the government of stealing the election long before the election date.  They lied to the world about the nature of the Ethiopian government.  Now that all the truth has surfaced, they appear to be suffering from their own self-inflicted wounds and burning on both ends, rejected both in Ethiopia and increasingly by their own supporters outside the country.  Not to mention the internal in fights over politics and money that is hopelessly destroying the party.

In carrying out their actions, little did the opposition realize that it takes more than just noise and hate to overthrow a regime that was not created overnight like Kinijit!  It is rather naïve to assume that a party that fought for over 17 years to come to power and an experienced and hardened regime that has showed its resiliency fighting the Derg, EPRP, EDU, EPLF, ELF and many others will suddenly melt down and become water under the bridge. They underestimated the TPLF when they were members of the Derg-they did it again now!  It is clear that they have neither learned from their past mistakes nor have they, as the typical old dogs, learned new tricks.  They also violated the most basic principle of a fight by underestimating the opponent (an enemy in their case).  It can be said that they are not alone in this regard as the EPRDF was also less prepared for the results their opponents displayed in the elections and the public relations damage they inflicted on them.

Kinijit failed mostly because of its own internal weaknesses and miscalculations.  I’m sure the EPRDF has no qualms about that.  However, it is apparent that in the process of its downward spiral, Kinijit has also succeeded in damaging the reputation and image of the government in Ethiopia.  This is mostly because, to its credit, the vocal Diaspora effectively campaigned against the government but also partly because the government was caught with its pants down when it came to public relations (PR).  The government and its supporters failed to carry out an organized PR, lobbying and campaign not just to counter these elements but also to work proactively to promote abroad the democratization and economic progress in Ethiopia.   EPRDF has survived and dusted off the propaganda onslaught by Kinijit and others for now and donors and NGOs appear to be slowly returning to the pre-election status quos. 

But I hope there is a lesson for everyone here:

Everyone, including his enemies, would agree that Mr. Meles is an intelligent man bordering a genius.  Ironically, however, he has repeatedly showed in the past that he can be naïve as well. Case and point is allowing some of his and the county’s past enemies to run for office and expect them to abide by the rule.  He also fails to recognize that politics is not always about doing the right thing but often times doing what the people want – telling people what they want to hear and appeasing them.

In the last couple of years, there were many actions by Kinijit that were easy to describe but hard to explain.  Chief among them was their weakness of treating everyone who disagreed with them or even people who are politically neutral as their arch enemies.  It is hard to imagine of a more fatal position to take in politics.

Some basic rules of engagement my help in the future: no short cuts, no underestimating the opponent, no hate based politics and no remote-controlled politics!  Hopefully the tainted old dogs will stay away from politics for good and give a chance to those unbiased young people who can still think clearly for the sake of the country.  And the people should not be discouraged and should continue to vote in future elections.  Remember, bad governments are elected by good people who don’t vote.

God Bless Ethiopia!

October 16, 2006

Tesfaye

Toronto, Canada