Let Us begin The New Millennium With National Reconciliation.

A little over a year ago, right after the May, '05 election, on this very website (July '05 editions of Aigaforum and EthiopiaFirst) I wrote an article titled "SCORCHED EARTH OUTCOME IS NOT THE SOLUTION FOR THE PRESENT POLITICAL STALEMATE" It was an appeal to the government as well as the opposition parties to regroup and reflect as to what is at stake; that of the very soul, unity and future of our country.

Subsequent events proved to my worst fears. It was a historical blunder and miscalculation by the leaders of the opposition to push the protest to the point where it ended up. If they had taken their seats in the Parliament and taken over the Addis administration and use these podium as the bully pulpit to garner local support as well as international recognition and also to implement their political agenda they could have become a formidable opposition based on their record of performance, with potential threat of government take over through the next round of election.

No body said elections are fair even in the most advanced democracy; Bush literally stole the last election from Gore. We also remember how quickly Gore bowed out, because he realized the prize of winning is not greater than price of leaving a divided country.

That is what happened then; today the challenges are fighting poverty, AIDS and terrorist within and outside. These are enormous tasks and require every Ethiopians involvement.

To achieve these goals we should start by healing the nation. In my humble opinion the ball is in Mr. Meles's park. He can demonstrate great statesmanship by taking the following actions:

1) Form a committee made up of religious leaders, members of the opposition, government representatives, ordinary citizens and community leaders to come up with a recommendation whereby a lasting national reconciliation which will lead to the release of the jailed political leaders. By jailing the opposition leaders you are also incarcerating every one of the people that voted for them.

2) The opposition should accept the results of the last election and take their seats in Parliament as loyal opposition members and take over the Addis administration.

3) Organize and train youth groups that will act as Ethiopian version of Peace Corps, representing all ethnic groups to campaign and promote Ethiopiawinet through out Ethiopia to each Woreda and Kebele level. Details can be worked out.

4) Support the present Federal form of Government but also institute key elements that would enhance national unity at the same time nourish and encourage the rich culture, languages and traditions of the various ethnic groups that make up this great nation. One such unifying element is the use of a single national language for administrative and educational use. It should be mandatory to learn in each community academic curriculum that community's representative language.

It's already cast in stone that the Amharic language is the linguafranca of the nation. The benefits of such policy are incalculable. The flow of information in the use of a single language through the Internet. The merchant in Addis can easily communicate with his counter part in Gambella using a language that both can understand. The flow of information from the Federal government down to the Woreda level will be faster and understandable. It can also create a very efficient judiciary and local administration.

This will bring me to my last comment which deals with the so called opposition leaders with in the Ethiopian Diaspora. I want Mr. Melees to know these guys are totally irrelevant to the current history of Ethiopian politics. For some of these guys time has stood still back in the early seventies. They are pathological narcissists who feed into each others ego. They will travel cost to cost to be among their cohorts and their usual to make their obligatory political speeches and yet you can invite them next door to participate for an AIDS fund-raising event they would not show up. They have shamefully undermined the causes of legitimate political organization such as CUD by claiming to be their representatives abroad. They have allied themselves with organizations who would like to see the demise of Ethiopia as a nation. They even glorify through their web sites the killings of Ethiopians and distractions of properties by terrorist they have befriended and have no clue of the realities on the ground in Ethiopia because most of them have not been back home in years. They claim to represent the Ethiopian community in US and Europe and it's a lie and they know it. They represent themselves in their egotistical minds a small circle their Friends. Their days begin and end spreading hatred and unfounded lies.

The vast majority of Ethiopians are hard working who love their country help their family members back home and make annual pilgrimage to Ethiopia because they love their country. Most of us would like to help and see Ethiopia breakaway from the grinding poverty, disease and illiteracy and we believe we will.

Let the healing begin

Demissew Gedamu

Dec 4, 2006