When Is Tomorrow?

Desta Berhe

05/04/2008

In this short commentary, Alula demanded EPRDFites to transform themselves to avoid defeat by ‘parties of tomorrow’ in their own game. I argued in this article that EPRDF is on the right track and needs no transformation. However, it is helpful to provide some insight about the kinds of games ‘the parties of tomorrow’ should play to help us deduce the nearest year for those parties to become real challengers of EPRDF—to figure out the ‘tomorrow’ when EPRDFites are beaten by their own games.

Apparently, any political party needs to make sufficient preparations to build its capacity to get into political contention. Hence, the question of time becomes important. In our case, how much time does a certain party need to make all necessary preparations to be able to match EPRDF? This question leads us to another important question: what are the areas of preparations? Therefore, based on the areas of preparations and the schedules of the Ethiopian election, we can fairly confidently indicate the reasonable time for the coming of dependable opposition parties; i.e. we can tell when really ‘tomorrow’ is.

Here are the real games opposition political parties had to play to challenge EPRDF. Even though these games look like trivial to-do lists, they are the ones lacking within the opposition parties.

A. Build Party Capacity

(a) Develop and disseminate a political program.

(b) Develop and disseminate policies and strategies to run the Nation.

(c) Undertake periodic capacity building activities.

(d) Demonstrate democratic, accountable, and transparent functioning.

(e) Have a sound understanding of the details of the Ethiopian polity.

(f) Have a sound understanding of regional and global geopolitics.

B. Make Grassroots Movement

(a) Open offices and obtain supporters all over the Nation.

(b) Recruit members and train party cadres all over the Nation.

(c) Represent the NNPs equitably and meaningfully.

(d) Understand specific needs of each of the NNPs.

C. Make Peace with EPRDF

(a) Respect the Constitution with no ifs and if nots.

(b) Understand EPRDF’s policies, strategies, and their justifications.

(c) Identify the policies of EPRDF that are similar to theirs and play unrestricted supportive role to implement those policies.

(d) Dissociate themselves from and reject EPRDF’s traditional foes.

(e) Avoid any tendency of scoring cheap points on EPRDF’s limitations due to inherited national, regional, and global geo-politics.

(f) Honor and respect EPRDF’s efforts and successes of Nation building.

(g) Work with EPRDF’s on shared National issues, e.g. promoting democratization, and economic and political empowerment of the Peoples; defending the Nation’s peace, stability, and sovereignty; fostering effective, efficient and ethical bureaucracy; promoting and popularizing of national image, etc

(h) Standby EPRDF in defending the Nation’s interests and security.

I am not sure about what Alula meant by ‘game’ when he said ‘the let us beat them in their game’. But, AIGA Editors’ introductory remark implies the ‘game’ to mean ‘playing by the rule’. Here, one thing can be confidently said. It is not ‘playing by the rule’ that is important. It is the game that is important. Once we came up with the sort of games that can lead us to victory, we make use of the rules to play our games. Incidentally, the rules are already in place to help us develop the kind of games we can play.

Thus, if Alula was talking about playing by laws and regulations as indicated in the Constitution and other laws and regulations of the Nation, I would say that those are the rules that permit any of us to exercise similar rights. Playing by those rules and regulations is not a matter of choice. It is ‘all or none’. And a mere adherence to those rules and procedures is simply respecting a legal procedure. Respecting a legal procedure without playing the real game cannot bring about any victory. Hence, the real challenge can only come from opposition parties who play a good game. And the to-do lists of a good game, in our case, are indicated above (A, B and C).

This is not an attempt to make the jobs of opposition ‘parties of tomorrow’ look so tough. There is no easy way for them to be qualified to secure the trust of the Peoples and pose a real challenge to EPRDF. Unless we opt to believe that the opposition parties can have short cut paths for victory, making the above preparations and registering tangible successes require a whole lot of time. It is helpful to see the chances of opposition parties in relation to the National election schedule. Well, 2010 is gone. Then, 2015 will be a year for any opposition parties to test their performance to be counted as reliable for a real competition in 2020 (new generation of EPRDFites and oppositions of same generation). Thus, in theory, a party that has the readiness and the capacity to run a dependable political business to be counted as a real alternative needs 12 years from now. (I know this is like waiting for the return of Haley Comet to the old guard).

By that time, the political consciousness of the Peoples will be higher, thus becomes more challenging and demanding. In the process, EPRDFites pass through a real life test of 12 years, become stronger and more dependable, and gain more support both in scope and scale. Several issues that are the sources of political contention today will be less important by then. Thus, not only EPRDFites will get stronger and better, but also their jobs will be easier to be even more formidable to opposition ‘parties of tomorrow’. Thus, the ‘tomorrow’ when EPRDFites get beaten by any sort of game is too far.