Lobbysts are defined in answers

Contemporary Colonization and HR2003

Lobbyists, I believe, have no conscious. The US History Encyclopedia defines Lobbies[i], “[G]groups of individuals acting for themselves or others who seek to influence the decisions of government officials…their tactics range from such high-pressure techniques as bribery, threats of electoral retaliation…” And the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia defines bribe[ii] as, “crime of giving a benefit (e.g., money) in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust…” Could money influence the decisions of congressmen? Are there similarities between lobbying and bribing to influence ones decision? If lobbyists are defined as above, can we say with confidence any Bill that is heavily lobbied is genuine. Let the reader judge.

The Diaspora lobbyist may finally succeeded with HR2003 to allow the American Congressmen pass a Bill to systemically drag and quash the infant democracy in Ethiopia. How did American democracy flourished? Was it because of a pressure from unknown big-brother out of the space? The American democracy has taken more than two centuries to mature. Even today, there are so many deficiencies in America’s practice of democracy; you may find those by reading books on “Gag orders.”

Before examining the intent of HR2003, let’s examine the recent Ethiopian political history. The current Ethiopian government is the only government that created an Ethiopian constitution in consultation with all Ethiopian nations and nationalities. The only government that promoted the rights of nations and nationalities to govern themselves. The only government that has introduced a multi-party system. The only government that has registered a double digit economic growth. The only government that has more or less implemented affirmative action such as having an equal representation of various religious, ethnic, gender, and other groups in ministerial or government positions.

Now, let’s briefly examine the opposition groups. My focus is on Coalition for Unity and Democracy which is disintegrating beyond recognition as I speak. This group does not recognize the equality of nations and nationalities. Most of its vocal members are naïve Diaspora supporters and emerging wanna-be politicians. Their financial backers are ex-Derg members, feudals, Eritrea, and powerful scholars who are oblivious about Ethiopian current affairs. Examining the composition of the CUD executive members, it is dominated by a single ethnic and religious group. For instance, on September 22, 2007 a Radio Abisinia[iii] audience asked Engineer Haile (CUD leader) why his party failed to embrace Muslims as part of his executive members while more than 40% of Ethiopian are Muslims. His answer was, “that was a mistake, and we will correct it.” Can you imaging, if CUD was in power what would happen to Ethiopia today? God is watching us. The other dangerous manifesto of CUD is to scrap the rights of nations and nationalities in the name of one Ethiopia one language. This party advocates for UNITY and DEMOCRACY. In the name of UNITY and DEMOCRACY, the leaders are fighting for personal glorification and power. This is an open secret. If they cannot solve their differences in democratic manner how could we say that those people are democrats. The executive members defied and humiliated their leader. They are squabbling over the fund raised by Diaspora supporters. They are confused as to identifying their constituency: the Diaspora or Ethiopians. I will, however, give them credits. Their refusal to join parliament, though it was an insult to the Ethiopian constitution, sent a wakeup call to the ruling party. After the election, the ruling party has championed many changes to National Election Board, Parliamentary procedures, and others. One may argue, could these changes be achieved without the opposition refusal to join parliament. I strongly believe yes, they would have been achieved through parliamentary discussions and debates. And this would have been exhibited as historically significant democratic progress.

Let’s examine HR2003 and its application. HR2003 is claimed to promote democracy and good governance in Ethiopia. Not really!! HR2003 is a vehicle designed by ex-Dergs, feudals, Eritrean regime, and naïve politicians to undermine Ethiopian Sovereignty and achieve the following goals

1. To build the Diaspora politicians ego so that they would become famous and considered people who struggled for Ethiopian Democracy. Why would people sale their pride for ego?

2. VOA[iv] said, “Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher proposed an amendment calling for the return of seized property of U.S. citizens of Ethiopian descent.” So who is behind this proposal the Congressman or others? Why should the congressman care about this?

3. According to VOA[v] the bill is also aimed to expand the VOA broadcasting services to Ethiopia. Well, most of us know very well how biased the VOA Amharic service is to the ruling party. So who is behind the expansion of VOA? Have you heard of the VOA appreciating the ruling party or talking about positive developments in Ethiopia other than promoting the naïve Diaspora politicians agenda or even worse, being a mouth peace of the Eritrean regime, OLF, and ONLF.

4. We know that democracy cannot be imposed by foreigners. You cannot force people to be like you. Interfering in other countries internal affairs is illegal according to the UN charter. Isn’t passing the HR2003 infringe upon the sovereignty of Ethiopia? Ok, let’s say, America considers Ethiopia as its strongest ally in fighting terrorism, shouldn’t America assist Ethiopia in building democracy other than threatening to punish Ethiopia if it doesn’t follow American ideology. I hope the US President sends the HR2003 bill to the garbage bin. I am afraid that HR2003 will insert a wedge between USA and Ethiopia spoiling the existing cordial relationship. Who would be jokingly laughing at this Bill? Of course, not the Ethiopian poor peasants, not the American people nor congressmen but the only anti-ruling party Diaspora politicians.

Observation:

1. The bill threatens that Ethiopian officials will be denied visa to enter USA or the international community. Wake up congressmen, there are other important issues in the world to worry than Ethiopia. If you believe Ethiopia is undemocratic, then what would you say about Eritrea, Venezuela, China, Cuba, Russia, and others. Can you really stand your ground and say, “No US visa to Chinese diplomats?” What about Eritrea, why don’t you take action when a number of journalists and citizens are suffering and dieing in “Oven temperature containers?” What about Eritrea’s strong commitment to support well-known terrorist figures? This bill is an insult to Ethiopian citizens. You are telling us what best works for our country.

2. Whether this bill is signed by the President or not, it will not affect Ethiopian economic or social fabrics. Ethiopia will never go back to the dark ages of the Derg or the Emperors era. The Nations and Nationalists have already tested freedom. I would encourage you to visit those Ethiopian Nations and Nationalists and get the true pictures about Ethiopia.

3. I believe that America has so many enemies in the Middle East. I would advice a few congressmen to work diligently to defuse the animosity in the Middle East rather than fueling, forcing, and fabricating new enemies to the land of many dreams, America. Passing HR2003 is tantamount to contemporary colonization. As an Ethiopian, I would like to see the Bill buried 6 feet under. The Bill would do more harm than good. It has no force. For argument sake, what if the Ethiopian government says, hey congressmen, keep your money we will do what we believe is the best for Ethiopia. Then what? Who is going to suffer the officials or the people? Couldn’t the congressmen learn from Zimbabwe? In the Zimbabwean situation, it wasn’t the officials that got penalized but the poor people.

4. Many congressmen are true to American people. They work day-in and day-out for their constituencies not for aliens; they are very intelligent with unbiased viewpoints. A few cannot think “outside the box” as long as lobbyists come with attractive offers that they cannot refuse.

5. HR2003 is no different from colonization. I mean a long-distance colonization that does not require physical presence to enslave the good people of Ethiopia. I say, “No to HR2003.”

6. I would also like to express my disappointment at the ruling party for failing to squash HR2003 through lobbying. Since I have difficult understanding the difference between lobbying and bribing, I will call it lobbying to be on the safe side. The ruling party should have matched or surpassed the amount lobbied by Diaspora politicians, though it is unethical.

HR2003 is a paper. If passed will have no significant impact on Ethiopia. Considering, the Ethiopian economic, democratic, and social progress, this bill other than satisfying opposition egos will fail to effect an iota change in Ethiopian politics.

Diaspora politicians are welcomed to go back to serve their country, unless they have committed serious crimes. If they have, the only way they can do that is if there is a regime change. That is not going to happen for their life time. Instead of spending too much money on lobbying, they could have raised funds for schools, books, media equipments, AIDS, and others that are in dire needs in Ethiopian.

Not every one in Diaspora is a supporter of CUD. There are a number silent majority supporting the ruling party. Diaspora CUD supporters have one common interest: their hate to the ruling party and THAT IS IT. The ruling party supporters are behind this party because of its

□ introduction of multi-party system (though not perfect),

□ creation of the Ethiopian constitution,

□ recognition of the rights of nations and nationalities,

□ focus on eradicating poverty and backwardness

□ commitment to lift the peasants, that is 85% of the population, from poverty

□ reduction of the military budget so as to focus on economic development

□ dedication to create regional peace and stability

□ and others

The following are the result of the ruling party’s effort:

□ a double digit economic growth

□ the empowerment of nations and nationalities ability to govern themselves

□ the peaceful coexistence with neighbors; Some may argue that there are no peace with Somalia and Eritrea. Ethiopia is at peace with the legitimate transitional government of Somalia. In Eritrean case, Ethiopia is showing the utmost restrain.

□ the growing number of bilateral and trilateral agreements with various country diplomats.

□ the improvement and building of new infrastructure: roads, irrigation dams, electric power, telecommunication, buildings, and others

□ the attraction of Diaspora to invest in their home country

□ the entertainment of various view points in the house of parliament

□ the continuous effort to improve Ethiopia’s image world wide. Changing the image of starvation to tourist attraction, from the land of desert to the land of green, etc.

Having said that there is an important point that the ruling party has failed/showed reluctance to implements:

□ Opening up the media for all parties on equal ground. I fully understand why the media is not open to all parties, it could be the fact that some people have difficult understanding their journalistic rights and obligations. For the sake of freedom of speech, they may instigating hostility among ethnics, religious, or political parties. Nevertheless, the media should soon be accessible for all political parties. All parties should be liable for actions that are detrimental to the well being of the nation.

My questions to the respectable Congressman Donald Payne, can you deny the above facts of achievement by the ruling party? Certainly, a person of your caliber should have recognized those achievements and came to the conclusion that Ethiopia is in the right track to democracy and leave it at that. God Bless You.

Haile B.

Sep 28, 2007