Whenever there are elections staged in any country, voters inevitably begin to look around in search of potential candidates for the seats that are contended. What usually determines these choices is the approach the candidates show towards addressing the most impellent issues of the public.
The public chooses their representatives because they have faith in their work and hope that they will contribute towards seeking and finding solutions to the problems the public are tormented by.
The next question during this forthcoming election would be to identify what the core issues could be in which people are most interested? What issues lie at the heart of these voters that bother them and to which they seek effective solutions? Voters of course are hopeful that the newly elected representatives that are bound to form a new government of the people will be genuinely sincere enough to work hard to address the problems pressing the public.
There are people who are heard arguing: Let us leave alone the question Will there be a government duly elected by the votes of the public in the first place, given that our past practice shows that little has been achieved in this exercise? Let us leave aside the readiness of the public to afford utmost trust to the upcoming electoral process given there have emerged a plethora of factors that have distracted the public. Many are even inclined to questioning the need to go to the polls at this particular juncture of our history given that they feel the urgency of first addressing the multiple, pressing challenges the country is faced with before proceeding any further.
Others however assert that it is for this specific reason that we need to form a strong and legally mandated government through elections so that it can have the authority and legitimacy to adopt all the necessary measures the country needs to implement.
Be that as it may, we can still see what these potential issues are tabled for discussion. Many people understand or estimate that these upcoming elections are decisive in the history of the country more than in any other periods. They say they have the power to change the way we look at ourselves, because they have the potential to be a game changer.
If we can carry out the election in a peaceful, free and fair environment, its credibility could be out of question and the results could the real, true choice of the voters. In other words, the fate of the country could be better determined in a way that has never been the case previously.
We all agree that all five preceding elections had their serious flaws and serious credibility issues and the confidence people had in them was not that reliable.
This time around many people were inclined to believe that things might have changed given some of the circumstances in which the polls are to be conducted. Dismissing for the moment the concerns raised earlier, what do people expect from this election and how do they prepare themselves to accept the outcome? Do they consider the process worthwhile and commensurate to the expectations they had in much earlier days?
It must be taken into serious consideration that the dynamics of our political environment changes continuously given the various developments we have been witnessing during the past three years.
The governments popularity at the beginning of the reform period was at its peak and everyone was enthusiastic about the leadership and the results prospected. But in due time, things have been evolving into a direction whereby a sizeable population began to have reservations on certain issues and how they were faced. As more and more challenges sprang being borne from the various problems of the country, new and up to date responses were expected from citizens.
In politics disagreements are healthy and normal as long as they are faced with sincerity and good faith and the discussions are held in a healthy, legal and respectful environment. Recourse to threats or use of force is condemned and should not be in the play book of the game. Hence, whenever disagreements cropped up attempts must have been made to iron them out through peaceful exchange of views and arguments.
However, not always have we witnessed these procedures respected or implemented. It could be the result of our coming from a poor culture of political compromises and the win-lose mentality that we have come to adopt across the decades. This has hurt our political culture and tradition and blocked it from growing to a more respectful level. That is why one should not be surprised if people are skeptical about political developments in the country and how the government tries to adapt to it.
The fact of the matter is that even among the ruling coalition there have cropped up every now and then disagreements and weaknesses that have resulted in reshuffles and changes of guards. What was even more serious however was the total fall out of one of the major players in the political field. Following the degenerating relations between the ruling coalition and this self isolated force, we have noted disastrous consequences followed endangering the very integrity of the country.
Not every crisis that emerged during the past three years could be attributed to the reformist government even if critics may have their own point of view. In all honesty, it would be not only unfair but also hard to attribute to the ruling party or government every problem and every crisis that happened to emerge, and even damage the country, and the population as a whole.
It is admitted that it is a relatively new administration and that it has been facing the huge pressure of the old guard, the old system that has kept hostage the country for thirty years. There are indications that it still continues to run much of the country in its intricate and complex bureaucracy at the grassroots level. And this is a huge challenge for the incumbent.
The corrupt system is still a clear reality to live with routinely, and not a drop of the reformist agenda has been observed in certain circles. This has clearly presented a huge and insurmountable challenge to the incumbent through the years passed. And it of course ends up eroding the confidence of people in the incumbent. May be that is the main objective of the forces that work to undermine not only the government but also the state itself.
The enemies of the country have been ganging up under various facets and denominations, using every platform available, through not only the media outlets they have been establishing for this specific purpose, but also through the social media and through other international outfits carefully orchestrated to exert all the influence they can including using professional lobbyists and communications experts.
All this has had the objective of undermining the image and credibility of the incumbent. They have tried to capitalize as much as they could on the perceived and true weaknesses of the government and the various leaders. The government of course has tried to match these attacks with its own means available such as spelling out all the challenges it had to face to carry out even the smallest of reforms and what sort and variety of forces were at play trying to discredit it. It was heard arguing that criticizing people who work is easier than engaging positively in some activity.
It has also consistently invited all forces to the table for discussions and seeking of solutions to the problems of the nation. But unfortunately most of its appeals have fallen to deaf ears!
It has also argued consistently that three years were a very short period to address adequately the age old problems of the country that have been piling up for decades. Doubtless there are various forces that have consistently been working against the initiatives of the government. To cite just one incident we have seen that even the security of the nation has been put in serious jeopardy after the fallout with the TPLF and its sympathizers.
Besides, the country also had to face the pressure of the international community while it was trying to restore law and order in the various parts of the country. At the same time, those who were waiting for such a moment to take advantage of the crisis situation, even neighbouring countries have been found to betray our trust and wage an attack on the countrys sovereignty.
Above all else the issue of the GERD has also been at the heart of the countrys priorities and this government has been fully engaged in carrying out the project in time, regardless of all extra crisis situations erupting here and there in an apparently systematic and deliberate manner. In fact, we have heard the leadership of the country insisting and underlining that there is nothing more pressing than keeping the momentum with the completion of the construction of this mega dam which is also the hope of all Ethiopians. In this regard the support on the part of the nationals has also been a disappointment to the enemies of the project!
It is with such background that there have been doubts expressed by some quarters on the appropriateness of holding the elections and what is more, the recent dreadful and disgusting attacks carried out against innocent civilians in north Showa where people were attacked on the basis of merely their identity, has thrown the entire country into utter indignation and disgust.
The intention seems very clear and the damage has been incalculable even in human terms, let alone the very idea behind the attacks. There were indications that there have been multiple protagonists on these attacks and the apparent weakness of the relevant regional and federal authorities has led people to believe various theories of conspiracies and long term potential political games.
This is of course a very dangerous path to follow and can never be reconciled with the age old peaceful cohabitation between multiple and diverse communities in our country. It has always been the beauty of the country itself. It is one of the heritages that we were reputed for and worth transmitting to other nations as well with all the pride it begets. And yet there have been consistent devilish forces working to destroy such tradition and culture!
Hence, the question consistently comes up, How does the election fit in this scenario and would it not lose its grace given what sort of agony our citizens are made to undergo and how can anyone in good conscious even think of elections when their very survival is put at risk or, there are threats of attacks for no other reason than belonging to this ethnic group or to that religious background? This is a question that torments every conscious and responsible citizen and a pressing question to be addressed in unequivocal terms.
This brings us to the question is there full readiness not only on the part of citizens but even on the part of the authorities that are expected to prepare the grounds for the election?
No one is ready to deny that the country is faced with multiple challenges. Beside the mission in the north of the country where there seems to persist resistance and millions are accorded emergency assistance, there persist multiple security threats in various parts of the country, where so called opposition forces are ganging up to disrupt the stability of the nation. That is what many fear arguing that the chance of holding peaceful, free, and fair elections may be put at risk. These are persistent questions that come and go in the mind of millions in the country.
But even beyond these concerns there are certain questions that need to be looked in terms of finding out if and whether there is any trust and confidence in people when they think of elections in general and in this election scheduled for the beginning of June, in particular.
How much trust people have in elections that are to be carried out under the current circumstances is a very complex issue because it has something to do with our basic principles, tenets and beliefs as well as our historical precedents. People are often heard saying politicians are liars and there is nothing they change for our sake but for their own convenience. How many times have we taken part in elections and we never obtained what we wanted, they say. We never obtained what we wanted; we never changed the incumbent because the elections may have been skewed the way politicians on power wanted.
In Ethiopia people are accustomed to taking it as predictable even if disappointing. The past experiences they lived were all by and large disappointing because the results ended up being predictably in favour of the incumbent.
But while the expectation of many is to find out if there could be alternative forces coming to office or things somehow changing for the better, and while the real reason for holding elections is to choose between alternative forces or organisations or politicians etc. what we have regularly and consistently found out has always been more of the same. The question millions pose is Will this be any different?
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald April 29/2021
