BY FITSUM GETACHEW
At last a new government has been inaugurated in Ethiopia and we now have a prime minister and council of ministers that are bound to administer the country for the coming five years legitimately. To those who have been arguing that Ethiopia cannot have a legitimate government but needs to form one with a quantity of groups and forces that are dreaming to be part of what they call a transitional government. But it was clear that the Prosperity Party had no appetite for such fairy tale which had the intention of dismantling the country to meet the demands of our enemies for whom these forces have been apparently working. What these forces forget or deny bluntly is that Ethiopia is not a country created by some colonial power and cannot be broken up to suit the whims and caprices of whoever thinks to influence or worse still to determine its destiny.
Similarly, there was the wish by these enemies of Ethiopia who have been forecasting that regional governments could not be formed either. But again they were served with disappointment because all regions have carried out their meetings and formed their regional councils selecting their department heads. After months of uncertainties and dissemination of fake news and reports, the country can now look forward with a certain confidence and try and tackle the multiple problems it is faced with. The premier has already begun meeting with his new council members and gave them a first orientation explaining to them that they should forget about the authority they come to have but use it to serve honestly the people.
What we would like to focus in this piece is however on the implications of the inaugural ceremony and how it has given not only acceptance by African leaders but also legitimacy to the premier and splendour on the country when they expressed their admiration for the history of Ethiopia and how it is a model for other African countries.
Since the reform movement began and a new government took over dismissing most of the members of the previous administration that have been reigning for decades, Ethiopia was forced to navigate in uncertain waters and uncharted territory with more shades than lights, particularly because of not only TPLF and its allies but also due to undesired and undue foreign interference.
Many observers believe that TPLF without the encouragement and support of foreign elements would not have resisted this much to the counter attack of the Ethiopian defense forces, once it has dared to unleash its treacherous assault in November 2020. Some even argue that TPLF unleashed its attack against the Northern Command confident that it would prevail supported by its foreign allies, mostly declared enemies of Ethiopia.
It is evident that given the geopolitical situation in which Ethiopia finds itself, at the edge of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea as well as Gulf of Aden area, there is a lot of focus on what may go on in the country. Every country around the Horn has a stake in what takes place in Ethiopia because if there is instability or some sort of division among Ethiopians they would like to have a role in whatever government may emerge victorious or whatever breakaway state may emerge in the event of a ‘balkanization’ of the country.
Fortunately for Ethiopians, and unfortunately for rivals and enemies, Ethiopia has avoided with glowing success this tragic eventuality. Its citizens are even more united than before and are showing their resolve against any form of negative foreign influence on the country. Hence some say the TPLF attack could be used as a blessing in disguise because Ethiopians may once and for all have the opportunity to do away with this sinister force that has created so much havoc and distress on the citizens of the country over the past five long decades!
Given the apparent precarious condition of the Abiy government before the holding of the June 2021 election, there were several voices trying to determine the destiny of Ethiopia in their own way, to suit their plans. Depending on which side they may be several forces have been presenting their own solutions for the future of the country. Those who were against the Abiy government were insisting that the June election was not constitutional and hence there was need to form a sort of ‘inclusive transitional government’ with all political forces. There were others who did not accept whatever solution the Abiy government may suggest but have him leave office and new negotiations be carried out with all stakeholders! All these were of course mere conjectures aimed to destabilize the country, confuse the international community and simultaneously try to prepare the ground for fishing in troubled waters.
Once the TPLF declared war on the federation the suggestions that the illegal Tigray administration be recognized and possibly be a part of the federal arrangement was out of question. After the Ethiopian parliament declared TPLF a terrorist organisation, there was no chance that TPLF be considered a force. Being illegal and banned it could only be brought to justice to account for all the crimes it has committed against the Ethiopian people!
What is however perplexing is that no international body or even government dared to speak badly or negatively about TPLF while taking all the pain to repeatedly present negative accounts on what Ethiopia has been doing or condemn the Federal government for alleged crimes despite the fact that they did know that Ethiopia was at the receiving end of the heinous attacks extremist TPLF forces caused on its command. They also knew that heinous crimes were committed against innocent and poor civilians including clergy, children and women!
In any case, all these developments were totally covered by the newly inaugurated government and the day was glorified even more by the presence of various African leaders who not only blessed the ceremony with their best wishes for the new government but also for the country as a whole recognizing the special circumstances it is found in. Their sense of solidarity was palpable.
What many were heard remarking however was the low profile or even glaring absence of Ethiopia’s traditional long term allies at the ceremony. The question suggested was ‘was it a way of disapproval of what is going on in the country or a reaction to the expulsion of the UN high officials who the government has reported to have found meddling in its internal affairs? Little is known about what may be going on behind the curtain in terms of diplomacy; but the hope is that these hostile forces ‘come to their senses’ and engage constructively with Ethiopia which is not an insignificant minor entity but a huge force in the Horn of Africa in particular, and Africa in general.
For Ethiopians the government has taken the right measures when it reasserted the principle that ‘no one can interfere in the internal affairs of the country with the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid’ and the siding of many of these forces with the terrorist TPLF has been discovered with evidence at hand. There was no choice for the government but the expulsion of all those who continued to disregard the sovereign rights of Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government has declared that it had to take this bold step because it is committed to the sovereign rights of Ethiopia and despite its needs for emergency aid and despite the fact that it relies heavily on foreign support to sustain its economy, there can be no compromise on sovereignty. And this has been applauded by its citizens.
Ethiopian history tells us that Ethiopians do not have a tradition of bowing to foreign intervention or invasion and even if it is a poor country that may need the support of these rich western countries, it cannot however kneel down to their blackmail. That is what has been clearly reiterated by the new Ethiopian government and the presence of several African leaders at the ceremony was very symbolic in this sense.
Ethiopia now needs to rely on its own forces and for that there are sacrifices to be paid and the people are ready for that. TPLF and its allies are destined to be done away with once and for all because there is the realization that there can be no peace in Ethiopia while TPLF exists. It tries to disrupt the lives of millions with its hate propaganda and false and venomous narratives! Countries that have tried to side with this terrorist organisation will come to realize that they are making serious historical mistakes and going against the will of 110 million people can never have success in the long run.
The African heads of state that were present at the inauguration of the new Ethiopian government have given full support to the sovereignty of Ethiopia. They wished that the situation get stabilized soon because some uncertainties reflect negatively even on their countries. The hidden message is ‘When Ethiopia catches cold, Africa sneezes’. They seem to have realized that the threat TPLF presents can spread even to their countries. Many of them have characterized Ethiopia as ‘mother of Africa’ and that anything negative happening to it does affect them as well.
Talking about the full mandate the premier has received from the people of Ethiopia, they said they reiterated their confidence in his leadership. They have fully embraced the new government and appreciated the efforts by Ethiopia to resolve the issue peacefully. Moreover, they have underlined the difficulty of the challenges, but they said they would be by the side of Abiy in this endeavour.
Their presence has not only added to the solemnity of the celebration but also transmitted a clear and loud message in support of Ethiopia. It was a sort of vote of confidence given by these leaders who craved for a more stable and stronger Ethiopia.
Every leader who addressed the audience was warmly applauded for their positive remarks and best wishes to Ethiopians. They all underlined that they were cognizant of the dire situation in which Ethiopia finds itself given particularly the kind of sanctions that certain countries were threatening. The leaders have also expressed their best wishes that the situation would soon return to normal.
Ethiopia knows that the first big homework is to end the war with TPLF with full and unequivocal success. Then there should be the stabilization of the region with some sort of acceptable administration by liberating citizens from the grips and terror of TPLF. Side by side, the rehabilitation and renormalization of the lives of millions will be a very difficult task. Rebuilding of what has been deliberately destroyed by the terrorists will be a very hard mission and needs the collaboration of all good-willed governments and international aid organisations across the world.
Last but not least, the government needs to settle its diplomatic row with certain hostile foreign forces using wise and patient diplomacy, including its knowhow and experience so that things will return to previous levels. In this sense, we need to review our relations with not only the US but also the EU and other states that have shown a tendency to be on the wrong side of history. Trying to twist the arms of the Ethiopian government to accept as legal a terrorist organisation that has brought havoc and destruction wherever it went should be not only condemned unequivocally, but it should also be admitted that the mistake of not doing it was very serious, uncharacteristic of these governments!
A country such as Ethiopia with all its historical accolades and its past accomplishments in the international sphere cannot be treated on the same level with a terrorist group such as TPLF just because it happened to stay in power for years. That condition is now not sustainable and Ethiopians have now taken their sovereignty back, ousting this usurper. The past several months have shown the true nature of TPLF to all those who did not know it. The newly inaugurated government has made it its slogan ‘new beginnings’ and people expect it to abide by its words and promises.
The Ethiopian Herald October 14/2021
