Tedla Asfaw
I watched Ato Tamagen Beyene two and half hours interview in Amharic, the producer of twenty four hours of Ethiopian Television(ETN), the first of its kind, on Abugida TV and was entertaining and informative to those of us who did not know him back home. He is frustrated like many of us in the Diaspora by the old way of politics, "you either follow me or you are my enemy".
Ato Tamagen's call to work together for common cause narrowing our differences for the good of our people and country has been advocated by others in the last sixteen years without using the Amharic equivalent, "Mechachal Yechalal" with no success.
Moreover, "Yechalal" has also been a famous slogan of Athlete Haile Gebreselasse in the last ten years to challenge himself and motivate our athletes with tremendous success. Ato Tamagen similar to Haile Gebreselasse tried to challenge our politicians using his TV power that the old way of politics has to change and the younger generation has to learn from the failed "follow me or you are my enemy" way of politics that has been proven wrong in our sixteen years of experience.
Ato Tamagen was deeply hurt by the passing away of his father following the stolen election of May 2005 and I too cried with him like others who were there on that hall because I have also a ninety three old father who is hopping to see me one day and that day surely is getting longer and longer and I know that time is not on my side too.
Tamagen was not only crying for his father but he was also weeping for mother Ethiopia who is now bleeding and surviving on borrowed time unless her children find cure by "Mechachal Yechalal" before TPLF/EPRDF time bomb take us all together.
I hope Ato Tamagen's message will reach to our politicians who are dispersed all over the continent and make "Mechachal Yechalal" a reality and save our people and country. Ethiopians have shown in their last stolen election of 2005 that they are ready and the ball is now in the politicians court.
