Tedla Asfaw
Dr. Merara Gudina, the leader of Oromo National Congress(ONC) on Addis Dimts Radio( Nov. 22) said that together with his friends are trying their best to stop TPLF/EPRDF from being in power for long time that was declared to the public few years ago, do not dare life without TPLF. Dr. Merara said that TPLF/EPRDF wants "opposition" parties just to give it a touch of democracy for outsiders and it made it clear that power will never be shared with any one for years to come, forty plus years according the estimate.
According to Dr. Merara and his friends, they have no choice but to do their best while beaten and jailed to "organize" and ask support from the Ethiopian people. To that goal he said he is joining others on how to form a united front and challenge TPLF/EPRDF on the coming election in 2010.
On his interview he admitted that he and others like him have no choice except to do what he is doing now even if the outcome of any so called "election" is clear for him and his friends. This is what I do not understand or should have been a follow up question. Why people like him do not resign and let TPLF do whatever is doing than be a tool for the regime year after year in participating in fake elections ?
Dr. Merara and others like him in parliament are in business where they are sure will break even and never try to make any profit because they know that there will not be any profit but also sure that they will never lose money. However, for poor Ethiopians the politics of business is deadly beyond losing livelihood.
To survive in Ethiopia you have to become a registered TPLF voter and officially we were told that membership is now in tens of millions. New college graduates have no chance to get a job without being a member and survival depends on getting membership certificate.
If Dr. Merara and his friends chose to be paid for showing up in parliament, it will be hard for ordinary Ethiopians to follow them because they have no money to pay and without TPLF they themselves will be out of business. What we have in Ethiopia is a regime that officially declared to stay in power for many years to come and so called opposition parties like Merara's party who have nothing to give for the people they claimed representing but give a cover for the regime in power for times to come by participating in all fake elections.
This is the peaceful or the safe struggle Dr. Merara has chosen for the last eighteen years and willing to continue for the coming years. One thing must be also clear, however, to Dr. Merara that as long as he chose to be a cover for the regime he is not going to be free from the crimes committed by the regime he serves and willing to serve in future.
