A Vote against Meles is BY NO means a vote for DERG!!!

By Ephrem Madebo

This past weekend, as I always do, I skimmed over aigaforum (unofficial site of TPLF) and read two articles scribbled by Engineer Ghrima. Since I have a great respect and appreciation for engineers, I took time and read the two articles. Though I always read, I usually don’t bother myself replying to aigaforum articles; however, I decided to reply to Engineer Ghrima because I thought the title of his name might have conned many innocent people [like me] to read his insidious article. I do believe this response serves as an antidote to those who might have been contaminated by Engineer Ghirma’s venomous article.

In one of his articles, Mr. Ghrima said; "Yes, the DERG may now be lying in repose. The relevant question however, is a matter of whether the Ethiopian people will allow it to resuscitate" Dear engineer, why would the Ethiopian people resuscitate a dying giant that devours them if resuscitated? In the history of man kind, no nation has collectively allowed evil to prevail over good. Ethiopia is no different. Ethiopians have neither the need for resuscitating DERG nor the desire to nurture TPLF. I have a grandfather who is at odds with TPLF and the two preceding regimes. When I call him on New Year’s day and ask him how he feels about the new year, he consistently answers - "Son, this year seems to be better than next year" My grandfather is a very optimistic person who expected better governance when Mengistu came to power, but he helplessly watched a wave of children including his grandsons marching to a never ending war. Mr. Ghrima, in May 2005, my grandfather went to his precinct [may be for the last time] to elect his representatives, but your boss denied him his life long wishes! So aren’t you ashamed when you tell me that my grandfather voted to resuscitate DERG, a government that confiscated his son’s hard earned wealth and forced almost all of his grandchildren out of their country? Do you think a vote against Meles is a vote for Mengistu? If you think so, you are more catholic than the Pope. Meles himself doesn’t think so!

Mr. Engineer, you said, "His [Mengistu’s] followers won significant number of seats in the 2005 elections" Time and again, we Ethiopians have shown to the world that we are forgiving people, but after 17 years of social and economic terror, I don’t think we have the heart that wants Mengistu back. On Election Day May 2005, the Ethiopian people did not vote for Mengistu, nor for Meles, they voted for candidates whom they entrusted to represent them in the national parliament. Unlike your deceitful claim, the opposition was more than a match to a one man show party of TPLF; however, in political games; it is not only size that matters the most, but the rule of the game and the behavior of the players. In the Ethiopian case, the rules of the game were written by Meles whose behavior invariably varies like a stock market price. In deed, as you said, there was no way the peaceful Ethiopian opposition could have been a match to the savage Agazis who like the "Toro Bravo" bulls are trained to kill.

My dear country man Ghrima, I am not as rowdy as you are to repeat the sexist and chauvinistic words you used on Anna Gomez. In my opinion, the only interest of Anna Gomez is to see Ethiopians (including you) endlessly enjoy the same peace, justice, and democracy that Europeans enjoy. If you think otherwise, what is the tangible or intangible advantage the respected Anna Gomez would gain if Ethiopia is ruled by CUDP/UEDF, or by any party for that matter? She is a person of high moral standard; unlike your TPLF scamps, she doesn’t bend her values for a moment of pleasure. You said, "EU deserves a more mature person in its parliament". Oh! What a joke! Are you a stand-up comedian from Dedebit that we never had a chance to watch on ETV, or are you the hilarious "Mamo Qilo", a character from the epic story of "Lemma Begebya"? Which ever you are, instead of talking about the European Parliament, why don’t you talk about your own parliament that coughs when Meles sneezes? Do you remember when the incongruous representative from Bademe voted for a resolution that in due course separates his constituency from Ethiopia? Imagine this is the same representative that voted to authorize war that eventually liberated Bademe from the bad man of Eritrea. Is this what you want the European Parliament to look like, or is this what you call maturity? What a shame!

You said, "I believe the time is now, for Ethiopia to become whole again" You must be one of those " F or D" grade engineers whose purpose in AAU’s School of Technology was pure political. What does "....Ethiopia to become whole" look like to you? Don’t you know that Ethiopia is a fraction of what it used to be just 17 years ago? You may forget about Ethiopia since it is not your cup of tea. How about Tigray becoming a ‘whole’ after losing Bademe? The Ethiopia of Haile Selassie had a seaport, and the Ethiopia of Colonel Mengistu did not compromise on Bademe. Today, thanks to the TPLF leadership that you praised, Ethiopia is landlocked, and Meles is on the verge of handing out the "Aceldama" of Ethiopia to Eritrea. Is this the type of whole you learned in one of your engineering classes? You also said, "However, the break-up of Ethiopia is not in the people’s mind right now" Did you say right now? Aha! So this must be a sneak pre-view of your diabolic plan! You are a true graduate of the TPLF School of Engineering! By the way were you a valedictorian? How can you realize the whole you mentioned above if your constitution allows every ethnic group to secede from the whole and go its own way? How can you even talk about Ethiopia’s unity by crafting a constitution that disintegrates Ethiopia? My poor engineer of calamity, you have no moral foundation to call any one a "bum", because you yourself are an intellectual drifter who leans on who ever drops food in your constantly open mouth.

You said, "I am proud of where Ethiopia has been throughout ancient history" Good job! So am I and so are many Ethiopians; but how about our modern history? Ethiopia’s past has never been a worry to any of us; our grave concern is its future. Ethiopians are not trying to pull Ethiopia back in time, fix her past problems, and propel her back to the present time. This is your type of ill-advised reverse engineering, and this is exactly what worries me. What worries me and what worries millions of Ethiopians is the wrong path our mother land is heading. What worries me is not federalism, but ethnic federalism. What worries me is not economic development, but the lopsided development that favors the few. What worries me is not the existence of multi party democracy, but the action of a misguided ruler who uncovers every stone to stay in power. Ideologically, die-hard supporters of TPLF do not worry me much because I’m in a constant state of war with them. Wishy-washy gluttons like you worry me a lot because you’re with me when your belly is half full, and you burp with the enemy when you’re full.

You said, "Young people were butchered by Mengistu" you’ re right many people were massacred by Mengistu. How about those young people who were equally butchered by Meles on the streets of Addis Ababa, Awassa, Ambo, and in many localities of the Oromia zone? Mengistu killed in the pretext of defending the mother land, Meles killed in the pretext of defending the constitution. Didn’t these two evil men kill to draw out their dictatorial rule? Like the analogy you used in one of your articles, both Meles and Mengistu walk like a duck and quack like a duck, so why don’t you call both a duck?

I really don’t know about your engineering skill, however, you seem to be very good in MS Word because you have properly bolded half of your two articles. Mr. Ghrima, your education was financed by the poor Ethiopian tax payers, not by TPLLF. You may serve as a civil servant in the TPLF government, I have no problem with that; but please don’t impair the very people who financed your education and who are paying your salary now. Our poor mother of antiquity can’t anymore afford giving the lion’s share of its rare resources for a group of muggers that ramble in the Menelik Palace every other decade. Finally, you concluded one of your doodle articles by saying the following; "Some would say I am being a bit too harsh. Damn right I am". My fellow engineer, my generosity surpasses your selfishness; therefore, I have no intention of denying what you asked for. Yes, you’re right; you have been extremely unsympathetic to the Ethiopian people like your role model Meles and like your nemesis Mengistu. You’re damn right, you are too harsh, too rubbish, too blandish, and too selfish.