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Moderator
Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Posts: 40
Location: University of Chicago
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ETHIOPIA IN 2006: CALL FOR A NEW DIRECTION
Donald N. Levine
The University of Chicago
January 1, 2006
Brief for a New Direction
1. Ethiopia today is fractured by misunderstandings and recriminations, which inhibit the nation’s capacity to move forward to deal with pressing challenges.
2. In particular, EPRDF, the party that leads Ethiopia’s government, and CUD, its central opposition coalition, have been locked in an escalating conflict since June. This has had distressing consequences for the country, both domestically–the escalation of civil tensions–and internationally–the loss of credibility.
3. Reversing this conflict could mark an extraordinary step forward for Ethiopia and enable it to return to a position of leadership in Africa, much as did the resolution of apartheid in South Africa.
4. The May 15 election marked a dramatic step forward on the road toward a democratic society in Ethiopia. Regime and populace alike deserve credit for that unprecedented accomplishment. All concerned should pause, breathe deeply, and savor that historic achievement.
5. Disputes about the election results and related demonstrations and violence have deprived the country from enjoying the fruits of that achievement.
6. Those disputes are currently being addressed through legal procedures. Whatever the outcome of those court proceedings, the more deep-lying issues that led to those volatile disputes need to be addressed if the country is to regain confidence and move forward with a vision of future possibilities.
7. Those issues cannot be easily resolved. For parties deeply entrenched in combat, the process of transcending conflict often benefits from the assistance of a neutral third party.
In Ethiopian tradition, when two antagonistic parties are locked in a destructive conflict they customarily seek mediation from Elders (shimgilena) who help neutralize their antagonism and mediate a just and constructive solution.
8. The task of such third-party intervention is not to tell either or both of the parties what to do. It is to listen to all sides in an effort to help them move to listening to one another. It is to give them an opportunity to shift attention from what divides them to a focus on what unites them. It is to enable them to move from a position of fearfulness to a position of openness and inquiry and practical collaboration.
9. A move in this direction can have powerful consequences. It can provide an opportunity to enlarge the conversation so as to include all the voices in the Greater Ethiopian nation.
Brief for Reconciliation
1. Both EPRDF and CUD as well as the Oromo parties and the EUDF have many positive accomplishments to their credit. EPRDF’s record in the areas of monetary reform infrastructure development and monetary reform deserves to be acknowledged. Their expansion of clinics, schools, and agricultural extension deserves to be acknowledged. The success of opposition parties in organizing constituencies of increasing scope in the face of difficulties imposed by governmental constraints deserves to be acknowledged.
2. From the very start, some CUD predecessors have demonized the TPLF, making
exaggerated indictments, using inflammatory rhetoric, and indulging in destructive, ill-informed publications. Irresponsible accusations in many of the publications permitted after liberation from the Derg can be said to have paved the way for ensuing hatreds against the regime. On the other hand, the EPRDF regime has engaged repeatedly in vilification and persecution of those who have criticized their policies and conduct.
3. Some CUD leaders who are in prison now have been accused of criminal acts that reflect their alleged incitements to public violence. For that reason the Government believes that they must be prosecuted, in a fair and transparent process, in order to present its evidence and advance the transition to democracy by upholding respect for the law. Under normal circumstances, such a position would be unexceptionable.
4. Solution to the present crisis, however, may require a more flexible response. CUD supporters and others who entered Parliament can point to numerous instances of extrajudicial killings and illegal arrests and persecutions of government critics, independent journalists, and opposition party members that, were a standard of law to be evenly applied, would indict some of the regime’s officials.
5. Another reason for a mediative approach is that some OLF leaders, while supporting the Constitution, oppose the imprisonment and proposed trial of the CUD leaders, and have signaled an interest in becoming more integrated into a national consensus so long as their rights are respected. Indeed the current crisis opens up the possibility of looking toward a future national reconciliation conference.
Brief for a Cultural Shift
1. All nations that have undergone the disruptive processes of modernization have
experienced severe strains, often involving a good deal of violence. Some of these strains represent the need for new elites to replace old ones in directing the course of societal development. Some of them reflect a contrast between beliefs and values endemic to a pre-modern order and those constitutive of modern culture.
2. In the Ethiopian case, two features of the traditional culture, about which I have written since the 1960s, remain tenacious obstacles to a more constructive approach–opaque communication, and an ethic of combative masculinity.
3. The culture of indirection enshrined in the “wax-and-gold” pattern, while adaptive in feudal times and for aesthetic and religious purposes, inhibits the open, transparent exchange of information and beliefs on which modern democratic discourse depends.
4. The culture of wetadarnet, enshrined in traditional beliefs of what is manly, while adaptive in feudal times, accentuates a code of honor and inhibits the ability to listen to others and to create compromise formulations that benefit all parties.
5. On the other hand, modernizing impulses sometimes attack traditional patterns in reactions that have harmful consequences. The French Revolution is a famous case in point, the Chinese Cultural Revolution a grotesque embodiment of that tendency.
6. The absorption of Marxist-Leninist rhetoric by Ethiopian elites in the 1960s and 1970s constituted a radical departure from traditional Ethiopian ways of dealing with opponents. To mention just the most prominent traditions, the Amhara-Tigrean ethos of gentility and the Oromo ethos of democratic discourse almost never included customs of branding opponents as purely evil and attacking their presumed underlying interests.
7. Relatedly, Ethiopian traditions included a large component of dealing with defeated enemies with forgiveness. Although a martial tendency toward vengeance certainly appeared, it was historically balanced by efforts to restore amity among warring parties. The early years of the reign of Emperor Tewodros, not to mention the recurrent magnanimity of Emperor Haile Selasse I, are exemplars of this time-honored custom.
Brief for a Vision
The following challenges face Ethiopia today and can be assented to readily by Ethiopians of all political and other affiliations.
1. The need to promote sufficient agricultural productivity and distribution of food to eliminate the chronic scourge of hunger and famine that afflicts Ethiopians.
2. The need to reinvigorate the campaign against AIDS and other epidemics.
3. The need to reverse the horrific spoliation of Ethiopia’s environment through
reforestation and species protection.
4. The need to develop Ethiopia’s enormous potential in water resources.
5. The need to improve the quality and expand the availability of Ethiopia’s educational resources.
6. The need to develop Ethiopia’s potentials in revenues from tourism, coffee, and other potential exports.
7. The need to bring the best intellectual resources to bear upon Ethiopia’s economic problems and challenges, including the best high-tech resources.
8. The need to overcome growing tensions between the Christian and Muslim populations, in a country that historically has enjoyed an exceptionally high level of Christian-Muslim accommodation.
9. The need to develop deeper understanding and appreciation of Ethiopia’s history and cultures.
10. The need to restore, preserve, and develop Ethiopia’s legacy of cultural expressions.
Brief for a Practical Road Map
1. Since the regime has the power and authority in the present situation, the first step in a new direction must be taken by them.
2. Regime leaders meet with neutral third parties, whose task it must be not to offer advice let alone demands, but to listen respectfully and empathically to the views and wishes of the regime leaders.
3. Once some mutual understanding and trust has been established, the discourse can proceed to an exploration of options, including conditions for how, when, and where to resume dialogue with opposition leaders.
4. Emphasize that the focus for all parties is to be on future options, not on past grievances,however deeply felt and historically warranted.
5. Establish a place with protected space for ongoing facilitated conversation among representatives of all camps.
6. Work out formulae for integrating opposition back into the system under fair and secure conditions. |
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