BARACK OBAMA:
MONUMENTAL TASKS & GREAT EXPECTATIONS
By Genet Mersha | 10 November 2008
The 2008 election in the United States marks the beginnings of a brave
new world. While America remains divided on the question of race, as
confirmed by the polls, the majority of the people have taken courageous
decision in voting for Barack Obama. Much as the cooperation of the
minority party is important in the course of the next four years, the new
president’s ability also to unite both sides, without compromising his
principles, is of immense importance for the speedy realization of his
vision. America has given the new President a reasonably strong
mandate. That not only his success would make Americans proud of their
4 November decision, but also would rally even more supporters among
the ranks of those who had not voted for him.
In times of difficulty, history has always its way of picking leaders whom it
calls upon to right wrongs by providing good leadership with common
cause as the rallying point. Thus, there is every reason to believe that the
new President will rise to the challenges and confront successfully the
range of present challenges before his country, which have had severe
impacts around the world. A world that has been yearning for human
decency, qualitative change in national and international life has also
become hopeful. History has already begun documenting the story of that
hope, even before the new president is installed.
Mr. Obama’s victory underlines two important elements. First, the majority
of the people of the United States have crossed the allegorical Rubicon,
leaving behind the walls of separation based on colour, race, sex, and
creed. Its example for the rest of the world is unimaginable. Secondly, his
victory has dealt serious blows to anti-Americanism that has become
widespread in recent years. History will devote as many pages to detail
how much hope has united peoples across the globe. The 2008 election
has won ecstatic support of the peoples of the world, when in reality it is
not their own and they do not have a say in it. Therefore, the caution here
is America needs to respect it by being extra careful this time around not
to squander the huge capital of goodwill Mr. Obama’s victory has
generated. At the same time, there is only so much that a president can
do and those with unrealistic expectations will realize at some point that it
is what it is—unrealistic.
In a little over four years, there would be ample history of both sides of the
conversation as how much President Barack Obama has realized his
CHANGE WE NEED vision. Therefore, his people and a world full of great
expectations would watch his every step and scrutinize his actions. Their
ears and eyes open, from the midst of their difficult circumstances, the
people of Ethiopia are also looking to him as a real friend to stand by them
when his help is need to enable them realize their dreams.
INTERPRETATION OF THE ELECTION
It is imperative, therefore, that the new change of direction in the United
States be seen beyond the issues of colour and race. Its major importance
has two underpinnings. First, America has recommitted itself to honour
and respect the people by affording them equal opportunities and a
genuine share in its prosperity. Mr. Obama has pledged to focus on the
middle class with a view to uplifting the entire society with specific
measures that he has outlined in detail. This is the appropriate approach
for the United States. Secondly, he has articulated clearly his commitment
to work with the international community (multilateralism as opposed to
unilateralism). That is a good starting point. He has been one among the
many who early on recognized that America’s hitherto ‘go it alone’
approach has hurt its standing in the world. For many, its singular focus
on the so-called the ‘war against terror’—both its practices and the
example it has set to others—has undermined the ideals America has held
dear for so long and which, in turn especially after World War II, have
endeared it to the peoples of the world.
In that sense, the 2008 election is equally a verdict against governance by
corporations, which has ignored the wellbeing of households and the
environment. In spite of the rising level of wealth in the United States, the
income of ordinary citizens has been plummeting for sometime now. Partly
because of that, today in the largest consumer economy, the frightening
thump of recession has grown louder than ever before with severe
consequences to the rest of the world. To date, ten million Americans
have already lost their jobs and yet more job loses are to come especially
with a precipitous decline in the manufacturing sector (the auto industry)
and services. Millions have already lost their homes, their savings and
hopes.
Consequently, it would be a serious mistake to reduce the narrative of this
epoch-making election to a story of one black man from Chicago
becoming the next occupant in the White House. Voters have spoken
clearly; they want to see change in their individual lives, in the way
America has lived and has done its business within and with the outside
world. To me, CHANGE WE NEED means the realization of overall
improvement in societal wellbeing, availability of opportunities to
individuals and respect for civil rights and freedoms of all citizens. In
foreign policy, beyond foreign aid, the new administration needs
aggressive engagement at the popular level with civil societies with a view
to identifying the scope and breadth of popular aspirations. Cooperation
and collaboration with national governments both at the bilateral and
multilateral levels are extremely important. However, its professed
objectives would be served better with improved understanding and
listening to the people.
For many developing countries, by design public space and the
guarantees it requires have become non-existent. For instance, in the
past decade-and-a half, a number of developing countries have attained
some degree of economic growth because of increased wealth and
demand in the north. Unfortunately, the beneficiaries have been a small
group of elites, whose only mission at the head of government has been
the prolongation of their hold on power and that of their kin. The people
feel robbed; they cannot speak about it or challenge in a court of law.
The President-Elect’s promise to re-arm America with its ideals, enshrined
in the Constitution, has raised hopes in that regard. The principles that will
guide his administration were reiterated eloquently in his victory speech
on 4 November. He said, “And to all those watching from beyond our
shores, from parliaments and places to those who are huddled around
radios in the forgotten corners of the world—our stories are singular, but
our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as
bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation
comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from
the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and
unyielding hope.”
Therefore, Mr. Obama’s administration has its work cut out not only for
Americans, but also in engaging the rest of the world and acting as an
honest broker and facilitator.
In that connection, I should mention that experience has taught us that
true development is a product first and foremost of real freedom and
equality, not propping up of double-faced despots, or the mere doling out
of foreign aid and humanitarian assistance. It is a given that democracy is
not an import/export commodity; however, for a peaceful change and
societal transformation, it requires creation of conditions for grassroots
work to realize the aspirations of the people. In many developing
countries, the façade of democracy with cyclical elections has become a
ticket for ensuring international acceptance of a regime and foreign aid
that mostly goes to benefit corrupt leaders. What the people ask and want
is a regime of tolerance to differing views and assurances that the law
would protect them when they express themselves and work in a
competitive environment to translate their objectives into reality.
In my country, as is the case in a number of others, because of the
absence of the rule of law and legal protection, hopes have been dashed,
beautiful dreams shattered and the souls of our nation scarred by the
immorality and violence of sham elections. Instead of reprobation, those
who habitually steal elections have succeeded in getting a pass from our
partners under the pretext of strategic and national security
considerations, economic justifications or for being allies in the ‘war
against terror.’
The America of Barack Obama should devise ways to ensure that
taxpayers’ monies it contributes to countries serve effectively the causes
of freedom, democracy and justice. There would be no real national
development, peace and stability in most of the developing world without
free national dialogue, close monitoring of the behaviour of despotic
regimes by the people with the support of the international community. For
a country such as Ethiopia, straddling the explosive Horn of Africa, the
cumulative effect of constantly rising public anger and frustrations has
been detrimental primarily to the country itself, and then to its neighbours.
Cognizant of this, Senator Russ Feingold early in March rightly described
the Ethiopian situation when he said, “I am seriously concerned about the
direction Ethiopia is headed – because according to many credible
accounts, the political crisis that has been quietly growing and deepening
over the past few years may be coming to a head. For years, faced with
calls for political or economic reforms, the Ethiopian government has
displayed a troubling tendency to react with alarmingly oppressive and
disproportionate tactics.”
Obviously, there is a pressing need for a template change in global
governance and its conduct. I do hope that the in-coming administration
would consider that seriously. It is simple economics that it is much
cheaper and effective to assist efforts towards genuine democracy in line
with the aspirations of the people. Besides the moral value of saving lives,
such an approach would also help avoid enormous costs at a later stage
to restore shattered peace and order.
seventeen thousand UN troops in D. R. Congo for such a long time, with
no success or prospects in facilitating conditions for peace, or affording
protection to the civilian population and properties? Surprisingly, in spite
of their presence, of late full-scale war has been raging. Hundreds and
thousands of people are fleeing for their lives, while their leaders have
failed, I must say, refused to stare on the face of the problem. The
environment is being destroyed, including rare wild animals. We can go on
mentioning several similar situations that can attest to the failure of
regional and international diplomacy, an indication of lack of vision and
concerted global leadership.
In 2008, 21 African countries, including Ethiopia and the autonomous
territory of Somaliland have carried out presidential, parliamentary and/or
local elections, according to EISA, the not-for-profit Johannesburg-based
organization that strives to promote credible elections and the
consolidation of democracy in Africa. One of such countries is Ethiopia,
which in March 2008 conducted an election whereby the incumbent
declared itself the winner by claiming over 97 percent of the vote. The
irony is that that claim of ‘landslide victory’ comes merely three years after
the 2005 election that was soaked in blood, because of which the country
has remained terribly polarized.
That is not all. In its continued attempt to stifle pluralism, the government
has now resorted fervently to strangling the emergence of opposition by
drafting new laws and revised regulations. For instance, new draconian
regulations have been adopted recently to muzzle the media completely.
Freedom of the press has already been dead in Ethiopia for a long while.
A draft regulation is on the pipeline to circumscribe the activities of local
and international civil societies active in the fields of human rights and
humanitarian assistance. Lately, the government has moved with
determination against the latter group after most of these organizations
have exposed during the summer the existence of a killer drought and
famine in Ethiopia. As a government merely concerned about its image, it
tried unsuccessfully to deny that there was famine in Ethiopia.
Interestingly, since the beginning of November 2008, a time chosen to
coincide with the election in the United States, the regime has unleashed
yet another wave of arrests of opposition leaders and their supporters,
according to reports by the international media. Quoting a police report on
3 November Reuter wrote, “The National Intelligence Security Service has
received credible information about an impending terrorist plot to be
carried out inside Ethiopia.” The Sudan Tribune, in its November 5 piece
headlined this story saying, “ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF
MASS ARREST CAMPAIGN UNDER COVER OF TERRORISM.”
There is no doubt that this is a calculated attempt by the regime to
ingratiate itself with President-Elect Obama and his team as a warrior
against terror. The whole theatrics merely reflects the depth of the regime’
s desperation after the victory of the Democratic Party. After all, as
mentioned above, a number of senior members of the Democratic Party at
one time or another have consistently made known in Congress their
concerns with respect to the situation in Ethiopia. They have recognized
that, in name, Ethiopia is a multi-party country, but in practice a nation
under the grips of an authoritarian regime. Today in Ethiopia, even
semblance public space has been rolled away completely.
Certainly, the task of building democracy is primarily the task of the nation
concerned. However, in situations such as Ethiopia, sincere outside help
is of paramount importance. For instance, the election in 2005 would not
have enjoyed openness, competitive campaigning and access to the
media, to a degree unseen and unheard of before—just because of the
presence of international observers. Unfortunately, things soured when
the ruling party realized its defeat. The international community buckled
down giving in to rumours of internal strife, more likely to be stalked by the
regime itself, were its losses to be acknowledged. However, even when
foreign governments gave in, the regime did not spare the lives of
innocent citizens; it caused untold sufferings to thousands of families.
Ethiopia has not been at peace internally. The latest evidence is the
regime has become nightmarish; it has now established local security
councils and committees in every kebele. The fear is that those opposed
or suspected of being opposed to the government would be hunted. This
could even take the form of witch-hunting of intellectuals with little inertest
in cooperating with a government that does not even respect their civil
rights. The threat of outside invasion, possibly real especially from the
north, is constantly exploited; however, the real purpose is to divert public
attention from the real daily problems, such as the double-digit inflation,
food shortage, housing, simply the un-affordability of the prices of goods
and services. In brief, Ethiopia has veered completely off a democratic
path. Today the regime is squandering even more of the country’s meagre
resources in building a huge army and security apparatus, which the
fragile economy cannot support. It does not accept the fact that Ethiopia
could have seen better days within a few years, if the regime were to focus
on genuine political reforms and revitalization of the economy with sound
measures, including respect for property rights.
This brings me back to the 2008 election in the United States. Ethiopians
watched the election of Barack Obama with great enthusiasm and both
with tears of joy and sadness, partly because of the discouraging
conditions in their country. Their expectation now is that the United States
will become a true friend of the Ethiopian people. They are aware of
Candidate Obama’s message along the 21-month old campaign trail, in
which he has unequivocally affirmed his preparedness to support peace
and security, civil liberties and defend democracy and fundamental human
rights. That message has gripped my compatriots, as it has the rest of the
world.
MONUMENTAL TASKS & GREAT EXPECTATIONS
By Genet Mersha | 10 November 2008
The 2008 election in the United States marks the beginnings of a brave
new world. While America remains divided on the question of race, as
confirmed by the polls, the majority of the people have taken courageous
decision in voting for Barack Obama. Much as the cooperation of the
minority party is important in the course of the next four years, the new
president’s ability also to unite both sides, without compromising his
principles, is of immense importance for the speedy realization of his
vision. America has given the new President a reasonably strong
mandate. That not only his success would make Americans proud of their
4 November decision, but also would rally even more supporters among
the ranks of those who had not voted for him.
In times of difficulty, history has always its way of picking leaders whom it
calls upon to right wrongs by providing good leadership with common
cause as the rallying point. Thus, there is every reason to believe that the
new President will rise to the challenges and confront successfully the
range of present challenges before his country, which have had severe
impacts around the world. A world that has been yearning for human
decency, qualitative change in national and international life has also
become hopeful. History has already begun documenting the story of that
hope, even before the new president is installed.
Mr. Obama’s victory underlines two important elements. First, the majority
of the people of the United States have crossed the allegorical Rubicon,
leaving behind the walls of separation based on colour, race, sex, and
creed. Its example for the rest of the world is unimaginable. Secondly, his
victory has dealt serious blows to anti-Americanism that has become
widespread in recent years. History will devote as many pages to detail
how much hope has united peoples across the globe. The 2008 election
has won ecstatic support of the peoples of the world, when in reality it is
not their own and they do not have a say in it. Therefore, the caution here
is America needs to respect it by being extra careful this time around not
to squander the huge capital of goodwill Mr. Obama’s victory has
generated. At the same time, there is only so much that a president can
do and those with unrealistic expectations will realize at some point that it
is what it is—unrealistic.
In a little over four years, there would be ample history of both sides of the
conversation as how much President Barack Obama has realized his
CHANGE WE NEED vision. Therefore, his people and a world full of great
expectations would watch his every step and scrutinize his actions. Their
ears and eyes open, from the midst of their difficult circumstances, the
people of Ethiopia are also looking to him as a real friend to stand by them
when his help is need to enable them realize their dreams.
INTERPRETATION OF THE ELECTION
It is imperative, therefore, that the new change of direction in the United
States be seen beyond the issues of colour and race. Its major importance
has two underpinnings. First, America has recommitted itself to honour
and respect the people by affording them equal opportunities and a
genuine share in its prosperity. Mr. Obama has pledged to focus on the
middle class with a view to uplifting the entire society with specific
measures that he has outlined in detail. This is the appropriate approach
for the United States. Secondly, he has articulated clearly his commitment
to work with the international community (multilateralism as opposed to
unilateralism). That is a good starting point. He has been one among the
many who early on recognized that America’s hitherto ‘go it alone’
approach has hurt its standing in the world. For many, its singular focus
on the so-called the ‘war against terror’—both its practices and the
example it has set to others—has undermined the ideals America has held
dear for so long and which, in turn especially after World War II, have
endeared it to the peoples of the world.
In that sense, the 2008 election is equally a verdict against governance by
corporations, which has ignored the wellbeing of households and the
environment. In spite of the rising level of wealth in the United States, the
income of ordinary citizens has been plummeting for sometime now. Partly
because of that, today in the largest consumer economy, the frightening
thump of recession has grown louder than ever before with severe
consequences to the rest of the world. To date, ten million Americans
have already lost their jobs and yet more job loses are to come especially
with a precipitous decline in the manufacturing sector (the auto industry)
and services. Millions have already lost their homes, their savings and
hopes.
Consequently, it would be a serious mistake to reduce the narrative of this
epoch-making election to a story of one black man from Chicago
becoming the next occupant in the White House. Voters have spoken
clearly; they want to see change in their individual lives, in the way
America has lived and has done its business within and with the outside
world. To me, CHANGE WE NEED means the realization of overall
improvement in societal wellbeing, availability of opportunities to
individuals and respect for civil rights and freedoms of all citizens. In
foreign policy, beyond foreign aid, the new administration needs
aggressive engagement at the popular level with civil societies with a view
to identifying the scope and breadth of popular aspirations. Cooperation
and collaboration with national governments both at the bilateral and
multilateral levels are extremely important. However, its professed
objectives would be served better with improved understanding and
listening to the people.
For many developing countries, by design public space and the
guarantees it requires have become non-existent. For instance, in the
past decade-and-a half, a number of developing countries have attained
some degree of economic growth because of increased wealth and
demand in the north. Unfortunately, the beneficiaries have been a small
group of elites, whose only mission at the head of government has been
the prolongation of their hold on power and that of their kin. The people
feel robbed; they cannot speak about it or challenge in a court of law.
The President-Elect’s promise to re-arm America with its ideals, enshrined
in the Constitution, has raised hopes in that regard. The principles that will
guide his administration were reiterated eloquently in his victory speech
on 4 November. He said, “And to all those watching from beyond our
shores, from parliaments and places to those who are huddled around
radios in the forgotten corners of the world—our stories are singular, but
our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as
bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation
comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from
the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and
unyielding hope.”
Therefore, Mr. Obama’s administration has its work cut out not only for
Americans, but also in engaging the rest of the world and acting as an
honest broker and facilitator.
In that connection, I should mention that experience has taught us that
true development is a product first and foremost of real freedom and
equality, not propping up of double-faced despots, or the mere doling out
of foreign aid and humanitarian assistance. It is a given that democracy is
not an import/export commodity; however, for a peaceful change and
societal transformation, it requires creation of conditions for grassroots
work to realize the aspirations of the people. In many developing
countries, the façade of democracy with cyclical elections has become a
ticket for ensuring international acceptance of a regime and foreign aid
that mostly goes to benefit corrupt leaders. What the people ask and want
is a regime of tolerance to differing views and assurances that the law
would protect them when they express themselves and work in a
competitive environment to translate their objectives into reality.
In my country, as is the case in a number of others, because of the
absence of the rule of law and legal protection, hopes have been dashed,
beautiful dreams shattered and the souls of our nation scarred by the
immorality and violence of sham elections. Instead of reprobation, those
who habitually steal elections have succeeded in getting a pass from our
partners under the pretext of strategic and national security
considerations, economic justifications or for being allies in the ‘war
against terror.’
The America of Barack Obama should devise ways to ensure that
taxpayers’ monies it contributes to countries serve effectively the causes
of freedom, democracy and justice. There would be no real national
development, peace and stability in most of the developing world without
free national dialogue, close monitoring of the behaviour of despotic
regimes by the people with the support of the international community. For
a country such as Ethiopia, straddling the explosive Horn of Africa, the
cumulative effect of constantly rising public anger and frustrations has
been detrimental primarily to the country itself, and then to its neighbours.
Cognizant of this, Senator Russ Feingold early in March rightly described
the Ethiopian situation when he said, “I am seriously concerned about the
direction Ethiopia is headed – because according to many credible
accounts, the political crisis that has been quietly growing and deepening
over the past few years may be coming to a head. For years, faced with
calls for political or economic reforms, the Ethiopian government has
displayed a troubling tendency to react with alarmingly oppressive and
disproportionate tactics.”
Obviously, there is a pressing need for a template change in global
governance and its conduct. I do hope that the in-coming administration
would consider that seriously. It is simple economics that it is much
cheaper and effective to assist efforts towards genuine democracy in line
with the aspirations of the people. Besides the moral value of saving lives,
such an approach would also help avoid enormous costs at a later stage
to restore shattered peace and order.
- For instance, Haiti has
become a lost cause,
even as the United
Nations has camped
there for more than a
decade. These days
Haiti appears on the
international media as
mere story to highlight
nature’s violence
against man it being on
the path of major and
frequent hurricanes. If
not none, rarely
appears any news
about the violence
state machinery.
seventeen thousand UN troops in D. R. Congo for such a long time, with
no success or prospects in facilitating conditions for peace, or affording
protection to the civilian population and properties? Surprisingly, in spite
of their presence, of late full-scale war has been raging. Hundreds and
thousands of people are fleeing for their lives, while their leaders have
failed, I must say, refused to stare on the face of the problem. The
environment is being destroyed, including rare wild animals. We can go on
mentioning several similar situations that can attest to the failure of
regional and international diplomacy, an indication of lack of vision and
concerted global leadership.
In 2008, 21 African countries, including Ethiopia and the autonomous
territory of Somaliland have carried out presidential, parliamentary and/or
local elections, according to EISA, the not-for-profit Johannesburg-based
organization that strives to promote credible elections and the
consolidation of democracy in Africa. One of such countries is Ethiopia,
which in March 2008 conducted an election whereby the incumbent
declared itself the winner by claiming over 97 percent of the vote. The
irony is that that claim of ‘landslide victory’ comes merely three years after
the 2005 election that was soaked in blood, because of which the country
has remained terribly polarized.
That is not all. In its continued attempt to stifle pluralism, the government
has now resorted fervently to strangling the emergence of opposition by
drafting new laws and revised regulations. For instance, new draconian
regulations have been adopted recently to muzzle the media completely.
Freedom of the press has already been dead in Ethiopia for a long while.
A draft regulation is on the pipeline to circumscribe the activities of local
and international civil societies active in the fields of human rights and
humanitarian assistance. Lately, the government has moved with
determination against the latter group after most of these organizations
have exposed during the summer the existence of a killer drought and
famine in Ethiopia. As a government merely concerned about its image, it
tried unsuccessfully to deny that there was famine in Ethiopia.
Interestingly, since the beginning of November 2008, a time chosen to
coincide with the election in the United States, the regime has unleashed
yet another wave of arrests of opposition leaders and their supporters,
according to reports by the international media. Quoting a police report on
3 November Reuter wrote, “The National Intelligence Security Service has
received credible information about an impending terrorist plot to be
carried out inside Ethiopia.” The Sudan Tribune, in its November 5 piece
headlined this story saying, “ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF
MASS ARREST CAMPAIGN UNDER COVER OF TERRORISM.”
There is no doubt that this is a calculated attempt by the regime to
ingratiate itself with President-Elect Obama and his team as a warrior
against terror. The whole theatrics merely reflects the depth of the regime’
s desperation after the victory of the Democratic Party. After all, as
mentioned above, a number of senior members of the Democratic Party at
one time or another have consistently made known in Congress their
concerns with respect to the situation in Ethiopia. They have recognized
that, in name, Ethiopia is a multi-party country, but in practice a nation
under the grips of an authoritarian regime. Today in Ethiopia, even
semblance public space has been rolled away completely.
Certainly, the task of building democracy is primarily the task of the nation
concerned. However, in situations such as Ethiopia, sincere outside help
is of paramount importance. For instance, the election in 2005 would not
have enjoyed openness, competitive campaigning and access to the
media, to a degree unseen and unheard of before—just because of the
presence of international observers. Unfortunately, things soured when
the ruling party realized its defeat. The international community buckled
down giving in to rumours of internal strife, more likely to be stalked by the
regime itself, were its losses to be acknowledged. However, even when
foreign governments gave in, the regime did not spare the lives of
innocent citizens; it caused untold sufferings to thousands of families.
Ethiopia has not been at peace internally. The latest evidence is the
regime has become nightmarish; it has now established local security
councils and committees in every kebele. The fear is that those opposed
or suspected of being opposed to the government would be hunted. This
could even take the form of witch-hunting of intellectuals with little inertest
in cooperating with a government that does not even respect their civil
rights. The threat of outside invasion, possibly real especially from the
north, is constantly exploited; however, the real purpose is to divert public
attention from the real daily problems, such as the double-digit inflation,
food shortage, housing, simply the un-affordability of the prices of goods
and services. In brief, Ethiopia has veered completely off a democratic
path. Today the regime is squandering even more of the country’s meagre
resources in building a huge army and security apparatus, which the
fragile economy cannot support. It does not accept the fact that Ethiopia
could have seen better days within a few years, if the regime were to focus
on genuine political reforms and revitalization of the economy with sound
measures, including respect for property rights.
This brings me back to the 2008 election in the United States. Ethiopians
watched the election of Barack Obama with great enthusiasm and both
with tears of joy and sadness, partly because of the discouraging
conditions in their country. Their expectation now is that the United States
will become a true friend of the Ethiopian people. They are aware of
Candidate Obama’s message along the 21-month old campaign trail, in
which he has unequivocally affirmed his preparedness to support peace
and security, civil liberties and defend democracy and fundamental human
rights. That message has gripped my compatriots, as it has the rest of the
world.
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| Ethiopia: Troubling Times & Troubling Actions 29 March, 2009| Genet Mersha - " The individual rights of citizens and the right to national development are inextricably intertwined. One is not a substitute for the other. If that were not the case, the world should have lauded Kim Jong-il, who has built in North Korea nuclear power..." More WITH OR WITHOUT IMF PRESCRIPTIONS: WE NEED TO PAVE OUR DEVELOPMENT PATH CLEAN THE PURSUIT OF DOMINANCE DEEPENS EPRDF'S ARBITRARINESS, VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS THE CASE FOR MUCH NEEDED REFORM: IS ETHIOPIA'S ECONOMIC GROWTH SUSTAINABLE? |
