It was a complete take over, those TPLF cadres who organized the meeting to sale “Abbay bond” didn’t show up at all, instead Ethiopians start dialog in the TPLF rented hotel meeting hall. Ato Ali Hussien the famous Poets presented his poems to the Ethiopians who took over the TPLF meeting hall by surprise.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Inclusive Discourse: A Prelude to National Reconciliation
by Teklu Abate
To ensure the rule of law, freedom, and democratic governance in Ethiopia, the opposition mainly use two modes of struggle. What appears to be the dominant modus operandi is peaceful struggle, to which all the political parties operating in Ethiopia are required to subscribe. Armed struggle is preferred by other opposition parties/groups, whose scale of operation seems unclear to date. A limited number of groups claim to be eclectic in their approaches, vowing to use any means available to bring genuine change. The government of Ethiopia dubbed those groups that use the last two approaches as “terrorists” and hence, their physical presence is limited to the jungles and foreign capitals.
The relative effectiveness of each approach could not for sure be objectively judged. Nor is their extent of embrace by the Ethiopian people clear. Generally, one could argue that none of the approaches is effective in ushering real change. Two decades lapsed without any measurable change in the political milieu. Causes and reasons for the failure could of course transcend the boundaries of opposition parties; the ruling party, the Ethiopian people (both the Diaspora and those at home), and international pressures and maneuverings could be held accountable. In my previous paper entitled “Who retards political change in Ethiopia?” (available at http://tekluabate.blogspot.no/2012/11/who-retards-political-change-in-ethiopia.html), I tried to explain how and to what extent each entity unfavorably affected politics in Ethiopia during the last two decades.
One thing needs to be made clear. That the opposition are so far ineffective not simply because of the nature of the methods they used but mainly because of the extent of their (peaceful and armed) struggles. Struggles were not in match with the level of injustices made by the ruling party. Considering this state of affairs, we could not be able to see any meaningful changes in the times to come. And we are not going to see meaningful changes from the government either. The best one could do to avoid this ugly scenario might be to think what appears to be the unthinkable: to bring the polarized views of the government and the opposition to open, genuine, and rigorous self-scrutiny.
In this paper, it is argued that inclusive discourse, a systematic and sustained discussion of varying and contrasting ideologies, values, and/or opinions, could be entrusted to initiate, bring, and sustain real change in the way Ethiopia is being governed. This with a final goal of compromise, mutual understanding and then reconciliation. Although it is not new at the global level, it seems untried within the Ethiopian context. All the political changes that took place hitherto were either brought about by armed struggle (e.g. the collapse of the military rule), or by popular revolt (e.g. the demise of the imperial rule). Compared to other tried and tired approaches of the government and that of the opposition, inclusive discourse seems much more appealing to bring future peace and cohesion.
Discourse vs other approaches
Although one could use either peaceful or armed approach to bring change this time around, too, systematic, discourse-driven struggle is presumably far better or more effective for various reasons. One, discourse brings together contrasting views and encourages participants to finally make compromises. This would serve the interests of all parties and hence it liberates both the oppressed and the oppressors. Two, because oppressors will be equally liberated, they take part in nation re-building. Three, the possibility of future conflict and war could be none or little as all would consider the new system their own craft. Four, discourse damages neither human lives nor infrastructure. Five, because discourse formation has national, international, and global acceptance, the possibility of getting immense support in the process seems very high. Six, because of these five and other advantages, discourse could result in enhanced and sustained socio-economic and political transformations that could benefit all Ethiopians.
To ensure the rule of law, freedom, and democratic governance in Ethiopia, the opposition mainly use two modes of struggle. What appears to be the dominant modus operandi is peaceful struggle, to which all the political parties operating in Ethiopia are required to subscribe. Armed struggle is preferred by other opposition parties/groups, whose scale of operation seems unclear to date. A limited number of groups claim to be eclectic in their approaches, vowing to use any means available to bring genuine change. The government of Ethiopia dubbed those groups that use the last two approaches as “terrorists” and hence, their physical presence is limited to the jungles and foreign capitals.
Teklu Abate
One thing needs to be made clear. That the opposition are so far ineffective not simply because of the nature of the methods they used but mainly because of the extent of their (peaceful and armed) struggles. Struggles were not in match with the level of injustices made by the ruling party. Considering this state of affairs, we could not be able to see any meaningful changes in the times to come. And we are not going to see meaningful changes from the government either. The best one could do to avoid this ugly scenario might be to think what appears to be the unthinkable: to bring the polarized views of the government and the opposition to open, genuine, and rigorous self-scrutiny.
In this paper, it is argued that inclusive discourse, a systematic and sustained discussion of varying and contrasting ideologies, values, and/or opinions, could be entrusted to initiate, bring, and sustain real change in the way Ethiopia is being governed. This with a final goal of compromise, mutual understanding and then reconciliation. Although it is not new at the global level, it seems untried within the Ethiopian context. All the political changes that took place hitherto were either brought about by armed struggle (e.g. the collapse of the military rule), or by popular revolt (e.g. the demise of the imperial rule). Compared to other tried and tired approaches of the government and that of the opposition, inclusive discourse seems much more appealing to bring future peace and cohesion.
Discourse vs other approaches
Although one could use either peaceful or armed approach to bring change this time around, too, systematic, discourse-driven struggle is presumably far better or more effective for various reasons. One, discourse brings together contrasting views and encourages participants to finally make compromises. This would serve the interests of all parties and hence it liberates both the oppressed and the oppressors. Two, because oppressors will be equally liberated, they take part in nation re-building. Three, the possibility of future conflict and war could be none or little as all would consider the new system their own craft. Four, discourse damages neither human lives nor infrastructure. Five, because discourse formation has national, international, and global acceptance, the possibility of getting immense support in the process seems very high. Six, because of these five and other advantages, discourse could result in enhanced and sustained socio-economic and political transformations that could benefit all Ethiopians.
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