Breaking News: Ginbot 7 and EPPF Merged

Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy (Ginbot 7) and Ethiopian People’s Patriotic Front (EPPF) merged. The united front will be called “Arbegnoch-Ginbot7 for Unity and Democracy Movement” (አርበኞች-ግንቦት7 የአንድነት እና የዲሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ).

January 4, 2015

by Yilma Bekele

Andargachew Tsige was taken prisoner by the TPLF Woyane regime on June 24, 2014 while on transit at Sana, Yemen International Airport. He was removed from the airplane and flown to Ethiopia. What was done was against all international conventions and is considered illegal. Ever since then he has been held in secret locations being interrogated as stated by the Ethiopian regime.

The illegal act has been condemned by most Ethiopian Opposition groups, the British Government, EU Parliamentarian Ana Gomez, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Ethiopians both at home and in the Diaspora. As usual the Ethiopian government choose to ignore the concerns of all that care about the rule of law.

We Ethiopians are not surprised by the actions of the regime. It is just another illegal act by the few in a long procession of criminal acts committed against the people of Ethiopia. As a matter of fact we have become numb to the atrocities by the minority ethnic group in power. As far as Ethiopians are concerned it is just another abuse. We have been programed to shrug it off.

Arresting or taking the opposition member and painting the individual as a criminal element is not an act invented by the Ethiopian regime. Capitalist, Communist, Socialist, Monarchist or Fascist as the case may be always find some sort of justification to abuse the power they have and use negative labels to neutralize their opponents.

The Ethiopian regime has raised this act to higher level. In fact in the aftermath of the general elections in 2005, the late dictator put the whole opposition in prison for two years and released them by forcing them to sign a fake apology. Since the emergence of TPLF as the victorious group and assuming power there is not one Ethiopian opposition group that has not sacrificed a leader to the Woyane Party. There is no need to mention names because this was not done in secret or under the cover of darkness but in broad daylight for the people to see and learn.

Ato Andargachew is just one additional victim. Ato Andargachew is viewed by the TPLF regime as the ultimate prisoner because he emphatically stated that the TPLF regime can only be brought down using violence as a means. He was not shy about it nor did he go underground. He did not just talk about it but went one step further and organized a group to practice what he preached. That was what the regime feared most and that is why they spent millions to follow all his movements and commit the ultimate crime of kidnapping.

I, with clear conscience cannot fault them for that. He was doing what he has to do to bring freedom and justice to our country. They did what they have to do to protect the power they have amassed the last twenty years knowing full well any change that comes to Ethiopia would ultimately end with those that committed the many crimes have to answer to a real court of law. It is a life or death struggle to TPLF politburo members and their underlings. It is a life and death struggle to my friend Andargachew and his comrades.

As we begin the New Year with hopes for the future and good will to all the TPLF regime commemorated this joyous event by releasing a video meant to discourage us from the struggle, show how powerful the regime is and warn all others not to dare be involved in the quest for freedom and democracy. I have not watched the video. I have no intention of watching it either. My curiosity does not include being made sad, angry or lose hope and contemplate about man’s inhumanity to man. This is not the first time the regime has used poorly made video to convince us of their methods of interrogation. A few weeks after his arrest they released one poorly edited video and it was rejected by all for its simplicity and shameless pandering. They have tried the same trick with our brave friend Abubaker from the Muslim peaceful movement that is demanding non-interference in their religion. No one paid attention and all they harvested was more despise.

Why are they doing such inhuman deed? The simple answer is because they do not know any better. They seem to think we lack a sliver of intelligence and are unable to differentiate wrong from right. They treat each other in such ways and they think it is natural. The TPLF is a party that does not tolerate dissent, believes in black and white with no gray in between and resort to violence at a drop of a hat. Because they follow without question, because they are void of trust in anything and anyone, because they have no respect except instill fear they logically assume we are all like that. They want to scare us because they are afraid. They want us to hate them because there is no love in their life. They want to degrade us because they have no self-respect.

So what do we do with the video they so happily released in this time of holiday, hope and good will to all mankind? We ignore it. We do not allow them to come between us and our hope and dreams to our ancient land. What is done is despicable and reprehensive. It is a gross violation of ethics, morals and basic human decency. We tell such people we are not like that. We would not tolerate the use of a human being to score a cheap point.

ትብብሩ ምርጫ ቦርድ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓትን በር ለመዝጋት እየተጋ መሆኑን አስታወቀ

• ‹‹ምርጫ ቦርድ ለገዥው ፓርቲ በአጥቂነት ቦታ ተሰልፎ እየተጫወተ ነው››


የ9ኙ የተቃዋሚ ፓርቲዎች ትብብር ብሄራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ የመድብለ ፓርቲ ስርዓትን በር ለመዝጋት እየተንቀሳቀሰ ነው ሲል ቅሬታውን ገለጸ፡፡ ትብብሩ ጥር 4 ቀን 2007 ዓ.ም በሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ጽ/ቤት በሰጠው ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ እንዳስታወቀው ምርጫ ቦርድ ከህግ አግባብ ውጭ በሆነ መልኩ የፓርቲዎችን ትብብር ‹ህገ-ወጥ› በማለትና በአባል ፓርቲዎቹ መካከል ‹አሰባሳቢና ተሰባሳቢ› እንዳለ በማስመሰል አለመተማመን ለመፍጠር የሚያደርገው እንቅስቃሴ ተቀባይነት የሌለው ነው ብሏል፡፡

ትብብሩ የትብብሩ አባል ፓርቲ የሆነው ሰማያዊ ፓርቲ ከምርጫ ቦርድ ‹‹ትብብር በሚል ማሰባሰብን›› እንደ ጥፋት ቆጥሮ ይቅርታ እንዲጠይቅ ደብዳቤ መጻፉ ተገቢነት የሌለውና ትብብሩ የሚያወግዘው መሆኑን አስታውቋል፡፡

ቦርዱ በአደባባይ ‹‹ፓርቲዎችን በእኩል ዓይን ነው የምመለከተው፣ በሆደ ሰፊነት እያስተናገድኩ ነው›› ቢልም፣ በፓርቲዎች መካከል አድሎ እንደሚፈጽም በማስረጃ ማስረዳት እንደሚችል የገለጸው ትብብሩ፣ የሚከተሉትን ነጥቦች በዋቢነት አንስቷል፡፡

1. ገዥው ፓርቲ/መንግስት ‹‹ነጻነት ለፍትሓዊ ምርጫ›› በሚለው ፕሮግራማችን ህገ-መንግስታዊ መብታችን ተጠቅመን የጠራናቸው የአደባባይ ስብሰባዎችና ሰልፍ በማፈን ህገ-ወጥ እርምጃ ሲወስድ ቦርዱ ‹‹ህገ ወጥና እኔ የማላውቀው ትብብር ነው›› በሚል ክስ ማቅረቡ፣

2. ለሰማያዊ ፓርቲ በጻፈው ደብዳቤ የትብብሩን አባል ፓርቲዎች በማበላለጥ አሰባሳቢና ተሰብሳቢ፣ የሁከት ጠንሳሽና ጀሌ፣ በማለት ያለ መተማመን ስሜት በመፍጠር ለመከፋፈል ያደረገው ሙከራን መጥቀስ ይቻላል ብሏል በመግለጫው፡፡

ፓርቲዎች በትብብር የጋራ አቋም ለመውሰድም ሆነ የጋራ ተግባር ለመፈፀም የቦርዱ እውቅና እንደማያስፈልግ፣ ከዚህ በፊት ለበርካታ ጊዜያት ፓርቲዎች በጋራ የጠሯቸውን ሰላማዊ ሰልፎች፣ በህጋዊ ሰውነታቸው የመሰረቷቸውን ግንኙነቶች (የኢተፓዴኀ ቅርንጫፍ ጽ/ቤት፣ መኢአድ፣ ኦብኮ፣ ደቡብ ህብረት ኀብረትና አማራጭ የመሰረቱትን ‹ትዲኢ›› እና 33ቱ) አውቀው መርሳታቸው፣ ገዥው ፓርቲ አምስት ክልሎችን ከሚመሩ ፓርቲዎች ጋር አጋር በሚል የሚያደርገው ግንኙነት ከእኛ ትብብር ቀርቶ በግንባር ከተደራጁ ያለፈና የጠነከረ መሆኑ የአደባባይ ምስጢር ሆኖ ለዘመናት በዘለቀበትና አንድም ቀን ጥያቄ ባላነሳበት፤ ቦርዱ በአዋጅ ባልተሰጠው ሥልጣን ለገዥው ፓርቲ ‹አጋር መልማይ› ወይንም የህወሓት/ኢህአዴግ ‹‹ገንዘብ አዳይ ሆኖ ለተለዩ ፓርቲዎች ዳረጎት በሚሰፍርበት እውነታ ውስጥ ሆኖ ትብብሩ ላይ ጣት መቀሰሩን በማሳያነት አንስቷል፡፡

በመሆኑም ‹‹ትብብራችን በገዥው ፓርቲ ላይ የፈጠረውን የፍርሃት ስሜት የትብብራችን የጋራ እንቅስቃሴም ለገዥው ፓርቲ ሥጋት መፍጠሩን ለዚህም ምርጫ ቦርድ ይህን አይነቱን ህገ-ወጥ ፖለቲካዊ ድጋፍ በመገናኛ ብዙሃን በማሰራጨት ህዝቡ የሚሰጠንን ሁለንተናዊ ድጋፍ ለመግታት ወይንም ፈሪ ከተገኘ ለማስፈራራትና ለማሸማቀቅ የሚደረግ ተራ ፕሮፖጋንዳ ነው›› ብሏል፡፡

በአጠቃላይ ቦርዱ እየፈጸማቸው ያሉትን ተግባራት በህገ-መንግስቱና የምርጫ ህጉንና ሌሎች የአገሪቱ ህጎች ከተጣለበት ከባድ የዳኝነት ኃላፊነት ወጥቶ ለገዥው ፓርቲ በአጥቂነት ቦታ ተሰልፎ የሚጫወት መሆኑንና ይህም በሕገ-መንግሥት የተቀመጠውን የመድብለ ፓርቲ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ሥርዓት ሂደት ከደረሰበት ወደኋላ የሚመልስ አካሄድ ነው ሲል ገልጹዋል፡፡

በመጨረሻም ትብብሩ ህገ-መንግስቱን አክብሮ እስከተንቀሳቀሰ ድረስ በትብብር ከመስራትና የጋራ ህጋዊና ሰላማዊ ትግል ከማድረግ ለአፍታ እንደማያቆም አስታውቋል፡፡

ZEHABESHA

ግንቦት 7 እና አርበኞች ግንባር በዛሬው እለት (10/01/2015 )ውህደት ፈጠሩ (አርበኞች ግንቦት7 ለአንድነትና ለዲሞክራ ንቅናቄ) አግአዴን

ESAT Interview With Mesay from Asmara Jan 07 2015

From the two  of the influential Amsterdam based Ethiopian SATELLITE Television ESAT journalists, who traveled  Asmara,  Mesay Mekonen, gave a report how it is like in Asmara and His view and his witness about the people of Eritrea towards Ethiopian people. Also he reported  about different opposition military bases in the country and  the state of AFFAIRS of these opposition armed forces.

Listen to the Interview 

http://ethsat.com/video/esat-special-interview-with-mesay-from-asmara-jan-07-2015/

ESAT Reporters Traveled to Asmara to Cover Merger of Three Armed Ethiopian Opposition Organizations

January 7,2015


A combined force of a United Ethiopian Liberation Front is whatthe people of Ethiopia sought for

By TesfaNews,

TWO of the influential Amsterdam based Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) journalists, Fasil YeneAlem and Mesay Mekonen, have arrived in Asmara today to report on the highly anticipated merger of three competing armed Ethiopian opposition forces.

The reporters will visit the different opposition military bases in the country and are expected to report on the state of affairs of these opposition armed forces.

For years, the Ethiopian people have been demanding for a united political front that ultimately leads to a strong, united Ethiopia that are in peace with its neighbors and itself. Time has come for the Ethiopian people to own a united struggle against the minority TPLF regime and pay the ultimate sacrifice to save Ethiopia and its people from the present quagmire.

Accordingly, the merger of the Ethiopian People Patriotic Front (EPPF); Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedmon and Democracy (G7); and the Amhara Democratic Forces Movement (ADFM) will be materialized in the coming days.

As soon as the merger of the three political forces is completed, the work of allying with other organization such as the highly militarized and the strongest of all, the Tigrean Peoples Democratic Movement (TPDM), will kick off. To help assimilate the said process, ESAT has already allocated a considerable amount of airtime for TPDM propaganda works over its satellite frequency.

ESAT reporters are also expected to conduct a series of interviews with high ranking Eritrean officials.

Ever since Ethiopia announced a change in its foreign policy against Eritrea and actively advocate for a regime change, the Eritrean government has maintained its defensive policy while building its capacity silently, efficiently.

The people of Ethiopia and Eritrea deserves peace and mutual co-existence. But peace won’t come without sacrifice.

http://ethsat.com/video/esat-two-esat-journalists-in-eritrea-january-7-2015/

“Freedom for Free and Fair Election!” is About Breaking the Vicious Cycle

December 27, 2014
by T.Goshu
1. We are about five months away from the “national election” expected to take place in May of this year. Whether we will keep doing the same way of doing politics and oddly wait for things to happen by themselves (if there is such happening in real life), or we should play a dynamic political game and make things happen in favor of freedom and justice is still a very tough challenge to face. I do not think the issue is really our shortcomings in theorizing – explaining the importance of election and how to do it. For that matter, the current constitution (“the supreme law of the country”) does not have serious deficiency in out lining the basic values and principles in this regard. The very deep and serious challenge we are facing is the total absence of constitutionalism. What we do really have is a constitution or a document used by an ethno-centric TPLF and its brain-children (members of the Front) to attack and eliminate all opposition parties and dissenting political movements. Needless to say, the document (the constitution) of TPLF/EPRDF is not used as the supreme legal document either to check and balance the powers of the three branches of government or to regulate the relationship between citizens and the government. There is no need for us to go far in search of evidence as this deadly notorious political game is part of the day-to-day lives of the people. It is because of this kind of chronically ill political environment that it is quite safe to say that it will be a very stupid political mistake to announce and decide to participate in the upcoming election instead of working in unison and force the ruling elites to open the political gate and door they closed on peoples’ face for the last two decades. And I think that is the very powerful purpose of “Freedom for Free and Fair Election! “campaign.
The most acute shortcomings come from our highly egoistic political mentalities and the very backward political culture (devoid of democratic values) throughout our political history which seriously affect the very necessity of having collective vision for common destiny. Simply put, the very puzzling part of our way of doing politics is our terrible weaknesses to make the relationship between our theories (words) and deeds as meaningful as it should be. I am not talking about perfection which is unrealistic in dealing with politics in general and the Ethiopian politics in particular. What I am trying to say is that making very wonderful political rhetoric that cannot be tested with actions (deeds) is doomed to fail. In other words, whatever and how much we may theorize and argue about what the problem is and how and why we deal with it , they remain great theories and arguments until they examined or tested in practical terms. And this examination and testing requires the wisdom and courage to pay any necessary price in order not to compromise our fundamental principle and values, and to accomplish the desired goal we aspire and set. True, the path of our political struggle may terribly be full of up and downs to the extent of paying ultimate sacrifices , especially in countries languishing under ruthlessly tyrannical regimes such us ours.
One of the great Greek Philosophers, Socrates (before the birth of Christ) powerfully challenges us when he argues, “Unexamined life is not worth living.” Yes, we should honestly and courageously acknowledge the unfortunate situation in which we are living after thousands of years if we want to bring about a change that would make our lives worth living. Needless to say, the very issue of choosing or electing our representatives through a process which we as a people set up and have a sovereign power over it is the only means to break the vicious circle we have come through and to make our lives truly worth living. In other words, joining the deadly notorious drama of election which has been tested and tragically failed for the last two decades in the name of peaceful political struggle will not only keep the vicious cycle going but it will also make our lives much more dehumanizing or not worth living. This may sound to some fellow Ethiopians very harsh and kind of pessimistic. But that is what it is unless we want to deny and avoid it instead of face it, deal with it and overcome it.
I strongly want to argue that the announcement by some opposition political parties to participate in the upcoming election without public mobilization which meaningfully do put pressure on the reckless behavior and deadly political game of the ruling elites sounds not encouraging. I do deeply believe that the general crisis (political, socio-economic, moral/ethical, cultural, religious, not to mention identity) we are facing desperately requires the very feasible political strategy and perseverance, not the other way round.
It is my strong believe that there is a need for us to be deeply and genuinely self-critical if we have to make the upcoming election the turning point for good that should be bound to our desired common destiny: the prevalence of peace, freedom, a real sense of equality, justice, socio-economic wellbeing, and human dignity all of which are of course the sources of our national pride.
Needless to say that given the very ugly and deadly political drama of the inner circle of TPLF/EPRDF on one hand; and the outrageously senseless weaknesses of the political opposition organizations on the other hand for the last two decades, it is with a very mixed feeling that I have to