Professor Tecola Hagos` thinly veiled support for Meles Zenawi.

 

I have been appreciating professor Tecola Hagos` stance on issues related to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia. However, in his recent scathing criticism directed at the US bill, he has gone out of his
way and attacked the opposition and some figures making constructive contributions. In the same token,professor Tecola is making a thinly veiled attempt to defend and support the brutal and illegitimate regime of Meles Zenawi. While acknowledging his rights to do so, I have not expected him to go so low as the cadres of Meles Zenawi do and engage in the business of mudslinging. His diatribe against the democratic pro-Ethiopian opposition and personalities has transcended the bounds of decency and
reasoning and are hence not acceptable. Ethiopians know and value the sacrifices of the opposition standing and struggling for democracy and unity in their country. The visions of this section of the opposition have inspired and mobilized millions of Ethiopians from across our communities and led to the outright defeat of the ethnic dictatorship of Meels Zenawi in the ballot box. However, Meles Zenawi has been able to retain his absolute power because of his guns and the support of his neo-colonialist western masters. This is one of the realities the professor and the other supporters of the TPLF could not accept and swallow. The attacks against the pro-Ethiopian forces of democracy and unity have their roots in the ethnic politics and anti-Ethiopia policy of the TPLF and other liberation fronts sharing similar positions and views. Given his background as the member of the TPLF, it is naturally difficult for him to accept the pro-Ethiopian agenda and visions of the opposition. I think that is why the professor is defending the un defendable and favoring the status quo in the country. His wanton attacks on the opposition and personalities who are sacrificing a lot to bring about a peaceful and lasting democratic transition in the country is not acceptable because they do not serve the interest of the country. They do not promote democracy and human rights either. What is expected of Ethiopians of his caliber and career is rather to join the mounting and popular struggle for democracy, freedom, protection of human rights and justice in the country. It is regrettable to find him still stuck in the moribund and outdated ethnic ideology of Meles Zenawi which has taken the country back by centuries. The noose around the necks of Meles Zenawi is tightening by each passing day and the hopes for vitalising the TPLF as a political force to be reckoned with, are very faint. Considering the long term negative consequences and divisive anti-Ethiopia politics and policies of Meles Zenawi, no concerned Ethiopian would raise his or her voices or pens to defend the brutal and neo-fascistic front, the TPLF. The professor’s denunciations of the opposition would not contribute to the survival of the TPLF except revealing his intentions and positions as regards the serious crisis facing the country. It is running Ethiopia like a family owned property and has marginalized popular Ethiopian forces who can and are willing to make significant contributions to their country. The clan based rule of Meles Zenawi has simply exacerbated the problems of the country and brought it to the point of implosion. The current country wide famine is mainly the product of Meles Zenawi`s wicked and exclusive economic policy catering only for his clan and followers.

We do not see any bright spot in the despotic rule of Meles Zenawi`s TPLF or EPRDF. All is gloomy and the escalating desperation and hopelessness is being manifest in the urge to use any hole or opportunity to leave the country for good. The fabricated economic growth figures of Meles Zenawi are fast proving to be decoys aimed at deceiving and concealing the unfolding human tragedies of famine, misery and poverty in the country. We should have all joined hands and acted in unison In the light of all the tragedies and capabilities of the pro-Ethiopian democratic opposition are badly needed and welcome. The political momentum to remove the ethnic dictatorship of Meles Zenawi and his thugs should gain pace. I am one of the regular visitors of the professor`s web site. The professor had confessed his former membership in the TPLF and had mentioned the manipulations and misdeeds of Meles Zenawi as the main reasons for his departure from the TPLF and Ethiopia. Thus, the professor does not have any problem with the TPLF other than his disagreements with its leader Meles Zenawi. The professor himself is one of the known critics of Meles Zenawi. He has been repudiating the latter for compromising and harming the security and national interests of Ethiopia. Following the professor`s lines of argument, one can realize his conviction or position that TPLF without Meles Zenawi is a political force which can play a constructive role in Ethiopia. As far as the objections of the professor go, they are focused on Meles Zenawi and his role in the TPLF. However, the professor has ignored or overlooked one fundamental thing about the current composition of the TPLF or EPRDF. The front is the private property or instrument of Meles Zenawi and it can not function or even survive without him. Meles Zenawi has cleansed and purged the TPLF or EPRDF of any potential rival, dissident and pro-Ethiopian elements and reorganized it in his own image and way. He has made sure that the fate of the TPLF is inextricably linked to that of him. Thus, the TPLF or EPRDF is of no use to Ethiopia other than serving as the repressive and plundering instrument of Meles Zenawi whose contempt and disdain for Ethiopia and Ethiopians are limitless. The US Bill aimed at lending some kind of support to the effort of the opposition to democratize the country, protect human rights and promote the rule of law, has been a thorn in the side of the regime of Meles Zenawi. In its futile attempt to enlist the support of Ethiopians, the anti-Ethiopia regime of Meles Zenawi has falsely accused the Bill of intending to violate the sovereignty of Ethiopia. Professor Tecola Hagos has joined this folly and is crusading against the bill jointly with the anti-Ethiopia regime of Meles Zenawi. One can not fail to see the stark similarity between his and the regime’s grounds for opposing the bill all of which revolve around sovereignty. I can not imagine these guys convincing any country loving Ethiopian to accept Meles Zenawi`s regime as the defender of our sovereignty. Their argument does not hold any ground simply because Meles Zenawi has been harming and violating the sovereignty and national interests of Ethiopia. Besides, the regime of Meles Zenawi is illegitimate in that it has lost the election it has organized for the political consumption of its donors and is holding political power by force. The professor should know that membership in the TPLF is guilt by association since the front is a perpetrator of atrocities starting from its time in the bush to its present day as a regime. The professor blames all the atrocities committed during the red terror on the military regime and Meison. It is well known that the TPLF has conducted its own red terror in the bushes and deserts of Tigray. The front has killed in a brutal way those Ethiopians who had managed to escape from the red terror in the cities and towns and EPRP`s fighters operating in its declared ethnic homeland. The TPLF is as accountable or responsible as the military leaders for unleashing the red terror and killing thousands of lives. In his recent posting, the professor admires and exalts Meles Zenawi as an intelligent politician. We know that Meles Zenawi has significant western money and expertise behind him and is operating under their close guidance and coaching. It is worth recalling the guidance and intellectual leadership roles the EPLF had been playing in streamlining the regime of Meles Zenawi until the break out of hostilities. A former TPLF general is quoted as admitting the absence of intellectuals in the core leadership of the front in his recent interview. This is what the professor is trying to portray as intelligence in his endeavour to undermine the opposition and promote the despot Meles Zenawi. The unfortunate situation that prevailed and paved the way for the take over of Meles Zenawi was the best of you against Ethiopia`s worst, the military regime of Colonel Mengistu. Thus the professor is finding himself in the two contradicting worlds. Ethiopiawinet and the ethnic homeland of the TPLF. Ethiopiawinet and the TPLF are at war with each other and the latter is doomed to fail and lose the war. The professor can not live in these two antagonistic worlds. He will have to choose between the two. I hope he will embrace Ethiopiawinet which will provide him with the right treatment against the anti-Ethiopia viruses of Meles Zenawi. We know that these anti-Ethiopia viruses had been developed in the laboratories of the EPLF where the intelligent (according to the professor) Meles Zenawi received his training on how to spread them in Ethiopia. Ethiopiawinet is the reliable cure for the illness caused by
these viruses.

Feyissa Woyessa.

Sweden.