EDUCATIONAL DISCOURSE

This discourse relates to  the Ethiopia "Respect the Vote" nonviolent movement.  "Respect the Vote" is the overarching and unifying slogan of the nonviolent movement.

What can be done?

The following is the list of the Eductional discourses.

#1. The opposition to tyrannical governance must work under one Ethiopian movement.

#2. TPLF/EPRDF was not the winner of elections made by the 27 million Ethiopians that cast their votes in May 2005. Exit polls showed that Kinijit received 49% of the vote, TPLF/EPRDF and other parties allied to it got 34% of the vote, and Hebret and other parties got 17% of the vote. But the TPLF and EPRDf made erroneous claim and the whole issue became murky. From the 547 seats sought by parties 299 were contested. Of the uncontested votes, Hebret and others had received 54 seats. Meles had not contested at least 109 seats won by Kinijit (CUD), though he denied immunity to these MPs and put them in jail on trumped-up charges. Thus, the tyrannical TPLF/EPRDF party an other allied to it had won only 85 (547-299-54-109 = 85) seats that were not contested by the opposition parties and the electorate.

#3. European political scientists had observed that African states maybe placed in one of 5 types of dysfunctional or failed states. Ato Meles had agreed that Ethiopia is a failed state. Perhaps, Ato Meles was told that the case of Ethiopia is similar to the "captured " variety of which Rwanda was said to be a typical example. This might explain why Ato Meles was preaching his fear of a Rwandan-type massacre happening in the period of the May 2005 elections.

#3B. History of foreign involvement in Ethiopian affairs from Ahmad Gragn to Meles

#4. S. Ellis (2005) hypothesis of dealing with dysfunctional states. According to Ellis "The West should adopt a new, enlightened form of self-interest and be open to engaging in new sorts of involvement in Africa. .. What is required ... are international joint ventures ..[that]..would avoid the evils of colonialism...and the errors of more recent peacekeeping and state building". (p.148)

Since Discourse # 4 the EU Parliament has meaningfully condemned the atrocities committed by the Ethiopian regime, and the EU Commission has planned to withhold 375 million that they directly donate to the budget of the TPLF/EPRDF party.

#5. This piece describes briefly the so-called five-day national conference of the EPLF-TPLF/EPRDF in which they got their proposals sanctioned by conference participants.

Mention also was made on the history of US involvement in the enthroning of the EPLF and TPLF/EPRDF over Ethiopia, and the division of Ethiopia into two states. Moreover controversial work by some individual western political and social scientists was reacted to in non-flattering terms.

#6. Read books on nonviolent movement including by Gene Sharp.

HG  1/2/2006