Kinijit North America Editorial Support, May 11, 2007
Twenty six Million registered Ethiopian voters went to the polls on May 15, 2005. Of these, 49% voted to place the pan-Ethiopian coalition (Kinijit) to power. The huge turnout of voters was testimony to the desire of Ethiopians to peacefully and democratically elect their leaders. The majority rejected ethnic-centered governance as only 34% of the electorate voted for the incumbent TPLF/EPRDF and its affiliated parties, while the remaining 17% voted for the UEDF and other parties. A week before the election an estimated 2 million citizens held a peaceful rally in Addis Abeba in support of Kinijit and in opposition to ethnic centered tyranny of the TPLF/EPRDF party headed by Prime Minster Meles Zenawi.
However, a day after the election Mr. Zenawi invented that the Tigreyan are under potential danger from other Ethiopians and declared a state of emergency banning the right of the public assembly, an act that was quickly supported by former USA President Carter, who was heading the election observation delegation from the Carter Center.
The ban of public assembly was a prelude to the mass murders, torture, imprisonments, including the incarceration of the leadership of the Kinijit Party, administered by the TPLF/EPRDF security forces. The observer team of the elections from the European Parliament, headed by the Honorable Anna Gomez objected to the horrific actions taken against the peaceful Ethiopian people and stood for the democratic rights of Ethiopians, while the US administration supported the tyrannical Zenawi regime. On the other hand, a group of congressmen and women and senators from the USA expressed their support for the democratic rights of Ethiopians and a bill (H.R. 5680) in support of the democratic rights of Ethiopians was passed in subcommittee headed by the Honorable Christopher Smith, chairman of the African Subcommittee. The cause to support Ethiopians is furthered by a successor bill (H.R.2003) of the same African Subcommittee that the Honorable Donald Payne is chairing.
We celebrate the May 15, 2005 event, for the historic election Ethiopians made in favor of a pan-Ethiopian politics and against ethnic-centered politics. They elected the leaders of the Kinijit Party as their leaders. It is the leaders of Ethiopia that the TPLF/EPRDF has placed in jail. It is the leaders of the Kinijit Party, though incarcerated, who have the torch of democracy in their hands. We celebrate the May 15, 2005 elections for it identified strong Ethiopian leaders who even under hardship keep their dignity in a manner fully deserving of our honor and respect.
It was much after the despicable action taken by the treasonous TPLF/EPRDF party which placed an international boundary within Ethiopia, and which gave away the maritime territories and properties to the EPLF that the Ethiopians peacefully and with dignity voted the Kinijit Party to power. In the May 15, 2005 election, the people rejected the fourteen years of mismanagement and numerous acts of genocide taken by Zenawi and his TPLF/EPRDF. Ironically, after his security forces murdered more than 200 Ethiopians and imprisoned thousands in the wake of the elections, Zenawi incarcerated and charged the leaders of the Kinijit Party of treason and genocide that his Kangaroo court pursues.
Zenawi and the TPLF/EPRDF have tried to continually create conditions they wrongly think will make Ethiopians hopeless. To the contrary, it is Zenawi and his TPLF/EPRDF who are in a hopeless condition since they have lost the respect of the people they purport to lead. By murdering innocent civilians not only in Ethiopia but also in neighboring Somalia, Zenawi is swimming in the innocent blood of Ethiopians and Somalis. This cannot stand. Zenawi and the TPLF/EPRDF are answerable for the heinous crimes they had and continue to commit against humanity.
Millions of honorable Ethiopian held a peaceful rally in Addis Abeba on May 8, and stood in queues for long hours with dignity on May 15, 2005. They rejected Zenawi and the TPLF/EPRDF and elected the Kinijit to govern them. Though their vote was not respected by the gun totting TPLF EPRDF Party militia, we celebrate the solemn determination of the Ethiopian electorate. Ethiopians have demonstrated their stubborn patience to change the current untenable condition through peaceful means. The TPLF/EPRDF ought no to confuse their patience for fear. We honor the indomitable Ethiopian spirit for freedom that was displayed by the peaceful act of the electorate. They have made May 15, 2005, a day that will live in glory in the annals of Ethiopian history.
Ethiopia shall survive
Kinijit North America Editorial Support