| 
|
Joint
Statement of Various Ethiopian Communities in the Greater
Toronto
Area
December 19,
2005
ˇ
The Ethiopian
people have lived under the yoke of repressive regimes and as a result suffered
severely for decades from wars, famine, ethnic
and religious discrimination; sever human right violation and deprivation of
basic education to the majority. Democracy, equality and development
eluded the nation for so long.
Instead, internal conflicts, fear of absolute power, poverty and dismal
economic performance remained its identifying features. There is increasing evidence that
underdevelopment and poverty in developing countries are mainly the result of
the failure of governments to discharge their responsibilities.
Ethiopia
as a developing country has been a victim of the failure of previous regimes in
respect of political reform and economic
progress. Modern
political reform and a visionary economic
policy lie at the heart of the solutions to the country's chronic problems.
ˇ
The current
constitutional order was established with immense sacrifice by the Ethiopian
people and their triumph over the ruthless criminal regime of the durg. The nation for the first time in its
history saw a new form of organization of
political authority-constitutional parliament.
This institution opened up a new era for the country - the era of stability,
peace, and democracy, equality of nations, regional self-administration and
economic development. We strongly
believe that a democratic system cannot succeed
without the scrupulous observation of the rule of law by all. It is important to understand that
trust, respect, understanding and harmony can
be cultivated and nurtured if all stake holders act in good faith and allow
political differences to play out according to
the rules of the game. In this
respect, credit goes to those individuals and parties that participated in the
May election and contributed their share in strengthening the democratic
process. While we appreciate the
efforts of all participants, we would also like to underscore that in any
political contest, particularly in a developing
country like
Ethiopia where
experience in the practice of democracy is minimal and voter
sophistication is lacking, three things must be
off-limits for any player: peace, stability and continuity of development. The future of the people of
Ethiopia depends
heavily on whether or not the nation is able to guarantee unshakable peace and
stability and on whether she creates an environment conducive for the next
generation to continue the mission of progress and harmony. No reason whatsoever should thus be used
as an excuse to override these long term interests of the people. The guarantee for this is the law and if
Ethiopia is to
succeed in its endeavor of building a just system she must strictly enforce the
law. Any group or individual
involved in violence and other unconstitutional activities should be prosecuted
to the full extent of the law. This
sends the right message to anyone and everyone interested in the
political future of the country.
ˇ
We do not only
condone but strongly condemn any form of
provocation or incitement of violence by any
group or political organization and strongly
encourage all current or future political
players to act according to the provisions of the constitution and exercise
their democratic rights within the bounds of the law. As they say "we are in bondage to the law
so we all can be free". We understand that in an emerging
democracy, a tension tends to crop up between the rule of law and democratic
rights. The way out of this kind of impediment is for the government to enforce
the law and for parliament to investigate the actions of the government through
an independent commission. If the
commission's findings show that the government used excessive force in enforcing
the law, parliament holds it accountable.
This is the standard practice in the advanced democracies and we believe
that democracy in
Ethiopia would
be served best if all stake holders abide by this principle.
ˇ
Our communities
earlier condemned the recent violence and other unconstitutional activities in
Ethiopia that
were organized and executed by the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD)
and its supporters. We believe
that such move by the concerned party is irresponsible, insensitive, immature,
unproductive and most of all outside of the rules of the game. In a
constitutional system any party that resorts to violence for whatever reason
cannot be trusted for the highest public office
of the nation, for that matter, for any level of public office. We also vehemently denounce the CUD for
unleashing violent mobs deliberately to create havoc and mayhem on EID UL FITR
holiday which shows the true color of the leaders - contempt, disrespect and
insensitivity to Muslim citizens. There should absolutely be no room for
this kind of behavior in the new
Ethiopia. The organizers and leaders of the
violence should be held accountable for the loss of life and the destruction of
property.
ˇ
It is our belief
that peace and stability will prevail in
Ethiopia if all
concerned up-hold and protect the new
Ethiopia. The
new Ethiopia is
for all its citizens and not for a specific ethnic group as it was in the dark
ages of the past where the people were violated and treated as second class
citizens in their own homeland. We believe those dark ages are gone and stand no
chance of reincarnation. Under the current
constitutional order all citizens are treated equal and are able to exercise
their rights within the rule of law. The new era of democracy, freedom and
equality pioneered by the EPRDF is critical for
the future of the people and needs to be given a chance to flourish and mature
so the nation can continue to expand its
development and social progress. We
urge the people of
Ethiopia to
guard and protect their hard - won constitutional order and send the right
signal to any group that might venture into the business of ethnic tension and
incitement of violence as recently observed in the
capital.
ˇ
We thank the
Ethiopian people for their resilience in absorbing the shock and for being able
to withstand and resist all the destructive measures taken by the violent
mobs. We also extend our
condolences and sympathies to families who lost their loved ones in the
confrontation. We also wish wellness and health to those injured. While we
encourage the government to bring to justice the culprits and all those who
masterminded the recent violence, we also welcome the establishment of an
independent commission by parliament to investigate whether or not the
government's response to the violence was unreasonably excessive.
ˇ
It is to be
recalled that based on its track-record with
regard to its pro-poor policies, vital economic reconstruction and good
governance
Ethiopia has
been selected to be in the first round of beneficiaries of the debt elimination
and expanded aid programs initiative of the G-8 countries. Just in 2004
Ethiopia, with
investment rate of 18 percent and inflation rate of 2 percent, registered 12
percent growth rate in GDP and 9 percent growth in per
capita income.
Ethiopia
has also improved its food security and is geared to fulfill its poverty
reduction goals. This, by any standard, is an encouraging performance if not
spectacular. But we also know that
50 percent of our people still live under the poverty line.
Ethiopia's
current external debt is about US$3 billion. Total elimination of all its debt and
expansion of aid will therefore give a substantial boost to the country's
domestic investment rate and spending on infrastructure,
education and health
care which are
critical for poverty reduction and growth. This also creates conducive environment
for foreign investment, foreign trade and the acquisition of modern technology.
In short, the impact of complete debt
cancellation, expanded aid programs and access
to foreign markets on poverty reduction and growth are enormous. We reiterate
that because of the rampant and pervasive
nature of poverty,
Ethiopia needs
to keep the current momentum on development to make a
significant dent on poverty in the coming
years. In this context, debt
cancellation and aid would play a
significant role in promoting growth and
reducing poverty. In contrast to
this novel mission, some individuals in the Diaspora have chosen to
campaign against debt
cancellation and aid for
Ethiopia on the
grounds that they do not like the EPRDF or that they support this party or that
group. This is at best short sighted and immature and at worst a betrayal to the
nation and its people. We strongly denounce such activities by any group and
encourage western governments to examine
carefully the history and motive of those who
stand against the long term interests of the Ethiopian people. We understand that the support of
Ethiopia's
development partners would go a long way in promoting growth and alleviating
poverty. We also know that
Ethiopia's
development partners have contributed
significantly to put the country on track for
which the people are thankful. In
this light, we appeal to the donor community to continue their efforts in
collaboration with the nation to bring to its conclusion the unfinished business
of making poverty history.
Thank You,
Various Ethiopian Communities in the GTA
Home
|