I would first like to congratulate you for the successful campaign that your party conducted in the general election of May 15th, even if the tally of CUD votes are still being counted and the issues are still not resolved I think your party had done a great job.
I am writing because I am concerned with how CUD is dealing with the contested votes. I understand your party is convinced that some of the votes were rigged and that the current government is responsible for this injustice. I respect CUDs determination to rectify this problem.
What concerns me and why I was compelled to write this letter is because CUD post-election activities are dividing the Ethiopian people at home and abroad. Furthermore I still haven’t heard and read much from CUD on how it plans to bring positive change in the life of the ordinary citizens. Having a manifesto is a beginning, but getting down to work and making selfless contribution to the progress of the country is what the people need.
CUD has every right to contest the votes it has lost unfairly, and there are many ways to do that without disfranchising the voters and crippling the country. The staged demonstration in US and Germany were supposed to be a call for a fair counting of the election votes, but they ended up being a forum for EPRDF bashing. Is CUD main goal to win 100 percent of the votes and overthrow the EPRDF government? If the demonstrations were about getting justice for the election fraud then the message was lost in the current government attack.
The CUD leadership should be working on planning and developing strategies for building a new Ethiopia in whatever capacity it can influence. From were I stand all I see is that CUD is more concerned in gaining political power and less in quickly getting to work and making real contribution to the suffering of the poor people.
Your party has already lost valuable time and I urge you not to wait till you get resolution to the contested votes before you start serving the very people who voted for you. We don’t need another bunch of career politicians, what Ethiopia needs is a true opposition party made up of genuine leaders who are more interested in working for the people and less in building their ego.
