On The Ethiopian Prime Minister's Unprecedented letter to the Editor of 'The Ethiopian Herald'

We are privileged to carry in this edition of the Herald a long letter to the editor of the Herald by Prime Minister Meles. The letter which the Premier sent to the Editor will be published in three parts, the first of which you will find on the third page.

The letter is a frank response to the report put out by the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM). The PM says this is the first time ever that he has published anything in his name. He explains why. He also lays out the reason why he chose to write to the editor of the Herald and to put out this important and very interesting response to EU-EOM Report, in English. Readers of the Herald are invited to read this fascinating riposte by the Ethiopian PM.

Letter to the editor

Easy to remove the garbage that has covered lumps of truth
August 27, 2005

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter in response to the "preliminary statement on the elections' appeals process, the re-run of elections and the Somali region elections" of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM). As this is the first time in my entire political life that anything is being published in my name, the letter is likely to come as a surprise to you and your readers. Allow me, therefore, to briefly explain why there appears to
be a break in tradition.

I have, in the past, never felt the urge to publish anything in my name. My party has the tradition of publishing materials that explain its views on all issues of relevance. As your readers might guess, I normally agree with those views and therefore had nothing interesting and/or different to say. Hence, I had neither the rationale nor the urge to publish anything in my name.

Party publications, however, take time because every word has to be agreed upon by the relevant bodies. That is of no consequence in normal times. But the situation we are in today requires prompt response. A statement that requires immediate and considered response has been issued. The statement has created outrage across the nation. I feel I have an urgent and interesting message to those that have been outraged by the statement. I feel the normal party response is too slow to address the urgent requirements of the day. Hence, the break in tradition.

Some of your readers might wonder why I wrote this letter in English. The answer is rather simple. The statement of the Observation Mission which I will be quoting extensively is written in English. If I were to write this letter in any other language, I would have had to translate the quotes and run the risk of being accused of misquoting or mistranslating the statement. I could not and did not want to take that risk.

Big Lumps of Truth.

The statement has come as a great surprise to me. I had expected that the statement would have very few if any nuggets of truth, and, if any, that these would be buried under so much garbage that it would be virtually impossible to excavate them. As it turned out, the statement has some big, really big, lumps of truth in it, and it is relatively easy to remove the garbage that has covered those lumps of truth. While I was expecting a huge garbage damp all I got was newly started garbage damp that was unable to bury the truth. The letter cannot but therefore start by identifying and highlighting the lumps of truth in the statement.

The head of the EU-EOM has nothing new to say about the electoral process up to and including polling day. She is full of praise of that phase in the process and in any case no one I know has seriously contested the fact that the first phase of the process was an exemplary democratic process by any standards. The statement focuses on the investigations into alleged electoral malpractice in the vote counting and tabulation process and that
is where I too, intend to focus.

The EU-EOM says the following on page three of the statement:

"The election administration (sic) has set up a complex system to investigate and address election complaints in a tense political environment, thus offering the political parties a mechanism to sort out disputes by peaceful means. That mechanism in itself is a very positive development (emphasis in the original), which should be improved in the future taking stock of lessons learned with (sic) the practice this time."

I would fully agree with the EU-EOM on this. The mechanism that was set up to investigate complaints with the agreement of all concerned parties was indeed a very good mechanism that provided for a peaceful solution to the disputes with respect to the elections. It was the appropriate mechanism for an environment that the EU-EOM characterizes as tense. The system designed for previous elections could not work in the new environment of tension, and a new system that can work in such an environment had to be designed with the agreement of all the concerned parties.

Furthermore, the EU-EOM says on page three of the statement, that:

"In procedural terms, the work of many, thought not all, Complaint Investigations Panels (CIPs) observed went according to the Terms of Reference, at least as long as observers were present."

Further down the page the EU-EOM re-asserts the same point by saying:

"....The CIPs worked in general in accordance with the terms of reference...."

Thus according to the EU-EOM, not only was the mechanism a good one but also one that in general operated on the basis of its terms of reference.

On page 4 and 5 of the statement the following is said:

"In (sic) many occasions, the EU observers reported that opposition parties presented their cases based on poor evidence, inconsistent testimonies weak arguing (sic) The fact that in some constituencies opposition parties withdrew from the CIPs without presenting their case or before the end of the examination of the case was detrimental to the final recommendation given by the CIPs to the NEBE"

Whether the fact that in some instances the opposition parties boycotted the process that they had signed up to and that according to the EU-EOM the CIPs worked in general on the basis of their terms of reference and that the referred to boycott was detrimental to the recommendations of the CIPs is a matter of opinion. That the opposition parties' cases were based on poor evidence, that the testimony of their witnesses was "inconsistent," to put it mildly, and that their arguments were weak is a matter of record, and I fully agree with the EU-EOM on the matter.

On page 5 of its statement the EU-EOM says:

"On the contrary, in most cases, EPRDF evidence was better substantiated; their CIPs representatives were better prepared and their witnesses (often members of the local administration) more impressive."

Again, one cannot disagree with the facts as presented by the EU-EOM and as are available in the records of the CIPs. The EPRDF's cases were in "most instances" based on substantiated evidence and the testimony of its witnesses was not "inconsistent". No wonder the EPRDF won most of the cases!

In summary, the EU-EOM states (i) that the complaints mechanism was a good mechanism given the tense environment (ii) that the investigations were in general carried out according to the procedures (iii) that the opposition parties did not present substantial evidence and their witnesses were inconsistent and (iv) that the EPRDF substantiated and argued its case, well. These are facts with which I am in full agreement.

Ordinary mortals would conclude on the basis of the above mentioned uncontested facts that the complaints investigations process was in general conducted well and that based on the evidence of the EPRDF and the opposition parties, it would be natural that the EPRDF would win most of the cases. Not so says the EU-EOM. But we shall come back to this later. Let us for the moment continue to excavate the lumps of truth in the report.

The EU-EOM says the following about the re-run of the elections on page 7 of its statement.

"their findings about the polling process were generally positive (emphasis in the original). Their overall assessment of the process has been rated as good in 64% of the cases and very good in 24%. The rules were implemented according to the electoral law and the re-runs took place in a peaceful and orderly manner"

I would rate the re-runs at a significantly higher level than EU-EOM has done, but even if we take the conservative ratings of the EU-EOM, the re-runs would satisfy international standards and would clearly be
considered as free and fair elections.

Having put such big lumps of truth about the complaints investigation mechanism and the re-runs of the elections, the EU-EOM comes up with a conclusion that is clearly contrary to the facts that it has itself presented as outlined above and says the following on page 9 of its statement:

"The EU-EOM regrets that the 15th of May post-polling day irregularities, delays and opacity of the counting and aggregation of data, plus the subsequent flawed handling of complaints and re-runs of elections in some
constituencies, and the poorly organized electoral process conducted in Somali (sic) Region, did not live up to international standards and to the aspirations of Ethiopians for democracy."

I shall focus on assessing how the EU-EOM came to such a conclusion which contradicts the facts that it has itself presented. In doing so, I shall limit myself to those issues that relate to the EPRDF and the major opposition parties i.e. the complaints investigation mechanism and the re-run of elections. I will do so not only because I am not adequately informed about the elections in the Somali region but also because the elections in that region have been of marginal impact to the outcome of the election at the national level and to the dispute between my party and the main opposition parties.

What has it got to do With The Investigations?

The conclusions of the EU-EOM as relates to the complaints investigations, as it were, stand on two legs. The first leg has to do with the context of the investigations while the second leg is related to the investigations
themselves. Let us deal with them one at a time.

On page six of the statement the EU-EOM says:

"The context of the complaints process was marked by on-going high tension in the country and stalemate between the government party (sic) and the opposition. This was aggravated by the handling of the June disturbances by governmental forces, in violation of human rights and the citizen's rights enshrined in the Ethiopian constitution"

One can rightly challenge the conclusions of the EU-EOM with regards to the June disturbances. But that would take us away from the main point. Let us instead focus on the impact of the "tension" on the investigation process.

The complaints investigation mechanism, as the EU-EOM says on page three of the statement, was a very positive development intended to address complaints "in a tense political environment". The very object of designing the system was to come up with a mechanism that can work in such an environment. It is such a system that the EU-EOM finds not only acceptable but also "a very positive development". But that of course is the EU-EOM of page three.

Three pages later the EU-EOM comes up with a radically different view. On page six, it states that the very fact that the complaints investigation mechanism operated in an environment of tension related to the elections and
the June events meant that the context of the investigations was such as to make the process one that did not live up to international standards. A mechanism that was specifically designed to work in an environment of
tension is invalidated because it continued to work in an environment for which it was designed i.e. one of tension. May God save humanity form observers with such perverse reasoning!

On page six the EU-EOM further states that:

"Tension was exacerbated by the fact that, since polling day public demonstrations were banned and media openness ceased, with the official media back under tight control and spinning (sic) of the ruling party and
opposition parties denied access to them. Also journalists were intimidated and arrested. The government, in the meantime, rejected (sic) to agree on a code of conduct for the free and responsible operation of the media. The
governmental control of state media compromises (sic) the credibility of electoral process since May 15...."

One can argue as to whether the ban on demonstrations in Addis-Ababa for two months increased the tension throughout the country as the EU-EOM alleges, or whether it helped to give the country a breathing space to manage the tension, as almost everyone else including much of the diplomatic community in Addis, believes. But again, that would take us away from our topic. The question is what has the ban on demonstrations got to do with the investigation?

A ban on demonstrations in Addis-Ababa does not prevent any one from presenting his/her evidence to the CIP's or from giving testimony to it. There is nothing in the procedure of the Panels which allows for the absence
or presence of demonstrations to be regarded as relevant evidence in the investigations of alleged malpractices in counting and aggregating votes on May 15th and few days after that. The investigations are about these
alleged malpractices and not on the impact of the ban of demonstrations on the tension in the country. So what has the ban of demonstrations got to do with the investigation? Nothing!

One can also contest the validity of the assertions of the EU-EOM with regard to the media. But that would take us too far from the real agenda of complaints investigations. The election campaign had ended before May 15.
All observers agree that during the election campaign all parties had fair access to public media. Just before polling day, electoral campaign through the public media ended as is the accepted practice everywhere. After May 15, the issue at hand was to investigate complaints. Such investigations cannot be carried out through media campaigns or debates. It could only be carried out by investigative panels based on evidence presented to them. But such ordinary logic is beyond the EU-EOM. If access to public media is denied to the opposition then the investigations must be flawed, they declare. But what has access to the media got to do with the investigations? Nothing!

One last point, while we are at it. The EU-EOM alleges that the government refused to agree on a code of conduct on the utilization of the media. That is a lie. The government was not and could not be part of the negotiations on the code of conduct. The negotiations were between the parties. As such, the government was in no position to accept or reject the code of conduct.

As we move on through page six of the statement, we find the following:

"Furthermore, the ruling party passed after May 15th new regulations affecting the conduct of parliament business (sic) and the role of opposition parties in it, and also impacting in (sic) the governance of the municipalities throughout the country, namely in the capital. Those regulations adopted without consultation with other parties which have gained seats in parliament in the electoral process, do not help promote the minimal confidence that democratic parties must build in a functioning democratic system."

Let us start with the facts. The EU-EOM does not appear to have made its mind as to whether the laws passed affected all municipalities or was limited to Addis. In one part of a sentence it talks about "municipalities throughout the country". In another part of the same sentence, it talks about "namely the capital". There is no legislation that affects the governance of all municipalities during the period in question. That is quite simply a lie!

The EU-EOM is more careful with its arguments than with its facts. It is not saying that passing such legislation was illegal or that the content of the legislation was undemocratic. It did not do that perhaps because it knows
that it would be laughed out of town, if it did so. What it finds objectionable is that the out-going parliament passed legislation before its term ended but after the elections without consulting parties that have gained seats in the incoming parliament whose term does not begin until early October, three months after the said legislation was passed. Any one who has a passing knowledge of what outgoing parliaments do until the very day their term ends would find the argument preposterous. But that is not the main question. The main question remains what has it got to do with the investigation?

The investigations are about alleged electoral malpractices that are alleged to have taken place on polling day and soon thereafter, and are carried out on the basis of evidence about these allegations. The investigations are
not about the future workings of the parliament or the municipality of Addis. So what does this perfectly normal process of legislation have to do with the investigations? Nothing!

One of the legs on which the EU-EOM conclusion on the complaints investigation is supposed to rest is the context of the investigations. It stands on the relevance of the contextual factors selected by the EU-EOM to the investigative process. I have shown that the factors have no relevance whatsoever.

The fact that there was tension in the country throughout the investigative process does not invalidate the mechanism because the mechanism was designed with the tension in mind. It's very raison d'etre is to work in such an environment. In any case, the EU-EOM cannot in one and the same statement declare that the mechanism was a good mechanism designed to work in an environment of tension and at the same time declare that the mechanism does not meet international standards because it operated in an environment of political tension.

The rest of the contextual factors have no relevance, whatsoever, to the investigative process. Indeed, they remind me of the famous Tina Turner song. What has love got to do with it? What indeed have they got to do with the investigative process? Nothing! The criticism by the EU-EOM of the complaints investigation process based on contextual factors has no leg to stand on because the contextual factors selected by it have no relevance at all to the investigations. The EU-EOM now stands on one leg, that of the investigations themselves to which we shall now return.

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

Should I say it looks like another "Bere Welede" or what?

Thanks

Meles proves that there is tenstion between himself and his party. It is clear that his party would not agree to what he is writing, therefore his decision to write this garbage. Interesting all the important issues are not improtant in his view. The killings of inncocent and peaceful demonstrators, the calming down of the media, irressponsible use of the media by the government (the threst to Rwanda like environment), the delay in vote counting are all not related to democracy. What a fool.

Meles said it is an extraordinary time. What I read is it is a desperate time. Gebrelekuskus, it is time to rent a party room for LeQso.

Ankasa Doro

Guys,

I told you meles is not sleeping these days. I said so several times. He is now keeping himself busy writing 20 pages of garbage.

Ankasa Doro

I spell desperation, real unadulterated desperation. The sun has set never to rise again for EPRDF

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

I smell desperation, real unadulterated desperation. The sun has set never to rise again for EPRDF

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

Guteta,

Where did you get this information from? I don't trust you? You sound like Gebrelikiskis, when he talked about the bomb planted in AA, I asked him how the hell did he know about it when even the local people who live there didn't.

I think you are trying to divert attention to the main issue, the EU critisism of the election.

Any way in time we will find out.

City: AA

Meles, isn’t fifteen years long enough? You have done everything you dreamt to do like torture, kill, steal and divide people in ethnic groups. It is time to leave Meles, you have accomplished your vision for Ethiopia. Ethiopian people have tolerated you for 15 years. And gave you a chance to redeem yourself. Now, the people have spoken in clear voice with their votes that 15 years is enough. Please leave peacefully. It is time for another leader.
Meles, you and your family should be grateful to Ethiopia. You came penny less now you and your family and friends are multi milliners while millions of Ethiopians are dying of diseases and hunger.
Please leave peacefully. Have respect to the people of Ethiopia who have given you and your family and friends an abundant life.

This is what, I get from your suggested link.



Gebreselassie

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Mina!

I amazed when you still don't believe about the story, I had posted.

Tobia even posted about. Let allow your mind to work for good.

«ቦምብ ጣለ የተባለው የመኢአድ አባል አይደለም» መኢአድ

ሰሞኑን በቂርቆስ ክፍለ ከተማ ጎተራ አካባቢ ወረዳ 19 ቀበሌ 49 በዋናው ሞቢል ነዳጅ ዲፖ ላይ የመኢአድ አባል ቦምብ ወረወረ በሚል የሚናፈሰው ወሬ ሐሰት መሆኑን፣ ሽፈራው ተገኝ የተባለው ተጠርጣሪም ፎርም ብቻ መሙላቱን አቶ ስለሺ አንዳርጌ የመኢአድ ሕዝብ ግንኙነት ለጦቢያ አስታወቁ።

የሞቢል ነዳጅ ዲፓን ለማፈንዳት ቦምብ የጣለው የመኢአድ አባል ነው እየተባለ የሚወራው ሕዝብን ለማወናበድና ከመኢአድ ጋር ለማጋጨት ካልሆነ በቀር ተቀባይነት አይኖረውም ያሉት አቶ ስለሺ ሰውየው ፎርም ቢሞላም የምዝገባ ቁጥር ያልተሰጠው፣ ፎርሙን ያስሞላው የመኢአድ አባል አስተያየት ያልተሰጠበት ገና በሂደት ማንነቱ ተጣርቶ አባል ሊሆን ይገባል ወይም አይገባም በሚል በእንጥልጥል ላይ ያለ መሆኑን ገልጸዋል።

ግለሰቡ ፎርሙን ሐምሌ 16 ቀን ሞልቷል። ይህ ግን ከመኢአድ ጋር በምንም ዓይነት አያገናኘውም የሚሉት አቶ ስለሺ «እንኳን አባል ያልሆነው ቀርቶ አባል ቢሆንም ወንጀል በመፈጸሙ ድርጅቱን ሊያስጠይቅ አይችልም። ይህንን መንግሥትም ስለሚያውቅ እስካሁን እኛ ጋር መጥቶ የጠየቀንም የለም። ለፕሮፖጋንዳ ፍጆታ ነው። በቅርቡ መግለጫ እንሰጣለን። ሕዝባችን የመንግሥትን ፕሮፖጋንዳ ስለሚያውቅ አይሳሳትለትም» በማለት አስረድተዋል።

Love and fear are always fighting.And always fear wins.The battle started way back in the stone ages and is still raging.Always fear wins.
Love suffers from injustice and abundence of hate,
fear suffers merely from lack of peace and RESPECT.
Love dies for its essence,
With respect and peace,
fear lives for its sins,
with disgust and nightmares,
In perpetual cycles.

God have mercy, on all of us.

Tribute To Terror prime minister, Meles Zenawi.

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

G/ Selassie,
The suggested link is correct. The problem is you not the link.

hehehe....even Gebreselassie cannot believe his master's doing! Go to ena.gov.et and u will find it on the upper right hand corner.

Oh, desperation!

Gebrelekuskus,

Yes, it is hard to believe. Who would have thoght your master would be this desperate. Waht is also funny is that letter to the editor is not supposed to be 20 pages. It is 10 lines at most. His world is up side down on him. Poor Meles.

Ankasa Doro

deseprate Millas=meles,

Your dying, desperate action says it all. Your parliament who feel trapped with you, now surely you know it YOUR OWN PARLIAMENT will trhow you out. You can't control this parliament anymore.

Be ready for TPLF. You are a TRAIOTR. Your DAMAGE AND DESTRUCTION with in TPLF is listless. In the name of tigreans you committed so much. The judgement for your crime is hear. Every single tigrean hates you and your cadres. You have no place anymore. u betetr leave ethiopia with grace, you are out already. Ethiopia needs ethiopian leaders who cares for Ethiopia. Not shabiya agents.

Be ready for TPLF quick action.

When I read Meles's shazon-hawzon article, I was laughing like a child (because of his desperate cry) and shamed as the biblical leper (because he is -although wrongly - the face of Ethiopia for the international audience).
What has he come to? He has sunk so low that he does not know it. He tries to sound ‘learned'- when he has not presented any and I mean any factual rebuttal for any component of the report. He tries to polemic when the subject matter is the decider of the fate of 70 million people and over the back of 42 dead people and countless miseries. He tries to be funny - when the fun time is long gone.
I tell you people, he must have written this article after taking some sort of drug. Even the Meles we surely can not be so dumb.
Meles says: "the EU report dealt with the June 8 riot and massacre, the conduct of parliament etc when they should not". Well, well, well. The EU EOM has the right and duty to report on anything and I repeat anything that had an impact or consequence on the election and investigation process. This above all includes factors that contribute to a state of fear among the public - because it potentially can change the outcome of the election.
People, Meles is gone.
I predict that if the opposition play their cards right, EPRDF will be out of office in weeks - not months. And good riddance!!

Email: hiwot@optusnet.com.au

City: Sydney

Ze Abyssinian


Per your suggestion, I found on ena.gov and thank you for that.
======================================================

....In summary, the EU-EOM states (i) that the complaints mechanism was a good mechanism given the tense environment (ii) that the investigations were in general carried out according to the procedures (iii) that the opposition parties did not present substantial evidence and their witnesses were inconsistent and (iv) that the EPRDF substantiated and argued its case, well. These are facts with which I am in full agreement.
Ordinary mortals would conclude on the basis of the above mentioned uncontested facts that the complaints investigations process was in general conducted well and that based on the evidence of the EPRDF and the opposition parties, it would be natural that the EPRDF would win most of the cases. Not so says the EU-EOM. ....
Source: The Ethiopian Herald(Letter to the Ethiopian Herald)

G/Zmelesatan,
What are you trying to tell us?

Gebrefenafent,

I hear UEDF is planning to approach OPDO. IS it a scary thought.

Mamo Qilo

As the Ethiopian saying goes :" Ye Leba ayne dereq melso libb adriq" What's more shocking is he is serious.As if he did not do any thing wrong.

Aye meleseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee they are comingggggg bitting, scratching, your back
Anyway it was good analysis, but to no avail... cause is a sign of desperation...

GERESSILASSE please stop copy-pasting from AIGA! ... Just say what you want to say....

Email: rebual@langoo.com

SUK-BEDRETE!

THERE IS NO REASON TO BE ANGRY AND CONFUSED.

Gebrelikiskis,

Life must be getting hard, we don't hear a lot from you. Are you finding it hard to cut & paste. Since most of the information is against your master.

Ha Ha Ha

City: AA

I am not surprised but found Abo Meles even below the bare minimum standard we provided him as a prime minister of a nation. He starts with a simple lie and then went the whole series of pages on false argument and cheap propaganda. First of all, this is not his first time nor will it be his last time to put insults and fabrications in one name or another. He has embarassed even his own cadres when he jumped on a live talk show and assumed Abebe and held a cheap exchange with an Eriterian ambassador. Even such a lowly chap identified him on spot and red handed. He has taken a number of assumed names to throw false allegations primarily on the foreign media. And most of these issues were concerns of national importance. This time around he used the Ethiopian herald mainly because that is how he can get the forum to mud slug anybody he wants. That is cheap!

It is insult to read that a leader of a party and a governing government has not sense of responsibility for what happened before, on and after the May 15 election except accusing the EU-EOM for stating the obvious: the election failed short of being free and fair. He knows and we all know it and it is beyond description to hear him rant in public. Where is the fairness of a national election where both the candidates and the electorate were subjected to harrassment, detention and even assassination for exercising their simple right? Where on earth is fairness when unarmed children were executed in a broad day light? Where is the fairness when a prime minister orders his own Agazi soldiers to shoot live bullets to civilians? I see crime and treason when people are murdered for a simple reason that they voiced not to steal their voice- their vote!

Woyane and Meles had the time and opportunity to smooth things when the opposition repeatedly asked for the reform of the NEBE and its replacement with an independent body. He refused. Several had expressed their concern about having Kemal Bedri stand to watch both the election and the complaint processes due to the conflict of interest and lack of indepedence and checking mechanisms. Again Woyane refused. Despite all these problems the opposition finally went ahead and participated in the elections and woyane felt assured to rigg and if need be call the election null and void and remain in office. When Woyane saw what happened in Addis, Meles paniced and rats in his pants. The result to declare a state of emergency and state of official election engineering. That is what happened and what everybody knows.

The EU-ECO report is nothing special for anybody who has the ear to listen and the eye to see. This is a collective cry of the electorate whose voice was robbed by the Woyane. The EU has the luxury and the protection, at least the physical protection, to say in public what they observed. Unlike the Ethiopian civilians whose fate was to be murdered with cold blood for voicing their desperate plea for justice and protection against political violence and teft.

We have all the reasons to reject the rule of the Woyane that tries to rule us at the gun point. We stand for justice and when justice is served and truth triumph, Ethiopia will heal its wound from the teft and political injustices.

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

G/Zmelesatan,
The whole world is coming down on your boss killer Meles. His health is deteriorating; that is a sign of defeat and confusion. The end of Meles is near. G/Meles, it is time for you to go back to your old job.

Lemlem!

As a drumer for Qilo, you should start early to drum when the singers started to sing. What a sad lady!

The source of the EU EOM inconsistency is their lack of firmness to call a shovel as a shovel. Those paragraphs and statements which the TPLF people banked on to rebut the report were meant "face saving" and a diplomatic bonus to TPLF. Otherwise, there is no basis to praise the process. There is nothing positive in the process after the date of the election. It was totally a sort of gang rape of the voices of the Ethiopian people. To the extent the report portrayed a positive image to the post-election process and the institutions that stirred it, it contains lies, and it undermines its own credibility. The unnecessary kindness and showing of diplomacy and leniency towards TPLF has backfired on the EU EMO.

It is, therefore, essential for the team to struck out all those lies and face saving clumsy assertions wrongly included in the the report in favour of TPLF and NEBE. The main report which is due for 23 September should be clean, bold and and more forthcoming in stipulating all the unprecedented election fraud and election robbery and the associated blunders, without any hesitation. Doing so, will be going a long way in the service of the Ethiopian people and democracy at large, and will save the EU observer team from the rude attack and all gullible arguments against their report.

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

Addis!

Deseperation was not the cause for Meles to write to the Ethiopian Herald. Had it been, he could have said it blatantly accusing EU-EOM's report without any agreeing with some of EU's points. Let's focus on the substance rather than echoing what has been said so far and wait and see what EU-EOM would have to say about the letter.

I am sure EU-EOM will regret on its report and will try to give answer to PM's letter. Let us wait and see.

Lastly, I want to ask you a simple question. Are you telling us EU-EOM's report is absolute without any deficiency whatsover? Or are you telling us the PM should not respond what ever the case might be? Just think for a while and give me answer.

Thank you.

What is a garbage damp. Does he mean a garbage dump?
He should have stuck to tigrigna... somebody told him he could speak the queens English.

Very intresting to see him through this temper tantrum.

Addis's comment is removed for unknown reason. Sorry, to see that.

G/Zmelesatan,
I would rather be Mamo’s drummer anytime than to be Meles’s drummer like you. At least Mamo stands for all Ethiopians who have been victimized by the fascist Meles regime. At he same time I feel there is a mystery about Mamo that I haven’t figured out yet. For know, he is good enough for me that he stands against tyranny and injustice. But you, my dear, you have given a blind eye and deaf ear to justice. You defend a man that shoots poor children as young as 14 years old. You are a disgrace to humanity.

Dream on G/Satan to intimidate the EU-EOM. You and your boss are a laughing stock. Meles is an embracement not only to Ethiopia but also to Africa. Now the whole world knows that you have been lying and cheating for the last 15 years.

Lemlem!

I heard your cry in thin air. Mamo will arive with 6 pack of Pepsi to mourn you.

Wedi Zenawi is getting out of control. He has come out in public to tell us that he is the party/the government/the election board/the army/the judge in Ethiopia. No more pretenses! He displayed not only his disdain to the Ethiopian people but also his comrades in arms.

Mr. Zenawi, your diatribe will not qualify you for a high school debate team. What a shame our great country has to be ruled by the likes of you who know very little but pretend to know it all. Professor Mesfin W/Mariam has told you 14 years ago: "unfortunately, in Ethiopia knowledge emanates from power".

Mr. Zenawi, those who tell you you are the most intelligent, the most visionary are not telling you the truth. As you yourself said "Doron siataliluat be minamin taluat" "new". Let me be honest with you: you are good in only one thing: murdering innocent Ethiopians! You are beneath anything human. You are a MONSTER who threw a graduation party for your daughter while murdering the children of poor Ethiopians.

Give it up, Sir! Your days are over!

Gebremariam,
Your remind me of the proverbial socialist party foot soldier who was asked what 2 + 2 is and answered, it can be 3, 4, or 5, what ever the party's central committee wishes it to be!

Inititally you did not beleive that Melese wrote the article because it was posted by somebody who disagrees with Meles and Co. The moment you know Meles in deed wrote the article (it was a marching order for you) you started calling people names.

Liberate yourself, my brother!

You do not have to frequent the various gossip corridors in town to know the degree of anger and disappointment the Revolutionary Democrats have following the "****ing report" EU Chief Election Observer Ana Gomes released on Thursday, August 25, at the Sheraton. Friday's night statement from the Ministry of Information, the official spokesperson of the government, and mind you, not from the ruling EPRDF, said it all.

It called the report's findings "marred" (note that the government borrowed a word strongly used by Mrs. Gomes), with "evaluations not only unfounded but also irrelevant to its mission."

Gossip, however, wonders whether that is all there is to it in the immediate reaction from the ruling party. Some in fact consider it a "soft and mild" reaction, for Mrs. Gomes' report is generally perceived by the ruling establishment as a deliberate move to side with the opposition at a time when the EPRDF thinks it is at a critical stage in solving the election saga.

They are reluctant to buy the theory that what might have prompted Mrs. Gomes to produce such a report which they call "unprofessional", is the deliberate campaign the government itself waged against her honour and credibility, as well as that of the diplomatic community dean, Mr. Timothy Clarke, head of the European Union Delegation in Addis.

No one, but those who wrote and decided to publish the allegation against Mrs. Gomes in the state run daily, The Ethiopian Herald, agree the wisdom of waging war against the personality of a respected EU Parliamentarian, by accusing her of having an underground deal with the opposition. The ultimate responsibility for this act, gossip claims, bears on Bereket Simon, minister of Information, as chair of the Board of Directors of the Ethiopian Press Enterprise, who publish the state's dailies.

"Interestingly, Bereket has this incredible reputation for shooting himself in the foot," said one at the gossip corridor, questioning the terrible lack of judgment committed under his watch.

Supporters of the incumbent see the worsened relationships with the EU Observers mission differently. They go back three months into the run up to the May 15 elections. Immigration authorities had forced Mr. Siegfried Pausewang, a German election specialist based in Oslo, Norway, to leave the country. He was a country specialist (on Ethiopia) hired by Mrs. Gomes' Mission. The trouble with Mr. Pausewang, in the eyes of the EPRDF, was not that he wrote a highly critical book on Ethiopia's previous elections under the Revolutionary Democrat's rule, but also allegedly concluded in an article published in South Africa this year that Ethiopia has no hope for democracy under the present rule. His impartiality was questioned there and then.

"Why did the EU Mission want to hire him as a country expert of all the expatriate experts on Ethiopia?" wonder pro EPRDF voices now, justifying his earlier expulsion.

With this as a background and in light of last week's report by Mrs. Gomes, gossip is speculating for the government to take "unexpected and pretty much hard-hitting" actions directed at EU officials. Gossip suggests that this may include putting Mrs.

Gomes on an immigration blacklist so that she will never come back to Ethiopia, not even to personally deliver the final report on September 13, as she said she would like to do, and perhaps making Ambassador Timothy (fondly known by friends as Tim) persona non grata. Will there be any harsher reaction than this? Gossip wonders.

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

Visitor!

Please understand, I entitled to make a mistake as a human being and felt doubt wether the article was from Mr. Meles or not without even read the content. I felt guilty for that.

Having said that, I am living in diaspora and no one has a right to force me what to say and not to say. No one has ordered me as you claimed it. Had it been the case, I could have known about it before hand.

My comments are solely based on the fact that after comparing both 10 pages of EU report and Mesle's answer. Yes, I realize that those questions raised by Meles are appropriate and needs to be answered by EU.

Finaly, I like you to respond whether the EU's report is meant to be 100% absolute or not. Can you clarify based on your assesment?

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Corredtion


Please understand, I am entitled to make a mistake as a human being and felt doubt whether

Dear All,


The funiest thing is that Meles statement of comapring the EU report with Tina Turner's song. He said that it reminded him Tina Turner song ... What's love got to do with it!!

If Meles gets to this point, to the extent of comparing the song with the EU report particualarly on the investigation, HE MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY OUT OF HIS MIND. He is acting like a crazy frog!!

Email: AB89891@yahoo.com

City: LONDON

GebreMeles commented on Meles Article and said that 'questions raised by Meles are appropriate and needs to be answered by EU.'

Mr GebreMeles, can you please go back to your boss, Meles, and ask him that questions raised by EU and above all by Ethiopians need to be answered by him. Questions include, the killings of 42 innocent lives etc. Secondly, tell him to answer questions raised by the BBC HardTalk journalist, about the appointment of Kemal Bedri.

Mr, don't lose your mind, however much he is feeding you, ETHIOPIANS NEED ANSWER FROM MELES AND BEREKET PARTICULARLY ABOUT THE KILLINGS, VOTE RIGGING .....YOU NAME IT?

Email: AB89891@yahoo.com

City: LONDON

AB!

As our problem won't get any solution from foreign report, you ought to stop from driven yourself by the ill reported of EU. Don't tell me also that the report has not deficiency.

You have raised about Hard talk. Meles is not the only one who was questioned by Hard talk. See yourself in mirror and come back for discussion.

Thank you,

GebreMeles,

Are you saying our problems will get solution by killing innocent Ethiopians? Europeans are not as arrogant as you, Bereket or Meles are. They believe in democracy. That's why they exposed Meles's vote rigging, killing, betraying, harassing, torturing intimidating etc of opposition supporters. That's why his behaviour towards his own people has become unacceptable for Ethiopians and for all international community. Whether you like it or not, that's the truth. He cannot get out of the mess or the crime he committed against innocent people.

He is badly exposed. Jumping up and down is TOO LITTLE TOO LATE!!

Email: AB89891@yahoo.com

City: LONDON

AB!

Please stop twisting matters to your own desire agrgument as this will never ever bring solution as, I have never, don't, and will ever dare to say our problem will get solution by killing innocent Ethiopians.

Gebreselassie,
I guess you took my remark literally. I did not mean you got a direct order. I just meant you take the party line without any critical thinking (you faithfully sing the party line). By the way, living abroad is not a gurantee for freedom of thought. Individuals choose to be or not to be free, no matter where they are located. That is why I gave you my humble advice, liberate yourself.


Meles did not raise any question or say anything substantial. He just cherry picked the EU report and reported the parts that support his views verbatim. Becuase it is a fair and balanced report, the EU report highlighted both the good and bad things about the election, the vote counting, the investigation and the democratic process in Ethiopia.

However, Meles has, at least so far, conveniently ignored the parts of the report which support the conclusion the observers' mission reached at. "Koreta al a Meles"!

The key issues are (1) the day light robbery of the peoples votes; (2)the murder of innocent citizens in the capital and elsewhere; (3)the independence (or lack of it) of NEBE under the leadership of Kemal Bedri; the mission noted that the NEBE representatives in almost all cases voted with EPRDF, even in the presence of overwhelming evidence in support of the oppositions' views (4) the harassement, intimidation, killings of innocent citizens, supporters and functionaries of oppostion parties who who would have been or were used as presenters/witnesses. (5)the use of judges/police officers/ and other party functionaries as witnesses and members of the investigative panel with the intention to intimidate the witnesses and the opposition representatives. (6) the murder of elected official(s). Please watch the video by a Date Line Journalist to get the facts as they happened. Please also listen to what Herman Cohen had to say about the behavior of Meles and Co.

Bogged down in meanigless technicalities, Meles lost the forest for the trees. As the EU report puts it the process failed to meet the democratic aspiration of the Ethiopian people and international standards for a free and fair election.

No amount of belaboring by Wedi Zenawi would change the facts on the ground!

Wake up, man!

User "Gebreselassie Zemariame", this psychiatrist is pleading with you to stop and get some professtional help, you seem to be suffering from the following illusions:

1) You seem to be under the illusion that your extreme sidetaking 100% of the time for Meles Zenawi and TPLF in particular is somehow convincing others towards your frame of thoughts. This indeed is a grand illusion.

2) You seem to be under the illusion and impression that what you are doing on this webforum and I am sure other Ethio sites indefense of the regime AS IF YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE SOMEHOW, and as a result of this first illusion you appear to be defiant into slipping into your 2nd Illusion of what you are making is making sense to other users/people. Again, you need some serious help and you are obviously a vey lonly lonly person. I doubt even that other Tigreans are in agreement with you, sorry to say, your behavior is quite clear.

3) You appear to care so much about Meles and company, including the full blooded Eritreans in TPLF and EPRDF leadership that you don't appear to question Meles' giving up Badme (A land of the Tigray people for as long as we've known) and you appear to still be loyal, why? You don't care to explain to thers often!

4) You also appear to resort to violence at times with other users especially when just about everybody does not agree with your views...ironically, just like the man, Meles and TPLF in control of the military and his private army (Agazi) in Addis. This is a most unhealthy pattern for you because when Meles is out of power, you might lose your right mind forever!!! This is why you need help and some users don't understand why you keep up your obviously embarrasing and as some users have put it "digay ras" insistance that you and Meles are right about everything that goes on, including giving away of your cherished Tigray land to Eritrea!! This is quite bad psychologically for you and perhaps those who think like you do.

I suggest that you spend less time (Although other users prefer no time on this forum) and vent your frustrations to Meles personally or to the TPLFite supporters in your area as I am sure there are exlusionary meetings for only Tigreans who support Meles/TPLF. Although that is another grand lie and illusion created by Meles and the Eritreans in power in Addis...since you are loyal to them first, I would professionally advise you to communicate your personal and obviously extreme sad and non effective propaganda to them. OK?

Good luck Gebreselassie Zemariame, unfortunately, the future does not look remotly good for you and your supporters.

Suggestion?: 1st rule is to speak the truth regardless of your problem in it. say it like this:

"My name is Gebreselassie Zemariame (or your real name) and I am a tplf brainwashed Ethiopian!! I need to rehabilitate myself and my nation and my people who have been wrong all this time, I will search the truth and expose the lies so they won't make anyone else's life as embarrasing as mine. I will look for dignity by not accepting tplf just like not accepting the devil, evil, drugs and anything that is bad for me."

IF YOU DO THIS, YOU WILL NOT BE HEALED BUT MIGHT MUST MIGHT BE ON THE RIGHT TRACK....GOOD LUCK, ALTHOUGH IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF WORK.

Doctor

G/S,
If you have kids---think about how it would feel if you loose one of your kids by the leader of your own govt. Try to walk in the parents shoes and think about it, Gebreselassie. How is it possible for you to justify the killings of innocent children, like Shibere and Messert? You might say you don’t justify it, but if you support everything Meles is doing; you are guilty as charge. Come to your senses Gebreselassie. Money is not everything. Have integrity and stand against tyranny. Gebreselassie, God’s messages come in different forms. You need to come on the side of God, try to fight evil. Ethiopia deserves a better leader that will treat her right and love her children.

ET!


What are you trying to say when you mention about money?

Mr./Ms. ER Forum Psychiatrist

Dear Mr/Madam:

1. I don't know why you mentioned about "Badime" while we are talking about EU's report. Is it as a result of incoherency of thought or what?

2. You said, "Gebreselassie Zemariame (or your real name)" Why do have a doubt in my real name unless you are a person who don't trust people. Those people are indeed people who needs to see psychiatrist. Check if you need one to see please. Why don't you say so your real name?

3. You claimed you are a doctor. Doctor of what? Probalbly Dr. of witch!

4. You asked me whether, I am lonely or not. I am not.

5. You said, "You appear to care so much about Meles and company, including the full blooded Eritreans in TPLF and EPRDF" You are wrong for three reasons.
1. Eritreans born were not the issue.
2. Ethiopian people were aginst Mengistu and Aste Haileselassie becuse of not their bloods but, by their deeds. Lets judge Meles not by his blood but, by his deeds.
3. As long as Meles and others has sacrified for the cause of Ethiopian people, no one has a right to tell them you are Eritrean.

I could say more but, let me stop right now. I will get back to you with more response.

Thank you, Mr./Ms. faked Doctor!

GebreWoyane,

I think the user pretending to be a forum psychiatrist totally exposed more of your illusions and I think there are some for sure, unfortunately for you. Further, there is no such thing as 'forum psychiatrist' and you totally buying it and being emotional about it which I found humourous says a lot about your mental possible unstability then anything else...

Again, he exposed you and what's sad is, you don't even know it! Funny though!

GebreWoyane, you said:
"1. Eritreans born were not the issue.
2. Ethiopian people were aginst Mengistu and Aste Haileselassie becuse of not their bloods but, by their deeds. Lets judge Meles not by his blood but, by his deeds.
3. As long as Meles and others has sacrified for the cause of Ethiopian people, no one has a right to tell them you are Eritrean"

-I am really puzzled, if Eritreans are often not the issue why did your boss deport them and those others not?
-You said let's not judge Meles by his deeds? I Think that's what the whole world is doing Sir!
-#3 is truly insulting to anyone with common sense, Meles sacrificed alright...especially for his country Eritrea while defaming Ethiopia and at the same time giving up Badme...I think it's all relative and he'll someday be found of committing treason. I am sure you'll be there as his cheerleader though.

I respect your right to opinion but not your opinion...you know why? You are not obviously all there!! Do you know what I am saying....?...!....?

It's ok, even the crazy idiots should have the right to be just that.

Good Day.

Thank you prime meles writing this letter to explain for ethiopia people your point of view about the election. you do not have to do this. Ethiopia should be proud of your and your leadership and vision for our countery. you invited the EU observer to see the the first election our country and they made this wrong estatment. I said to you prime meles. so what!. Give them a good gift and send them to thier country and ask or invite them to come for the next election and by then ethiopia will have more democrace process and the ethiopia people will proud of you more. You are doing a great keep up a good work for our country.

Thank you!

OH MY GOD ....I LOVE MELES ..MELE YOU ARE THE MAN ..TEKATELU ... MELE WILL RULE FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email: MELES@YOURFACE.COM

I CANT IMAGINE MERRA GUDINA OR LIDETU AYALEW BEING ETHIOPIAN PM ...MELE IS THE RIGHT GUY FOR THE RIGHT PLACE !

Email: MELES@YOURFACE.COM

Meles Zenawi,
I refuse to addess you as Mr. Prime Minister because you have not earned that respect.
You have degraded our country like no other enemy has done before in the entire history of our country. You have no love nor respect for Ethiopia, you have no respect for her people eventhough they are the once who who fed you and educated you growing up. I wonder what you claim to be, Ethiopian ? It can't be because, no human being, no man would have such hatrade and disdain for his own country as you have for our great Ethiopia. You do not stand for Ethiopia nor for her interest nor for her well being nor for her integrity.
You were born to destroy Ethiopia. Fortunately, we understand that there is good and evil in this world, and we have come to understand that the evil in our country is you, and your primitive political thinking, and your blind puppies, like Bereket Simon and cronies.
The great Ethiopian people trusted you and gave you huge responsibility to administer them and their country, but what did you do instead ? You gave our country to an Arab slave, your friend Shabia, you devided our people along ethnic lines to prolong your illigal hold to power and to continue to loot and steal
the Ethiopian people's money and wealth. You keep stealing by begging from foreign governments by Ethiopians name. How else can you degrade our country and history.
Aren't you ashamed for feeding your family and your children by the money you stole ? What do you teach your children about country and dignity ? I guess you can't because you have neither.
Now, the ethiopian people want change to good governance and have clearley told you to step down, but your refuse ? What is your refusal about ? After all do you think that Ethiopia and her people are what your father inherited you ? You mustt think that or other wise no civilized leader who claims to be democrat would want to hold on to power for which he is not elected.

You have showen to the Ethiopian people you were borne to destroy and not to lead.
You have made so much mess of our country we the people are telling you, you HAVE TO GO !!!

I can be reached at dtewodros@verizon.com.

Yes according the defination of Melese&co, stealing, killing and harassing is Democracy.
How on earth a leader come out and try to justify the election has been done democratrically,having those evidences all over Ethiopia. It showes that he doesn't care about the people as far as he can convince those who put him in power.
Oh my God does he realy think he is telling the truth or cheating the ethiopian people or he doesn't care as I said before.

Email: abera@hotmail.com

City: DC

The usual C- statement by Meles.. the first day he came to Addis, he made Addis Ababa is not equal to Ethiopia speech, and now what's love got to do with it... clearly lacks intellectual touch. He tried to be subtle and sacrcastic, but that apparently need some skill which is not the case here. I understand the fact that Meles didnt go thru formal education in elite libral school like some, but one has to have some common sense especially in the position he is in. Leadership position is a responsiblity to realize the well being of society, not to rationalize personal mistakes, not to defend ones wrong doings nor discredit efforts by others. Smart folks have the metal capacity to understand what's good for society and they have the common sense to understand the role of government.

Ato Meles, your letter is too revealing as to your tought process and clearly indicates your lack of formal education. Your stubborn character blocked your mind and limited yourself to mediocre reasoning and to Tina Turner's song...

Mr. Meles,
Meles, you have messed up big time. As clever as you are, if you had a little compassion for people and a vision to unite all ethnic groups and progress all provinces instead of just one, Meles, you would have been one of respected leaders not only in Ethiopia also in Africa as well. Unfortunately, your greed and cruelty got on the way and put you where you are— a tyrant, cold-blooded killer and an embarrassment to yourself and your family and to all of us.
After all the horrible things you have done to our country and to our people you should have left peacefully accepting your defeat by the opposition party. Meles have some dignity left for yourself and your children, apologize for what you have done wrong and leave peacefully. This is not the end of the world. You have all the money in the world to last you and your family for a lifetime. Be grateful to the country that gave you so much and leave us peacefully. May God give you guidance to make better decisions.

Thanks to CUD and UEDF.

Your arrogance coonfidence is gone. It says it all, so low. Desperate, disoriented and you are fully gone. Humiliated both nationally and internationally.

You lost your own tplf. The eprdf teletafis are no longer with you, they are with the people. Either by tplf or by eprdf teletafis you will be sucked soon. I am sure you are reading this... succide is the only answer. Be assured, the rest of your life is in prison for endless crimes you have committed within tplf and nationally.

Mele, you must understand sooner than later that Meles can not do business as usual in Ethiopia anymore. It's only a matter of time.

Yebret Kolo

What is the matter G/S you lost your thought again? Take a break.

Daka!

I did not. I didn't believe, I would be allowed back again after a short time banned for my earlier response to someone who claimed him/her(self)ER Forum Psychiatrist.

That was the reason why, I have sent it without any message.

Let's wait and see the rest of his argument. Guys Meles might use our early critic to improve his stance. Remember, he is not done.

Hmmm?

You have raised a question, "I am really puzzled, if Eritreans are often not the issue why did your boss deport them and those others not?"

No one was deported from Ethiopia simply because of his/her being Eritrean. This is a matter that was explained many times.

Thank you.

Who is a liar? : Meles or EU-Election Observation Mission

Press Release No. 13
By the Network of Ethiopian Scholars (NES) - Scandinavian Chapter
August 30, 2005

Meles Zenawi labelled the EU-EOM preliminary statement “a big lie” and “so much garbage.”

Bereket Simon said that EU-EOM had lacked "integrity and professionalism." What does the outburst from Meles and Bereket reveal?

The letter of Meles in the Ethiopian Herald was full of pinpricks and cut and paste remarks. Exposing his trade mark of the usual naked arrogance, he confirmed his full agreement with the EU-EOM observation on issues that he finds from their statement that he thinks supports his views of the election process, whilst he denounced as “big lie” and “garbage” the aspects of the report that contradict his views. Any sensible person may find something to agree or disagree with the presentation or content of the EU Observation team’s report. But Meles is highly tendentious, and exhibits black or white framing of the issues that appear in the report. He is selective, and anything from the report that he gleans and seems to agree with his idea of the election, he claims it to be true. All in the report that do not fit his interests and purposes are pronounced haughtily as “a big lie” or “garbage”. This is not an isolated outburst by Meles. It expresses the essence of Meles and Co. This is how they came to power using force and lies, and this is how they choose to stay in power by continuing to alternate the use of force and lies. If you are not loyal to their lies, then you are ‘persona non grata’ in their world. For them their prejudice is reality, and reality is to be interpreted to fit their schemes. If it does not facilitate their schemes, then reality has to be ignored or condemned.

What is interesting about the outburst by Meles in his letter to the editor of the Ethiopian Herald is the fact that the bitter medicines that he so easily administers to his real and imagined political opponents now seem to be forced into the throats of the European Union Observation mission delegation as well. It is hugely embarrassing to use such below the belt and childish insults and tantrums to berate the officials of the EU Observation mission delegation. This tactic by the ruling elite is nothing new to Ethiopians, but it certainly must come as a surprise to use the same worn-out tactics, deceit, blackmail, and accusation to discredit the EU Observation Missions’ work. This arrogant action provides a taste to the EU team to witness first hand what it is like to be subjected with lies, insults, blackmails and deceits that are the daily diet that, and unfortunately Ethiopians are daily confronted with.

Let us recapitulate the big lies he attributes to the EU-EOM that are contained in the superciliously arrogant letter by himself to the Herald:

Big lie 1: Meles wrote: “So what has the ban on demonstration got to do with the investigation? Nothing”, but actually what the EU-EOM statement said was “…the context of the complaints process was marked by on-going high tensions in the country…tension was exacerbated by the fact that, since polling day, public demonstrations were banned and media openness ceased, with the official media back under the tight control and spinning of the ruling party…” What the EU-EOM statement described is the true context or the condition in which the investigation process was undertaken. What Meles needs to prove beyond reasonable doubt is how the ban on demonstrations, and media and information control, monopoly of force, the emergency law, and a situation that constitutes intimidation and threats would not have any bearing or influence on the investigation process. In addition the opposition submitted substantial numbers of complaints that have been dismissed by the ENBE. The percentage that was dismissed was as high as 90 %. Not only did the control of force, information, power and economy had influence on the investigation, but also Meles cannot sell his missive by denying the fact that his party started to use the banning and the emergency situation to get disgraced officials of his cabinet to be re-elected. What Meles and Co. did is very clear for any one who has observed the developments in Ethiopia. What makes it bizarre is that they choose to fire at the EU Observers whilst they have only themselves to blame for creating the situation that dangerously destabilised the investigation process in the first place. To be in denial of such evident connection of their action to influence the investigation process negatively is to indulge and wallow in sophistry. "

Big lie 2: Meles wrote: “If access to public media is denied to the opposition then the investigations must be flawed, they declare”. But we have not found such kind of “declaration” or implication in the EU-EOM statement. This is similar to the usual tactic and deceit of Meles and Co. to fabricate stories in order to terrorise, imprison and kill opposing individuals and groups. When Meles does this under his name after all the pompous caveat that he is going to throw some new insight, it exposes the ruling elite as people who cannot even read properly the EU-EOM statement, let alone read it with a generous spirit to understand their main message and learn from it for the sake of building the country and addressing its most urgent problems of feeding 9 million ordinary citizens who are starving daily, and 18 million that are severely malnourished!

Big lie 3: Meles wrote:” The EU-EOM alleges that the government refused to agree on a code of conduct on the utilization of the media. That is a lie. The government was not and could not be part of the negotiations on the code of conduct. The negotiations were between the parties”. Meles tries to deny the well-known truth that EPRDF is the government. Meles and Bereket went to the extent of forgetting (or is it denying) that they are the Prime Minister and Minster of Information of the government, respectively. Is Meles not the chairman of EPDRF and the Prime Minister of the Government? Does he even know this? It worries us deeply that Meles does not even seem to know what he does as that which everybody knows to be his job. Or is he trying to pretend there is a separation of power between the Government and the party. What Ethiopia definitely needs is to arrive at the historical stage where there will be separation of powers not in words but in reality. To be sure, the country needs an independent media with its own governance arrangements; it needs an independent judiciary. It needs an independent military force that will not execute the will of a political party. Above all Ethiopia needs a free economy, not monopolised as it is the case now by a self-serving and selfish ruling party.

Big lie 4: Meles wrote: “There is no legislation that affects the governance of all municipalities during the period in question. That is quite simply a lie.” At least Meles should accept the well-known fact that after the election various legislations were endorsed by the out-going parliament to affect the governance of Addis Ababa. How can Meles deny and call the EU-EOM liars, when it is under his own nose that measures were taken to unwelcome the new Addis Ababa municipal authority by actions such as reducing the tax base, nullifying federal Government budget subsidy, passing authority for transport services and civic organisation registrations to central Government.

Big lie 5: Meles wrote: “Any one who has a passing knowledge of what outgoing parliaments do until the very day their term ends would find the argument preposterous.” But everybody including Meles knows that after the election, the outgoing parliament endorsed the altering of rules and regulations that bar the new parliament from generating agendas by making it impossible to raise issues unless they muster a majority to agree before hand to submit an issue on the table. This is a wholly inappropriate way for the outgoing and heavily EPDRF dominated parliament to set inhibiting procedures for the incoming parliament, knowing full well that the new parliament will have many opposition representatives for the first time. The responsibility to force the opposition parties to contemplate or debate boycotting parliament lies entirely in Meles’ hands.

Big Lie 6: Meles ended his diatribe against the EU-EOM by firing the following indictment for not calling the above decisions by the outgoing parliament as illegal: “It [EU-EOM] did not do that perhaps because it knows that it would be laughed out of town, if it did so”. Rather than focusing on the issue of the action of the outgoing parliament passing such inappropriate measures and procedures, Meles is keener to hound the EU-EOM on why they have not characterised what he likes them to position themselves for him to mount critiques against them and target them for denunciation. At any rate Meles denies what has been crystal clear- that is, that the parliament has passed such restrictive measures. Meles has ended up writing his first letter against his own tradition by filling it with his usual tradition of lies and misquotations. His letter is full of more of the same lies, but we have had enough of his big lies and prefer to join the nation and others, and say his letter deserves to be “laughed out of town”.

The Letter to Meles from the Opposition Parties

One wonders why Meles took the “untraditional” extraordinary step, as he said in his letter to respond to the EU-EOM personally after the press he controls went for them with rude and crude allegations against them, and still ignores to respond to the opposition leaders request to solve the country’s outstanding dilemmas with communicative rationality and not his usual threat or use of force if his demands and wishes are not met by the opposition parties. What we see is an alarming development of criminalising the opposition leaders and members through the public media. The response to the opposition’s call for dialogue is to criminalise them, not to engage with them constructively, with good intentions and with an open spirit. The speed with which Meles zoomed to reply to the EU-EOM makes it abundantly clear that what the ruling party fears most is the possible punishment that can follow a ****ing report against the regime’s destabilisation of Ethiopia’s first ever emerging democratic process. What Meles fights is not for democracy but for maintaining himself as the poster boy or darling of the west. When that is threatened by accurate reporting of some courageous Europeans or American officials, we now know how he will surely pounce. Meles should have known that a response to and dialogue with the opposition parties rather than using media control to criminalise them will be infinitely better to solve the country’s problems. It is important the there should be honest debate with the opposition parties rather than to try to sneak all his de-selected/de-elected cabinet members back into power by the back door. He must realise that he would be laughed at everywhere by choosing to impose a rejected rule by force on the Ethiopian people. Bereket and the other ministers will have no credibility what so ever, and they better not make themselves objects of national ridicule and disgrace by pretending they have been re-elected. Meles has to also understand that the whole show is a monumental farce.

EU-EOM Final Report

We would like to call upon the EU-EOM to continue and persevere to tell the truth about how an election that started relatively well ended up with so much rigging, intimidations, threats, detentions, killings, blackmail, insults and deceit. We ourselves in the NES have been attacked by a barrage of insults and threats using mischievous identities and pseudonyms by misquoting, alleging, claiming false accusations of our objectives. This has not had the effect that the ruling party acolytes expected. They thought we would be intimidated and refrain from exposing the injustices that the people of Ethiopia have been confronted with during this dramatic episode of hope for democracy followed by a reversal of the justice-laden drive towards democracy.

We would like to express our appreciation for the integrity, professionalism and honesty with which the EU-EOM have tried to present a credible report that has won the support and endorsement of the EU head office. Above all we think the Ethiopian people saw on the ground the many injustices that the EU-EOM was able to capture in their largely honest report. We expect that the Ethiopian people will support the honest report that has been provided by EU-EOM. Far from what Meles said that the EU-EOM statement has created “outrage across the nation”, we think the statement will be seen to reflect the experience that the people have gone through and will thus be appreciated by the people, country and nation.

We call upon the EU-EOM to produce the final report with the perspective of speaking truth to power without fear or favour. There is no reason what so ever to be distracted by false allegations. We call upon you to make the wisest possible recommendation that would facilitate a democratic transition in Ethiopia.

Concluding Remark
At the moment, promoting the democratic process is paramount. The democratic process is under threat from the way the ruling party wishes to selfishly appropriate it for its own self- promotion rather than to root democracy and sustain it in Ethiopia. If the ruling party had come to power through free, fair and just election, we in the NES would have been one of the first to support them. But as it is evidently clear to the world, the ruling party is trying to destabilise the democratic process, invite those who have been de-selected by the back door and impose a dictatorship by force and pass that as democracy. We must reject this notorious action. The only way we can rescue the democratic process is either through a fair, just and free, and fully monitored and independently administered/managed re-run of a national election or the formation of a government of national concord. This demand is absolutely critical to rescue the democratic process in Ethiopia. What is critical to admit is that this is the time to make the democratic process create a credible and peaceful transition through the vote and not the bullet. We find deeply disturbing that Meles keeps threatening dictatorship, criminalising the opposition leaders and prominent members, and inviting armed struggle as the only way to unseat him. This is deeply offensive and does not recognise the historical stage that the nation has reached. Ethiopia has reached the historical time to make the peaceful democratic transition. No one has a right to stop the time.


Professor Mammo Muchie, Chair of NES-Scandinavian Chapter
Berhanu G. Balcha, Vice- Chair of NES-Scandinavian Chapter
Tekola Worku, Secretary of NES-Scandinavian Chapter

Contact address:
Fibigerstraede 2
9220- Aalborg East
Denmark
Tel. + 45 96 359 813 or +45 96 358 331
Fax + 45 98 153 298
Cell: +45 3112 5507
Email: mammo@ihis.aau.dk or berhanu@ihis.aau.dk or tekola.worku@bromma.stockholm.se

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

Part II

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) has three main arguments to prove that the complaints investigation mechanism’s activities were flawed and did not meet international standards. It first alleges that opposition parties had been hindered by intimidation and arrests of their witnesses. It also argues that there were inconsistencies in the application of the rules of procedures. Finally, it further argues that the impartiality of the evaluation of complaints was questionable. Let us deal with each point by starting with the last one.

It is worth reminding your readers what the EU-EOM had said about the quality of cases presented by the parties to the Complaints Investigation Panels (CIPs). It had said that the opposition parties witnesses were “inconsistent” their evidence poor and their arguments weak. It had said that on the contrary the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF’s) evidence was substantiated and its arguments well drafted. One can guess as to what an impartial evaluation of the complaints would decide on the basis of the above mentioned facts.

On page three of the statement the EU-EOM says as follows.

“de facto there was no level play ing field: the ruling party was generally represented on the panels by important members of the local society, including state officials, such as judges. This increased confusion between the roles of the state and EPRDF and (sic) exacerbated the atmosphere of intimidation, including of members of the election administration, often called as witnesses by all parties....”

Let me start by disposing of the obvious misrepresentation first. Judges could not and did not represent any of the parties in the CIPs. Not one judge sat on the CIPs anywhere in the country representing the ruling or any other party. Let me also add that an investigation into alleged electoral malpractice could not but hear testimony from the election administrators. Naturally therefore the parties called on them to testify.

The procedure of the CIPs which was agreed upon by all parties was designed to give them a level playing field. Every party that had a case to be presented before any CIP was given one seat in the CIP, and every one had the right to appoint whoever they wished to represent them in the CIPs. Naturally, members of institutions that are not allowed to engage in partisan politics (Judges, members of the police and armed forces) could not represent parties, but other than that it was up to every party to name its representative. Each party was also allowed to name people who would plead its case before the panels. It was naturally assumed that all parties would assign to the task the best people they have.

The EPRDF assigned the best people it has to represent it on the panels. This usually happened to be officials elected to local government posts or political appointees. It also assigned the best people it could get to defend its case. Those in government positions took a leave of absence from their position and devoted their time to defend the party that they support and/or are members of. The opposition parties had exactly the same right. But in the opinion of the EU-EOM, the quality of people assigned by them was not on a par with that of the EPRDF. The EU-EOM is of course entitled to its opinion about the capability of the representatives of the various parties, but what concerns us here is its impact on the playing field.

Leveling the playing field means that every party is given the same chance. That I believe is the international standard. Leveling the playing field does not mean leveling the capability of the representatives of each party. That is not the international standard. That is EU-EOM standard. So long as the EPRDF was represented by more capable people or people who command more respect locally than those of the opposition, the EU-EOM concludes there can be no level paying field.

The EU-EOM is also concerned about confusion of the roles of the state and parties. In every democratic country members of a ruling party are elected into state positions or are appointed into state offices that are held by political appointees. Such people are allowed to retain their state and party positions in every democratic country that I know of. They carry out their state functions in their capacity as state officials and perform party duties in their capacity as party officials.

Those who were involved with the CIPs were the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and the parties. The government was not a party to the process. EPRDF party officials took a leave of absence from their state positions and represented their party in the CIPs. That I believe fulfils international standards and implies no confusion of the state and party.

The EU-EOM seems to argue that the very presence of state officials in the CIPs would intimidate people. It does not present any evidence as to whether their very presence did have such an impact. In any case, if that were to be the assumption, then the ruling party could not be represented by the best people it has because as ruling parties normally do, it fields its best people as candidates to elective state positions and appoints its best people in state positions held by political appointees. The EU-EOM appears to think that such an approach would level the playing field. No, it does not. What it does is let the opposition parties be represented by the best they have while denying the EPRDF the same right. The argument of EU-EOM that there was no level field says a lot more about its sympathies and antipathies than about the playing field which was level and which was agreed upon by all the concerned parties.

On the same theme, the EU-EOM has the following to say:

“The opposition may appeal NEBE decisions on the CIPs conclusions to the courts. Nevertheless, the chairman of the National Electoral Board, Ato Kemal Bedri, is the same person who chairs the Supreme Court. Despite his efforts to uphold an independent and legally grounded arbitration within the NEBE that coincidence of offices does not encourage public trust in an independent review by the NEBE or, actually, the courts. The opposition parties and other observers, who charged since the electoral campaign that NEBE was not independent, perceived it worsening at the appeals stage, also pointing out that there is no clear separation of power between the judiciary and the executive.”

I believe this is one of the most extraordinary paragraphs in the statement and requires careful scrutiny.

The author of the statement suggest that the fact that the president of the Supreme Court is at the same time the chairman of the independent election board jeopardizes the independence and objectivity of both. The author must know that in some of the oldest democracies, it is ministers and senior government officials who oversee elections. As these government officials are in most cases also senior members of ruling parties, there is in such an arrangement an even more obvious “coincidence of offices”. No one has to the best of my knowledge questioned the impartiality of the electoral institutions in these countries on the basis of the mere fact of “coincidence of offices”. The EU-EOM talks of international standards, and if the practice of established democracies is one element of that standard, then the NEBE is by far less susceptible to the alleged harm that may be caused by the “coincidence of offices” than those of some of the most democratic states on earth. In our case, parties - ruling or opposition - have no place on the Board of NEBE. In our case, it is the president of the highest court of the land, a president who by law is forbidden from belonging to any party, who chairs the board. How can the fact that a person who is by law obliged to be non-partisan is chairman of the board ipso facto jeopardize its impartiality? How is our board’s set up inferior to any of those in the established democracies in terms of avoiding “coincidence of offices”?

The author must know that judges in all democracies do, from time to time, face issues of conflict of interest, when for example they are asked to adjudicate cases involving family members or cases that they have already come across in a different capacity. The normal practice in such cases is that the concerned judge excuses himself/herself from adjudicating the case in question and lets other judges deal with it. That is the normal practice in Ethiopia, too, for after all we do try to live up to international standards. How is it possible that such potential conflict of interest automatically puts the independence of both the judiciary and the NEBE into question when Ethiopia practices the same remedy that is practiced in all democracies to address problems of conflict of interest in a satisfactory manner.

While the EU-EOM talks of international standards it apparently has no interest in applying them to its own work. It appears to prefer the standard of guilty until proven innocent when it comes to the EPRDF, The NEBE, The CIPs etc. The NEBE and the judiciary are found guilty of partiality because of the “coincidence of offices” which in some form or another is to be found in every democratic country and for which internationally accepted remedies are available, remedies that have and will continue to be used in Ethiopia.

The EU-EOM reinforces this argument in a most unusual fashion, and in order to highlight this point, I feel, I must quote again one single sentence from my previous quotation. The author of the statement says “the opposition parties and other observers, who charged since the electoral campaign that NEBE was not independent, perceived it worsening at the appeals stage, also pointing out that there is no clear separation of power between the judiciary and the executive.” You must remember that this is a quote from a statement of an election observer team whose task is to observe the electoral process and report what they observed. What this particular group of observers is telling us in the sentence just cited is not what they themselves observed and verified. No! What they are telling us is what the opposition parties and some other unnamed observers perceived. What these unnamed observers perceived is that the NEBE is partial and that its partiality has been getting worse, and that the judiciary is not independent. The EU-EOM appears to some how been made aware of this perception of the opposition parties and unnamed observers. To the author of the statement, God save her soul, that is enough to condemn the NEBE of impartiality and the judiciary of lack of independence. After all, the standard they prefer to use is that if you are accused by the opposition of doing something wrong, or perceived to have done something wrong, that is all there is to it, the case is closed. You are guilty as accused, or perceived.

In the end, even the EU-EOM understands that it has to come up with something concrete to show that the CIPs and the NEBE have acted in a manner that favours the EPRDF and it comes up with the following case on page six:

“One such case occurred in Shashemene 1 constituency, where the complainant, (UEDF) presented certificates of results for 64 Polling Stations (out of 67 in the constituency) duly completed, signed and stamped by the relevant election officers, declaring the UEDF candidate as winner. This evidence was rejected by the CIP on the allegation that the documents were forged. The complaint was dismissed so the EPRDF candidate retains the seat. This decision was based on the testimony of a local police officer, who certified in front of the panel that some copies of the mentioned form had been stolen prior to the election, thus the documents presented to the panel could be fake.”

The same story is told on page five as follows.

“....There were cases where opposition (sic) had strong evidence, namely result certificates of May 15th, and that was dismissed against unconvincing elements, namely statements from NEBE or Police Officials. This was, for example, the case in Shashemene 1”

I really am at a loss where to start with this one. It is so symptomatic of the EU-EOM’s shoddy reporting.

You will notice that results certificates are very convincing pieces of evidence to the EU-EOM, and this despite their allegation that there was serious fraud in vote counting and aggregation. What they do not seem to understand is that such certificates are issued by NEBE officials whose statements are of course unconvincing. As a result, you have these strange phenomena where a certificate issued by a person is very convincing but testimony by that very person is very unconvincing. In the eyes of the EU-EOM, it goes without saying that testimony of a local police officer cannot but be unconvincing. That apparently is the international standard for the EU-EOM.

On a more serious note, what the CIP in Shashemene had was not only the testimony of some lowly police officer but also the said certificate. You see the certificate presented to the CIP by the UEDF was a photocopied version of an alleged original. The problem with the photocopied document presented to the CIP was that some lines and figures had been erased with a pen and most of the figures had been inserted by writing on the photocopied letter in ink. It was patently obvious to the CIP that this was indeed a crude forgery. They did not have to take the word of the policeman for it. They saw that the photocopied document had been written over and some of its parts had been erased. Naturally, this, like all the proceedings of all CIPs has been recorded and the EU-EOM could have checked their facts if they were interested in the facts. But let us proceed to the other example the EU-EOM cites on page six.

“Another case occurred in Hagere-Selam, Sidama, where the EPRDF was also the complainant and the CIP recommended re-election. Re-run of the election allowed the current Minster of Justice, Mr. Harka Haroya to regain his seat, lost in May 15. During the hearing and, as stated in the Summary of the Facts and Recommendations of the CIP, it became clear that the Police conducted an investigation against the chairman of Wirama 01 Polling Station, Mr. Werku Dulecha, on charges of taking registration cards from voters on Polling Day. However dubious the charges could be, Mr. Dulecha was sentenced to jail for that, and despite the legal provisions to allow witnesses in prison to testify in the CIPs, he was not heard. Moreover, other three election officers testified against him, paving the way for a recommendation in favour of the ruling party. The fact that NEBE election officers testified for one of the competing parties (EPRDF) and that the main witness could not defend himself does not attest to the independence neither of the CIP not the National Election Board.”

Let me deal with the peripheral issues first and then I will let you in on a little secret. The EU-EOM emphatically asserts that the EPRDF had lost the seat on May 15th. The opposition says so and it must be so. The fact is this was one of the few constituencies in the country where no winner was declared by the NEBE because the NEBE found evidence of serious irregularities on May 15th.

The EU-EOM believes that the fact that election officers testified for one of the competing parties (EPRDF) puts the independence of the CIP and National Election Board at risk. Mind you that is just the EU-EOM of page six. The EU-EOM of page three has a very different take on that. While stating in a matter of fact manner that all parties had called election officers to testify, it suggests that what was wrong about such an act was that these witnesses were intimidated by the very presence of local officials who were representing the EPRDF in the panels. The EU-EOM of page six is however of the opinion that the very fact that three such people testified for the EPRDF is proof of the partiality of the CIPs and the National Election Board. At the very least, the EU-EOM of page three and that of page six should find some way of communicating with each other.

Back to the more serious issue which is that a certain Worku Dulecha was not heard. Let me share a little secret with you. You see on the eve of her press conference, Ms Ana Gomez, the head of the EU-EOM, had met one of our ministers and had told him that this person was prevented from testifying by the authorities. The minister told her that this was not the case as the opposition had not asked that he be allowed to testify. No one called him as a witness and so he could not testify. She must have checked her facts but did not want to let go of the accusation. That appears to be the reason behind this awkward word “he was not heard”. Now that I have let you in on the little secret, let us proceed.

This gentleman had had his day in court and was convicted by the court. The EU-EOM casts aspersions on the proceedings of the court without any evidence to show for it, but the point remains that he had had the opportunity to defend himself in a court of law. The CIPs were established to investigate complaints and not to provide prisoners their day in court. The parties are allowed to call their witnesses, and if their witnesses happen to be prisoners of law, they can still have them testify in front of the CIPs. The EPRDF called its witnesses. The oppositions called theirs. This gentleman was not called to testify by either party. Perhaps the opposition knew better than to call him as a witness, because, you see, he had been caught red-handed with 140 cards which led to his conviction. If the parties do not call him as a witness, how is the CIP going to ensure that “he is heard”. But the facts are one thing, the conclusion of the EU-EOM quite another thing. This gentleman was not heard and that is sufficient proof of the partiality of the CIPs and NEBE.

The argument that the NEBE, judiciary and CIPs were partial to the EPRDF is based on such frivolous and groundless allegation. Let us see if the EU-EOM’s other allegations fare any better.

As you might remember, the EU-EOM believes that the CIPs operated in general on the basis of their terms of reference. That suggests that in some instances these terms of reference were violated. The EU-EOM, unusually for it, felt compelled to provide some evidence of instances when the procedures were violated and it tries to do so on page five as follows:

“EU observers noted several cases in which the original complaint, as recommended by NEBE, was not the main source of investigation. Also, in a number of cases, procedures were followed accordingly (sic) to the Terms of References, only as long as international observers were present. This was the case in East Shewa, in Ada1, Ada2 and Adama2, where the EU-EOM observers noted that three complaints had been considered in just 4 days before their arrival, while afterwards each complaint took at least three days to debrief all witnesses.”

The instances where the original complaint was not the main source of the investigation are not cited. It is difficult to comment on such a general statement. But I do know that the opposition had on a number of occasions raised new complaints during the proceedings when their original complaints were proved baseless. I am told that some CIPs may have felt that it did not hurt the cause of truth if such new complaints too were investigated. However helpful such an approach might be to sorting out the truth, the CIPs cannot be made to investigate every allegation under the sun, which is why the Terms of Reference states that the focus of the investigations be the original complaint. Changing the rules is not acceptable, even when done to accommodate the opposition and to make sure that all allegations, new or old, are investigated. This can in no way be ground for the conclusion that the CIPs did not live up to international standards. Another conclusion impossible to comprehend.

Let us deal with the more specific allegations. You see the EU-EOM observers noted that in Eastern Shewa, the CIP had completed 3 cases in four days before they arrived. You divide 4 by 3 and you have one and one third days per case. As soon as they arrived they notice that the procedures are being adhered to but also that it is taking at least three days to complete. Presto. The procedures must have been violated, when they were absent, otherwise how could the CIP complete a case in one and one third days without violating the procedures. Besides, you see, as Ms. Ana Gomes has said in one of her frequent press statements, the presence of the EU-EOM was instrumental in ensuring democratic principles are adhered to. Naturally, in their absence people here must be assumed to go back to their old bad undemocratic ways.

The problem with the Arithmetic of the EU-EOM is that the fact tells a very different story. You see the winner in Ada 1 and 2 was the CUD. The complainant was the UEDF. The complaint was made against the EPRDF despite the fact that it had lost both constituencies. As soon as the investigations started the UEDF recognized that it had targeted the wrong party and recognized that if the investigations proceeded the EPRDF might be the ultimate beneficiary. It quickly pulled the rag from under the EPRDF’s feet and declared it had withdrawn its complaints as it had the right to do. Where there is no complaint there is no investigations. Ada 1 and 2 were thus passed without investigation and the CUD allowed to retain both seats. The only investigation carried out by the CIP before the EU-EOM arrived was thus that of Adama 2. The time it took to carry out one real investigation was thus identical both before and after the EU-EOM arrived. But the EU-EOM is not interested in the facts, because if they were, they could have been saved from the embarrassment of being caught lying by simply asking the CIP what had happened. They needed to trash the CIP and blame it on the EPRDF so they did not check their facts. They simply assumed that the natives would go back to their bad undemocratic ways if the prying eyes of the EU-EOM are temporarily absent.

Let us now deal with the third and final allegation of the EU-EOM against the CIPs, that which suggests the opposition was hindered by intimidation and arrests of their witnesses. In this regard, the EU-EOM says the following on page three.

“Material evidence was unobtainable because detained or fearful witnesses were unable to testify and, in one case, an important witness was killed. The climate of threats and intimidation was maintained throughout the complaints investigation process. EU-EOM observers reported cases, where militia, police or armed forces were present around the location of the hearings. Also opposition witnesses were arrested before or after they testified in front of the panel, and many witnesses or opposition supporters reported to the observers that they were threatened in various ways, as it happened (sic) in Albuko and Eteya constituencies.”

The EU-EOM goes into the alleged assassination in some detail on page five as follows.

“A CUD witness, Ato Wudu Amelegn, in Meragna constituency, North Sehwa Zone, was assassinated on July 16th 5 days after testifying in front of the CIP. Authorities indicated that the murder was the result of a family feud.”

The EU-EOM alleges that detained or fearful witnesses were unable to testify. It does not give any evidence of detained witnesses being unable to testify. The case of Hagere Selam, we have already dealt with. There is no other case presented by the EU-EOM, because no prisoner called to the witness stand of the CIPs by any of the parties was prevented from testifying. Not one! I also know for a fact that prisoners called to testify did testify. This was the case for example in Woliso where at least six prisoners took the stand for the opposition.

The only specific examples of witnesses being intimidated and thus being unable to testify that we are given by the EU-EOM are those of Albuko and Eteya. The evidence of intimidation in Albuko and Eteya that we are given consists solely of the say so of opposition party witnesses and supporters. If the supporters and witnesses of the opposition report to the EU-EOM observers that they were being threatened and intimidated, it meant the EPRDF was accused of doing something wrong, and according to the EU-EOM, if the EPRDF or the government were accused of doing something bad, or even perceived to have done something bad, then they must be guilty. The EU-EOM does not operate on the basis of international standards on matters that involve the EPRDF or The Government. Instead of the international standard of

Email: ethio@yahoo.com

City: Addis

Here we go again! The man has lost it completely.

Those of you who are close to the PM, you better put him in an institution (mental) before he does further damage to his already tarnished image. "Yebesebese Zina Aiferam kalhone negeru"!

Wedi Zenawi: if brutal killing of innocent unarmed citizens, house arresting opposition leaders, imprisoning students, opposition party symphatizers and members in the most inhuman conditions possible, murdering witnesses and killing elected officials is not intimidation then what is intimidation in your dictionary?

Look who is talking about having the most qualified people in his party! "Zingero yerasua melata aytayatim". Let us start from you, sir. What is your qualification? Mind you here I am not asking what your IQ is, I am asking what your qualification is? What is the qualification of your deputy prime minister: Addisu Legese? What is the qualification of your minister of information: Berket Simon? What is the track record of the person whom you appointed as the president of the AAU: Andreas Eshete (he is a man who could not retain his position in any U.S. university he worked for because he lacks the discipline and work ethic required for success; he is "Tera Duriye"). What is the qualification of your speaker of the house:Dawit Yohannes? Frankly, who among you, has the qualification to earn an honest living outside of the goverment you control? Once you go down to the "killils" and districts things get even more scary. Almost all who work for TPLF/EPRDF are the most useless in society who have neither conscience nor the fear of god (duriyes, thieves, liers, criminals, etc.).

Wedi Zenawi: stop your illusion and face reality. Writing pages and pages (on tax payers paid time) of convulted arguments will not convince anyone with a head on his/her shoulder.

If you want to convince us that there was no vote rigging, seriously consider the well thought out proposal the oppostion parties offered you. Disban the NEBE (led by none other than Kemal Bedri - your lap dog), work with the oppostion parties and create the necessary preconditions for a free and fair election (free press, independent judiciary, independent election board, independent army, police) and hold an election in a year or so. If you win an election under those arrangements, we will all sing hail the chief for you.

Mr Zenawi, please do not insult our intelligence by trying to compare your inhuman police state with democracies in the west! Honestly, your dictatorship is as bad, if not worse, than that of Mengistu H/Mariam.

You must have started seeing the end since you, the die-hard albanian communist, have started mentioning god in every paragraph your write. To the foot soldiers: it is time to jump ship.

Let go, Wedi Zenawi! It is all over for you! Enough is enough!

MELE YOU ARE THE BEST . ONE LOVE .. MNO MERRA NO LIDETU NO SHAWEL .HELL NO !

ANA GOBEZE AND THE REST OF YOU LOOSERS ......

BURN ***** .... WE DONT NEED NO OBSERVERS LET THE **********ERS BURN

MERRRRRRRA GUDINNNNNAAA !! LIDETU HAILU SHAWEL ...YOU ARE NEXT ON THE HIT LIST OF AGAZAI ..KIBIR YEMAYIWEDILACHU DEDEBOCH

NO MORE AMHARA SUPREMACY !!!!!!!!!! NEVER NEVER ! TIGRE WILL NEVER EVER BE A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN
WE FOUGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS . ALL OF YOU HATERS CAN GO TO HELL

Wedi Alula,
Entay Honka, Ata?

Cool down, brother!

We want a system that would make no Ethiopian (no matter what his/her ethnicity) a second citizen. We (Amharas, Gurages, Oromos, Tigres, Afars,etc) are all Ethiopians and Ethiopia should treat us all equal (the same way).

We can all be treated equal (not some more equal than others as in Animal Farm) only when we get a government that is elected by the majority of the Ethiopian people. That is why respecting the will of the people to vote and counting their votes right is critical. It is in fact, this right of the people to vote and get thier votes counted right that Meles and Co. are trying to short circuit. The European Observer Mission has no crime other than telling the truth as it unfolds under its eyes.

By the way do you read about the town house meetings the opposition is holding in Addis and is planning to hold in other towns and rural areas in the country? What do you think of the people's (meeting participants) reactions? Sure Anna Gomes has no hand in this or does she?

Please do not say you will kill people for not subscribing to the TPLF/EPRDF political line! It is not wise. It could put you in trouble as the end is near. Mind you, even Meles has started seeing the end.

moderator,

Please ban this 'wedi alula'

Vistor!

I couldn't give you response to you yesterday's lengthy comment for my small suggestion as a result of banning.

I refrain my self to say so.

Chaw WEDI-AFOM!

You are a most stupid individual. Lik : inde: simih: antem: Likiskis: neh::
We have great suspecion that yoiu might be hired by TPLF to police the internate forums, which your doing a very lousy job of, or you are volunteering your time to your master TPLF to safe guard their names and what they stand for. Well, ante ye Shabia buchila, ye Arab baria, get this: Your masters are standing on the wrong side of the game and are on a messy political quagmire, nothing you can do or say on this forum will save your master TPLF, aka Meles and Co.,.from sinking.
I wrote this to you not to dignify what you post on this forum, but to let you know how stupid you sound. You don't even have the ability to finish a sentence with corret grammer let alone get your point across. . It should not be a surprise to us that yoiu are uneducated and illiterate, you belong to TPLF after all, a group of uneducated, uncultured, poor, mobsters. I hope you understand why the Ethiopian people rejected your masters, as you yourself are rejected here on this forum, it is because you are not capable. I hope you will be able to read and understand what this post says to you.

Had you been educated the way you think, I am sure you could have avoided such garbage vulgar language.

Please use a napkin to whipe your anger off your nose and appear in this forum with acceptable comments.

You are a most stupid individual. Lik : inde: simih: antem: Likiskis: neh::
We have great suspecion that yoiu might be hired by TPLF to police the internate forums, which your doing a very lousy job of, or you are volunteering your time to your master TPLF to safe guard their names and what they stand for. Well, ante ye Shabia buchila, ye Arab baria, get this: Your masters are standing on the wrong side of the game and are on a messy political quagmire, nothing you can do or say on this forum will save your master TPLF, aka Meles and Co.,.from sinking.
I wrote this to you not to dignify what you post on this forum, but to let you know how stupid you sound. You don't even have the ability to finish a sentence with corret grammer let alone get your point across. . It should not be a surprise to us that yoiu are uneducated and illiterate, you belong to TPLF after all, a group of uneducated, uncultured, poor, mobsters. I hope you understand why the Ethiopian people rejected your masters, as you yourself are rejected here on this forum, it is because you are not capable. I hope you will be able to read and understand what this post says to you.