Eyoels note on election 2005 and oppositions hateful campaign strategy I was studying in NY at that time but had gone to Ethiopia at the beginning of April for a two month attachment and to spend the summer break there. I was ashamed to witness that the entire election campaign strategy of the main opposition party CUD was focused on ethnic vilification. I attended both the rallies organized by the EPRDF and the CUD. I cringed when the CUD official chanted we will send them to where they came from, even worse, when the crowd applauded. I knew it right then that ethnic vilification as an election campaign strategy was doomed to sow seeds of mistrust and be counterproductive to democratization in the long run. The election day was peaceful. Shortly after the election, after violence erupted in Addis, I was taking a bini bus taxi from 22 to Merkato and we saw a Pickup Toyota set on fire by demonstrators. The taxi driver said ሰዉ ዝም ብሎ መኪና ከሚያቃጥል ፥ ኣንድ ኣንድ ገብረመድህን እያነሳ ቢጥል ለውጥ ይመጣ ነበር . The entire bini-bus except one skinny man with small scars on the forehead erupted in laughter. I was so shocked. Later that evening I was at my sisters place and told her how disturbed I was by the taxi drivers comment and the reaction of the people in the taxi. She brushed it off saying the reason I didnt find it funny was because I was too westernized and politically correct. Later on while reading about Bosnia I learned that even good people like my sister can be indifferent to a clearly genocidal campaign until it is too late.
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 04:06:17 +0000
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