Can democracy thrive in Africa? (CNN)

Cargill argued that Africa reached its peak in Western-style democracy between the late 1990s and mid 2000s, but had slipped into greater authoritarianism in the last three or four years, as leaders forged partnerships with new powers such as China and India and became less reliant on Western approval.
He said a wave of "new African leaders" including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia became the "darlings" of Western democracy in the 1990s.
They promised a fundamental change in African politics towards Western-style democracy and found favor with President Clinton's administration in the U.S.
"President Museveni came to power in 1986 saying African leaders stayed in power too long and wrote into Uganda's constitution that presidents should only serve two terms," said Cargill.
"However, in 2005 he changed the constitution to allow him to serve a third term and will probably stay for a fourth term in 2011."..read more..

Switching Viewpoints: Africa Is Not a Victim of Nature; It Is a Victor of Nature. (Huffington Post)

With at least 80 million people living in Ethiopia, it is difficult to believe that one could not find a few hundred people out of these millions or the hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians living abroad, who are capable and willing to learn how to run large-scale farms. Ethiopia is blessed with enough land and hardworking people to feed itself and many other countries. It also has many other natural resources including gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, and hydroelectric power potential. And don't forget the high elevations that can be used as training venues for athletes, especially long distance runners...read more

Fears for South Africa's Press Freedom (IPS)

In Ethiopia, the government closed down 13 publications in 2005, then passed the Proclamation Governing the Media in 2008, which Kajee said has since been used to threaten fines and defamation cases against media outlets. A dozen journalists fled Ethiopia in 2009 after being intimidated, harassed or censored, according to a report from the CPJ, and there are currently five journalist imprisoned in the country, making it the second biggest jailer of reporters on the continent, after Eritrea..more..

Identity politics and the struggle for liberty and democracy in Ethiopia1(Advocacy for Ethiopia)

..The myopic and rather destructive politics of TPLF in the past 19 years has brought havoc to the country’s body politic and alienated a large section of the population. Organized opposition to the TPLF led regime comes from a variety of groups and a multiplicity of political views and positions. For our discussion, we can categorize them into four major groupings: ..Read more PDF

The Ethiopian Flag: Stop putting political symbols on it (Brown Condor)

...While each group can argue passionately about the symbol, one thing that most will not argue is that the basic premise of the flag, the green, yellow, and red, is the one uniting force. So why argue about the various symbols, why not instead take the symbol off the flag and leave the green, yellow, and red speak for itself, the true colors of Ethiopia. It is time for successive regimes to stop using the flag as their personal tool of propaganda and return the flag to the colors that are familiar to all without a symbol embedded in the middle. Governments should have their legacies determined by the good work that they accomplish not based on the propaganda they propagate through symbols they keep erasing and adding to our flag....Read more...

Clinton says steel vise crushing global activists (Yahoo)

By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer.

KRAKOW, Poland – Intolerant governments across the globe are "slowly crushing" activist and advocacy groups that play an essential role in the development of democracy, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday.
She cited a broad range of countries where "the walls are closing in" on civic organizations such as unions, religious groups, rights advocates and other nongovernmental organizations that press for social change and shine a light on governments' shortcomings.
Among those she named were Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Venezuela, China and Russia.
"Some of the countries engaging in these behaviors still claim to be democracies," Clinton said at an international conference on the promotion of democracy and human rights. "Democracies don't fear their own people. They recognize that citizens must be free to come together, to advocate and agitate."..read more..

Ethiopia: Speaking Truth to the Truth-Seekers (Hffington Post)

Where Have the Ethiopian Intellectuals Gone?

....The Greek philosopher Diogenes used to walk the streets of ancient Athens carrying a lamp in broad daylight. When amused bystanders asked him about his apparently strange behavior, he would tell them that he was looking for an honest man. Like Diogenes, one may be tempted to walk the hallowed grounds of Western academia, search the cloistered spaces of the arts and scientific professions worldwide and even traverse the untamed frontiers of cyberspace with torchlight in hand looking for Ethiopian intellectuals.
Intellectuals -- a term I use rather loosely and inclusively here to describe the disparate group of Ethiopian academics, writers, artists, lawyers, journalists, physicians, philosophers, social and political thinkers and others -- often become facilitators of change by analyzing and proposing solution to complex problems and issues facing their societies. Their stock-in-trade are questions, endless questions about what is possible and how the impossible could be made possible. There are engaged and disengaged intellectuals. Those engaged are always asking questions about their societies, pointing out failures and improving on successes, suggesting solutions, examining institutions, enlightening the public, criticizing outdated and ineffective ideas and proposing new ones while articulating a vision of the future with clarity of thought. They are always on the cutting edge of social change....Read more...

Why Democracy Isn’t Working (Newsweek)

Africa’s own institutions have been unable to halt the trend, which has gained speed since a period of openness following the end of the Cold War. “The democratization process on the continent is not faring very well,” says Jean Ping, the Gabonese chairman of the African Union Commission, which has overseen a host of Pan-African agreements on democracy and human rights that many member states have either ignored or failed to ratify. “The measures that we take here are taken in a bid to make sure that we move forward. The crises, they are repeating themselves.” In country after country, the recipe for the new age of authoritarianism is the same: demonization and criminal prosecution of opposition leaders, dire warnings of ethnic conflict and chaos should the ruling party be toppled, stacking of electoral commissions, and the mammoth mobilization of security forces and government resources on behalf of the party in power. “The really powerful governments learned how to do elections,” says Richard Dowden, director of the London-based Royal African Society. That’s not to say the continent doesn’t retain some bright spots. In Ghana, presidents have twice stepped down to make way for leaders from the opposition. Democracy has flourished in Botswana and Benin, while regional giant South Africa continues to have a vibrant opposition and free press despite the African National Congress’s dominance of post-apartheid politics.
But backsliders have them outnumbered, a shift that hasn’t gone unnoticed in the West. Political freedoms declined in 10 countries on the continent in 2009, while they improved in just four, according to an annual report by Washington, D.C.–based Freedom House, which dropped three African countries from its list of “electoral democracies” last year. “Repression can take many forms, and too many nations, even those that have elections, are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty,” President Obama told Ghana’s Parliament last year. His top diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, took office last year listing the continent’s democratization as his top priority.Read more ...

Speaking Truth to Strangers (Huffington Post)

For the past two decades, Western donors and the international banks have nurtured, coddled and sustained some of the most brutal and tyrannical regimes on the African continent. They have done it rather craftily. First, they created the fictional character of the "new breed African leaders" and promoted them as Africa's saviors. They were presumably much different than the old style in-your-face dictators like Robert Mugabe, Mobutu Sese Seko, Idi Amin and the self-coronated Emperor Jean Bedel Bokassa. The "new breeders" were said to be committed to multiparty democracy, economic reforms and civil liberties. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair lionized Meles Zenawi and his ilk (Yoweri Musaveni of Uganda, Kagame of Rwanda, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa). Of course, Clinton and Blair knew they were selling the natives the same old rancid wine of dictatorship in a new bottle labeled "New African Democrats." Zenawi gloated and basked in the sunshine of Western praise and used that fame devastatingly against his opposition: "I am the one, and only one. So I am by the grace of the Western donors."Read more...

Donor darling: What Ethiopian poll can teach Africa (BBC)

Birtukan Mideksa remains behind bars after being accused of breaking the terms of her pardon.

Press freedom has also been under attack. Journalists have fled the country since 2005 and if you try sending an e-mail from Ethiopia to the Committee to Protect Journalists, it miraculously bounces back.

Filming on the streets of Addis Ababa, it was hard to find people prepared to say on camera that they supported the opposition - many suggested that would be asking for trouble. Read more...

Ethiopia: Medrek Rejects Election Results (AllAfrica)

..."Why does the EPRDF call an election every five years and put itself, the public, and us in trouble," Merera said.Read more

Spotlight on the Struggle of Birtukan Mideksa: Ethiopian Human Rights Activist in the Global Women's Movement (Huffington Post)

....Much of Birtukan's time in prison has been spent in solitary confinement. The only people allowed to visit Birtukan are her mother and her four-year-old daughter. Before her arrest, Birtukan was the main provider for her family, who is now suffering not only emotionally but also financially from Birtukan's imprisonment. She is not allowed to meet with any legal representation and the government refuses to listen to her needs. There are even reports that she is being denied medical treatment, despite numerous requests for a physician. The Red Cross and other humanitarian officials are being denied access to the prison, and the exact treatment of Birtukan is unknown.Read more...

Ethiopian Opposition Coalition Calls for New Vote (VOA)

..Ethiopian Justice and Democratic Forces Front General Secretary Garasu Gassa says the promise of fair elections turned out to be a "joke."Read more...

‘Of Elections and Diapers in Ethiopia ‘ (Awramba Times)

...But there is an olive branch extended to the opposition wrapped in condescending cordiality and paternalism. Now that the opposition has been vanquished, they will be allowed to lick the crumbs off the table (and the shoes of the victors) as long as they keep their tails between their legs. “We make this pledge to all the parties who did not succeed in getting the support of the people, during this election, that whether or not you have won seats in the parliament, as long as you respect the will of the people and the country’s Constitution and other laws of the land, we will work by consulting and involving you in all major national issues. We are making this pledge not only because we believe that we should be partners… [but also] you have the right to participate and to be heard.” In other words, we will let you speak, if we want to; and we’ll shut you up when we want to. Your political existence depends on our good will, whim and fancy. Read more...

Nineteen more, Prime Minister Meles (Foreign Intrigue Blog)

By Ed Royce U.S Representative

,...Clearly, our real allies are the brave Ethiopian men and women fighting the rot of years of Meles' unchecked reign. Aid them. Sadly, power has gotten to the point of absolutely corrupting Meles' 19-year rule. Read full story..

ከምርጫው በስተጀርባ - አንዳንድ ነጥቦች (ተስፋዬ ገብረአብ){Cyber Ethiopia})

ግንቦት 25፣ 2002 በፕሮፌሰር ይስሃቅ ኤፍሬምና በአትሌት ሃይሌ ገብረስላሴ የሚመራው የሽማግሌዎች ኮሚቴ መለስ ዜናዊን አጊኝቶ አነጋግሮት ነበር። ሽምግልናው ተቃዋሚዎችንና የመለስን ቡድን ማቀራረብ የሚል ነው። ኮሜቴው በራሱ ተነሳሽነት ተንቀሳቀሰ ወይስ በመለስ የእጅ አዙር ግፊት አይታወቅም። መለስ ዜናዊ ግን ለሽማግሌዎቹ ኮሚቴ የሚከተለውን ቃል ሰጥቶአል።

1. ተቃዋሚዎች ‘ምርጫው ተጭበርብሮአል’ ብለው ወደ ፍርድ ቤት ለመሄድ የሚያስቡትን በመተው፣ የኢህአዴግን ማሸነፍ በይፋ እንዲቀበሉ።

2. ይህን ከፈፀሙ አንዳንድ የሚንስትርነትና የአምባሳደርነት ቦታዎችን ሊያገኙ እንደሚችሉ።

3. ይህን ድርድር ከተቀበሉ ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳም ከእስር እንደምትለቀቅ።

ፖለቲካ ቁማር ነው። የሽማግሌው ቡድን ከተቃዋሚዎች ጋር የሚያደርገው ውይይትና ድርድር ወዴት እንደሚያመራ በቅርቡ የምንሰማው ይሆናል። መለስ ከሽማግሌዎቹ ጋር ባደረገው ቆይታ፣

“መረራን አጥብቃችሁ ምከሩት!” ሲል ለይቶና አፅንኦት ሰጥቶ መናገሩን ሰምቼያለሁ።Read more...

Ethiopian parties reject poll results (Daily Nation)

...“The situation was full of intimidation and irregularities deliberately orchestrated by the ruling party” Mr Beyene said.Read more...

Ethiopian Opposition Leader Faces Fierce Ruling Party Challenge (VOA)

..."If Meles's interest is to cling to power at all cost, like all African dictators from [Central Africa Republic's Jean-Bedel] Bokassa to [Uganda's] Idi Amin to [Ethiopia's] Mengistu Hailemariam, he can continue the game, and Meles can take the country down with him. Winning elections without public support, winning elections by cheating people, winning elections by fraud really should end in Africa," he said.read more...

Inside Story - Zenawi: A source of stability?(Al Jazeera)

Click here to watch

Premier’s Party Sweeps Ethiopian Vote (The Newyork Times)

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: May 25, 2010

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia appeared to solidify its return to a one-party state on Tuesday, as the country’s election board released provisional results showing Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s governing party winning nearly every seat in Sunday’s parliamentary elections....more...