Birtukan, the Best Man in Ethiopian Politics!

Ethiopia – Birtukan, the Best Man in Ethiopian Politics!

It is a borrowed expression. David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of the State of Israel, used to describe Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister (1969-1974), “the best man in the government” and many called her the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics. This was not without a reason. Golda Meir was an iron-willed, uncompromising and forceful political leader during some of the most challenging circumstances in the hitherto politically inhospitable and hostile environment for Israel. She led her nation resourcefully and with great determination across the storms of the Munich massacre and the Yom Kippur War, leaving behind legacy of strong dedication and invincibility to her would-be successors and fellow citizens.

We also see this strong sense of indomitable character and dedication to fellow citizens in Birtukan. Birtukan is our Iron Lady. She is a dauntless messenger of love and human dignity in the face of mighty dictators who have lost the last traces of humanity and has challenged them through her clear conscience and tough spirit for truth and justice. She has unwaveringly demonstrated that the arms and ammunition in the possession of dictators could be no match for her life principles and belief in social equity and political justice for all Ethiopians. Her unheard of fearlessly defiant posture has sent a resounding message to the international community by exposing the longstanding duplicity and fraud upon which the Meles-led regime is founded. Though fear of politics is normal and subject to individual discretion, Birtukan has shown us and taught us by example that politics of fear is the source of social misery, the spring of injustice and the fountain of dictatorship and has stood up to authoritarian rule without fear and hesitation for personal safety and well-being. Politics of fear has no place in Birtukan’s lexicon and that is why she is the best man in this highly macho Ethiopian society.

The rule of law is Birtukan’s buzzword. Wherever she goes, whichever audience she addresses, whichever question she answers, the rule of law is the essence of her speech. Not that she is a law graduate; but because moral judgment and justice are her inherent traits. If studying law made people morally upright and socially magnanimous, we would not have those counterfeit judges and prosecutors in the Kangaroo courts of the TPLF/EPRDF regime. Yet, Birtukan has proved herself wheat among a bunch of legal tares/weeds who have divested themselves of any professional ethics or moral scruples. Her vision is a society where the rule of law will be the supreme ruler, the ultimate administrator, the judge and the prosecutor. She dreams for a New Ethiopia where the individual person will realize his ambitions based on his achievement rather than his/her ethnic allegiance and according to the law of the land as opposed to the current ethno-racist system which works on the basis of nepotism and preferential treatment. Birtukan is a living inspiration to millions of Ethiopians both at home and abroad and her unflinching stance for justice and the rule of law will revive morality and a sense of just attitude which is increasingly dying out in contemporary dog eat dog Ethiopia.

This world is unfair which is why criminals administer justice by ordering the arrest and incarceration of innocent people like Birtukan Mideksa. Imagine a young, ebullient and energetic lady imbued with democratic principles and respect for the rule of law is condemned to be confined in a tiny, dark and choking prison cell destined to serve a life sentence while those who ordered her arrest—people who wielded and sustain political power by killing peaceful citizens—are free to roam the world, send their children to expensive schools and universities abroad, lead lavish life style using poor Ethiopian taxpayers’ money. While the man who told his security officers to “stop insurrection” by massacring defenseless peaceful protesters is still holding the helm of political power for about twenty years “renewed” for the coming five years, Birtukan, a faithful voice of the poor who opposes such atrocities continues to suffer in prison infested with lice, mice and all sorts of harmful rodents. Of course, through her suffering, Birtukan is paying the price required to transform Ethiopia’s turbulent political landscape once and for all and tame it within a framework of legal and institutional establishments. It is when all men unbuckled their belt and succumbed to the rules of the game written by the dictators that, the best man of Ethiopian politics, Birtukan, brought soul to the struggle rising against all odds and confronting dictatorship with the shield of truth and conviction. She proved herself “man of all men” by challenging the dictator as most men chose to compromise their conscience or disgracefully joined the camp they were supposed to dismantle.

In January 2008, I had written the following in my article entitled ‘Meles Discards his Sheep’s Clothing’: “Prime Minister Meles is increasingly revealing his inhumane nature as he nears to celebrate his seventeen-year ‘sojourn’ in the Imperial Palace. Given two more years from now (until he steps down in favor of an other Meles), he has the chance to catch up or even to surpass Mengistu both in terms of time in office and gross human rights infringement.” My prognosis has proved right and Meles has decisively surpassed Mengistu both in terms of tenure in office and human rights violations. This shows that there are no vestiges of hope for democratic and economic reform and progress under Meles Zenawi.

Our hopes are elsewhere. Our hopes are in Birtukan. No matter how and no matter by which group TPLF is toppled, Ethiopians will elect Birtukan as their Prime Minister in the first ever genuine, fair and transparent democratic elections in our history. Birtukan, even if she is certain to win a second term, will peacefully and humbly give up power at the end of her first term. She will prove herself a domestic Mandela. During her term she will roam the country from Inticho to Moyale and from Gore to Deqeh Bur, freely mixing among her fellow citizens, feeding them her beaming smile and hope, and along the way, instilling in them the spirit of hard work, cooperation, tolerance and mutual respect; dispelling from their mind all the relics of suspicion, distrust and hatred implanted in them by the authors and champions of the divisive ethnic federalism. Under Birtukan’s leadership fighting corruption, eliminating cronyism, and avoiding wasteful bureaucratic practices will make meaningful strides forward. Under Woyane journalists are sent to jail for their critical editorials against the government. Under Birtukan’s leadership journalists would face severe censure from the government for not discharging their national duties of investigating and reporting on scandalous and corrupt cases of government officials. Birtukan will herald the beginning of a brand new era where journalists are treated as complementary forces in combating corruption and political grafting. Birtukan’s vision for the power of the rule of law in Ethiopia will start with Birtukan’s leadership.

ብርቱካን እግዚአብሔር ይጠብቅሽ!

የተቀደሰ ዓላማሽን እውን የምታደርጊበት ጊዜ ሩቅ አይሆንም!

መልካም አዲስ ዓመት!!

Wondemhunegn Ezezew

bishangary@yahoo.com

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