A Day with Democracy

By Ephrem Madebo
December 8, 2005


Democracy is a form of government in which policy is decided by the preference of the majority in a decision-making process, usually elections or referenda, open to all or most citizens. Since there are other forms of government, the preference for the democratic form is itself an ideology, and a source of conflict. Many supporters of democracy consider it to be the only ethically legitimate form of government, and believe it should replace all other forms of government. Democratization is the replacement of the non-democratic forms by a democracy, and the historical impact of modern democracy has taken the form of successive democratizations of nation-states.

The essence of this article is to show how the preference to the democratic form of government leads in to a conflict. Democracy is a resource that belongs to the people, just like any other material resources, it could be controlled and abused by totalitarians, aristocrats, and dictators. Since democracy is the key to the other tangible and intangible resources, it is often snatched and manipulated by the few; when democracy is manipulated it looses its taste and becomes another form of government (oppressive). Democracy or democratic rights can be forcefully taken away from people, but they are never given to people. The oppressed multitudes have the responsibility to fight for it and earn it.

A much deeper understanding of democracy signifies that democracy is not a conflict free government system, yet it is not a government system where conflicts culminate in to a violent form of conflict resolution. Conflicts exist in any democratic system, but they are resolved within the democratic structures of the system. Just like any other society, crime is committed in a democracy, but in a democratic system all criminals are accountable for their criminal act and punished to the full extent of the law if found guilty. Many people think rationally and act rationally, some don’t. Many people are law abiding citizens, some aren’t. Many people have respect to the person next door, some don’t. Over all, in a democracy, most people would have no reason to behave differently if the choices they have are similar to that of others; this is a condition what people lack in a non-democratic government system. For example, if I am allowed to worship the SUN in exactly the same way the other person worships God, in the long run religion and everything associated with it will be a personal affair. But if there is some kind of institutional favor for a certain religion, people whose religion is disrespected will tend to form a group and a stand off emerges which will never get away until equilibrium between the two is restored.

In 1775, Patrick Hennery said “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”, in Ethiopia there is a saying that says: “A day of freedom is better than a lifelong slavery”. It really doesn’t matter where, when, and who, people always prefer to die than live in constant fear, poverty, and injustice. For most part, the history of the world is dominated by People who die for freedom and by those who kill freedom seekers. The following is an excerpt from the Magna Carta: “No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or diseased or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land”. King John, a monarch of the 13th century was intellectually and socially ready to declare such a ground breaking declaration at a time where there were no complementary constitutions or democratic institutions. As a result of the Magana Carta today the Western society enjoys freedom of speech, justice, and advanced economic life.

Today, the Ethiopian society finds itself amidst a conflict. In May 2005, poor people, oppressed people, forgotten people, people who were denied justice, and people who are reduced to poverty stood together and voted for the representatives they trusted, but the EPRDF bandits, to whom political power always comes out of the barrel of the gun, resorted to the most primitive means of power transfer. Seven hundred ninety years after the declaration of the Magna Carta [No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or diseased or exiled or in any way destroyed], Meles and company are busy of killing, arresting, and persecuting Ethiopians. How do we resolve this conflict? EPRDF, the amorphous agglomeration of gluttony bandits, keeps on telling us to negotiate within the framework of the constitution and resolve our differences. Let us reflect back to the first two days of the election. When EPRDF knew it lost Addis Ababa, it run to places where there were no election observers and stole the people’s vote. When it knew that people would demand their stolen votes, EPRDF by-passed the constitution and issued an emergency condition decree, in other words it paved the way to justify future killings. Before the month of May was over, EPRDF changed the administration structure of Addis Ababa. Currently, EPRDF is punishing regions and localities who voted for the opposition by blocking or phasing out planned development projects. Basically, EPRDF is asking us to play soccer in its own turf, with its own referees and with a precondition of playing the game with EPRDF supplied goal keepers for both teams! Can we win such a game, no matter how hard or smart we play, it is impossible to win this kind of game. What should we do? Either change the rule of the game to make it an even game or use the power of the people to get rid of EPRDF.

The tactic of solving the conflict should not spring us back around the issue of boycotting or joining the parliament. The unwavering demand of the people should be for the unconditional step down of EPRDF and the formation of a coalition government by the winning parties. The Ethiopian people need freedom; they shouldn’t beg for it, they should rather demolish anything on their way to freedom. EPRDF is not willing to accept defeat, the Ethiopian people are not willing to acknowledge a voted out government. There are two alternatives and one right answer. What should the choice be? Just a day with democracy? Or days with Meles? If the Ethiopian opposition prepares the people for just a day with democracy, Ethiopia will be the ABC of democracy in Africa.