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My message to the men and women of our country at
this time is to receive the Third Millennium with
optimism and resolve to work hard and improve their
conditions.
The last 2,000 years are evaluated differently by
various people. Some think that they were, by and
large, years of glorious renaissance for our
country. This contrasts not only with the widespread
slavery, serfdom and forced labour of the past, but
also with the current reality wherein some nations,
nationalities and peoples are subjected to
discriminations of all kinds. Today, we as a nation
are entering the next Millennium with scars of our
past. Details are not necessary and are unhelpful.
Looking only at the past would deter us from moving
forward with vigour to modernity, science and
technology. I do not mean that we should forget
history. We must not forget history, lest we lose
sight of the future.
If some leaders or groups in our country become
greedy and desire to exercise power indefinitely in
a similar manner as our past leaders, political and
social chaos would be inevitable.
In order to move forward as a nation, we must heal
the wounds as we enter the new Millennium. We must
make a national effort to reconcile at all levels of
our society. Our South African brothers and sisters
have taught us how to heal wounds. Their institution
of Truth and Reconciliation has saved them so far
from bloodshed and political chaos.
We, in Ethiopia, must also forgive each other and
reach a national consensus that, henceforth, we will
choose the democratic path. Our people must choose
their leaders directly. It is deceptive to let our
representatives choose our ultimate leaders. We must
know our leaders and elect them. Our leaders must be
those who have won our respect through their own
achievements.
It is imperative to respect the current Constitution
until our people amend it through a referendum. Our
leaders should not violate the Constitution and
expect the people to respect it. It is never
possible to deceive the people for a long time. It
is always a cause for conflict when the leaders tell
the people one thing and do another.
Leaders must not aspire to lead the nation for too
long. The term of office of leaders must be clearly
provided for in the Constitution. Such a law must be
meticulously observed. It is of no value to say that
democracy does not work in poor countries. Yes, it
can work. Anybody who is interested can take time
and read about the Oromo Gada democratic
system.
Our people are diverse not only culturally,
linguistically and economically, but also in their
histories. Those who were victims in the earlier
systems cannot be expected to wipe clean their past
by simply being told "forget the past". There must
be an exorcising process. This does not have to be
done only at the eve of the Millennium. A continuous
cleansing system must be instituted. This is
absolutely essential because we cannot be sincere if
we act as though all grievances have been washed
away by some magical stroke.
As regards the political and economic systems which
are in place now, some skeletal work has been done.
It is necessary to work on that skeleton with a
sense of justice, equality, forgiveness,
practicality and fairness. For example, the federal
system stands out as the only political option for
Ethiopia. Nations, nationalities and peoples must
have a sense of sovereignty. There cannot be a
successful government while some of our people feel
squeezed, left out and marginalised. The purpose of
reconciliation is to minimise these feelings and aim
at abolishing them.
Ethiopia has the potential for a peaceful existence
as a nation state. After all, the various categories
of our people have a lot in common. The fact that we
live in a defined geographical area is our binding
factor. Most of us have called ourselves
"Ethiopians" for the last two centuries of the last
Millennium. An important factor is that we are all
Africans.
No other people have succeeded to settle among us.
The two major religions have coexisted for much of
the two millennia without a history of protracted
conflict. Conflict on the basis of languages has not
been a feature of our history since the "new"
Ethiopia emerged around the beginning of the 19th
Century.
Coexistence with dignity, mutual respect and
democracy as a political solution is not such a
preposterous idea. This is what our global
neighbourhood advises us, because our catastrophe
can be their crisis. The First and Second World
Wars, Korea War, Congo conflict, Bosnia War and the
Burundi massacre are all examples of crisis of world
proportion in which the conscience and resources
(human and material) of even the developed world
have been consumed.
We are 80 million people and our political
catastrophe can hardly remain within our boundaries,
thus the concern of the international community
could be understood. Let us also use this period in
our history as an opportunity to ponder our options
and act, among other things, as the people and
Government of South Africa acted.
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