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In any modern society, a prerequisite for the
livelihood of individuals, peoples and the
environment that we reside in is the respect for and
the enforcement of the rule of law and human rights.
A guaranteed enforcement of these basic tenets and
recourse to the due process of law, to make amends
to the transgression of the rule of law and ensure a
recompense for the aggrieved, can only be realised
in a democratic society.
Therefore, it is my hope and wish that we can put
our country on a democratic path, which, at least,
is agreeable to the majority of the politically
organised elements of the population. I believe that
garnering the confidence of the highly fractious
political groupings would pave way to a normal
multiparty political discourse.
This may be achieved only if lack of trust and
accommodation and intolerance give way to the spirit
of national consensus building in the Ethiopian
political landscape. As a prerequisite to this, we
must dare to address the propriety of coexistence
with political differences through face-to-face
talks and negotiations. I am convinced that this is
the only way to dispel the existing pathological
mistrust between different groupings with diverse
political persuasions and untenable agendas.
This would be a necessary step to wean away all
groups with political agendas from belligerent
tactics as a means of promoting their goals.
The ruling party's failure to cultivate the
confidence of the nation's elite on its 'good
intentions' in discharging national duty and its
dismissive tactics in admitting mistakes have
remained serious causes for the pervasive lack of
trust that prevails within the informed sector of
the population. I wish to see that the ruling party,
the EPRDF, becomes conscious of this deficiency and
takes appropriate measures to make the necessary
amends.
On the whole, all and the EPRDF as well as its
government in particular, must make an extra effort
to bring all political forces of the country on
board for peaceful parliamentary discourse. By so
doing, free our country from the recurring problem
of insurgencies that pursue the agendas of realising
the rights of various constituencies. As a
prerequisite for achieving this, politics of
belligerence, arrogance and hate must give way to a
civilised and sober discourse.
It will be absolutely essential for all Ethiopians
to realise, by now, that no 'interest group' can
dictate its agenda on another group and live in
peace in this country where all of us must have an
equal say.
I earnestly wish that, no matter how deeply
convinced we may be, that our individual and/or
collective political outlooks and visions for the
country are the panacea for all its problems, we
must realise the possibility of opposition to that
outlook. Cognisant of such reality, which by the way
is a universal phenomenon and not by any means
peculiar to Ethiopia and Ethiopians, we must
persevere to patiently pursue our goals in an
incremental, but persistent manner.
Thus, in the new Millennium, I wish to see that all
politically organised groups have realised that the
way forward is through negotiation, accommodation,
mutual reassurance and, above all, respect for each
other. The self-righteous attitudes of some that ".
. . theirs is the only solution to the nation's
problems" and the void attitude of some others that
". . . they have a special custodian responsibility,
more than all others, in defence of the sovereignty
of the nation . . ." must be exposed and discarded.
I hope to see the new Millennium ushering in a new
spirit that would allow us to guard against all
sorts of such hypocritical attitudes. This will
allow us to rationally, responsibly and patiently
sort out internal political problems, a decisive
measure needed for the creation of the necessary
environment to put our country into a sustainable
developmental path.
Furthermore, more than anything else, I desire to
see the government coming out of the present
nonchalant attitude towards planned population
growth and effectively addressing the critical issue
of population explosion. In tandem with this, the
unfulfilled task in poverty reduction, food
self-sufficiency, healthcare and universal education
must be completed in the immediate future of the new
Millennium.
If we succeed in these critical tasks, I am
convinced that we can extricate the population from
the centuries old abject poverty, ignorance, disease
and deprivation. Thus, if we are capable of living
up to this grandiose national task, there is good
reason to believe that we can wholeheartedly
envision a bright future for our country and its
peoples and work hard with the view to creating a
developed and prosperous nation that has a proper
place amidst countries of honour and respect in the
globalised world of today.
Happy Millennium!!!
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