Fortune Staff Writer Derese Nigatu
asked Lidetu Ayalew, member of Parliament and secretary general of the United
Ethiopian Democratic Party (UEDP), about how he felt about the recent public
relations campaign exercised by the EPRDF. He wondered if tangible and real
changes were actually taking place in how the ruling party governs, something
beyond cosmetic ones.
Fortune: Do
you feel that the ruling party has been engaged in a public
relations exercise to win back public support?
Lidetu: Yes, top government officials are everywhere these days.
They are attempting to work closely with the people, including the
Prime Minister who is talking to investors, opposition leaders, and
several farmers since they installed their government in November.
But, I do not know whether it has come from the heart.
Honestly speaking, the EPRDF has the weakest public relations
strategies. I understand that their relationship with the public is
not good. As they try to reach the public through the Ministry of
Information, it has not been an effective propaganda for it is not
appealing to the public. It supports and shows one party’s interests
and not what the public wants, thus it makes people suspicious. I
also do not see it as a job done in an organized and convincing
manner. I do not think this party [the EPRDF] is on the right track,
and learning from its mistakes.
Would you
call it an offensive or is it just an image recovery exercise?
I do not think this public relations campaign brings the EPRDF
closer to the general public. They have a deep and major problem
with people, which cannot be solved with officials attending public
events. They need to do more than that; they have to answer public
demands such as freeing the jailed leaders and addressing a rising
costs of living people are suffering from. Without addressing these
issues, it is artificial to focus on public relations.
Why do you
think this is happening now?
The May 2005 national election has brought a disaster to everybody:
the people, the oppositions and the ruling party itself. Mostly, the
people - who did that wonderful voting - are the victims; they do
not have their leaders leading them. I find it hard to see people
vote like that in the future. The opposition is also hurt; it is
like we have slid back 14 years, as if any achievements were
multiplied by zero after the election. The EPRDF, which claims to
have fought for the best of the country, left all its work in vain,
as the building of democracy has been endangered since the election.
Losing its
credibility in the eyes of the public and fallen under pressure from
the international community and human rights advocates, the EPRDF
should try to address these problems in order to ensure its
survival. I see [the PR campaign] as an attempt to get legitimacy
from these parties. This is what any dictatorial government does.
Are your
party and the opposition at large affected by this exercise?
It does not have any impact on us. We do not think they are
successful with their campaign, as they fail to address the real
issues. We do not think public appearances by officials can change
the public’s attitude towards the ruling party. When they start to
address the issues, which we want to see happen, because we have
fought for it, I think they will be successful. Unfortunately, they
are not doing that. They are acting the way they used to before the
election. Yes, there are some changes, but I am not sure that it is
from their heart.
Do you feel the
opposition has been caught off guard? Are you not taken by surprise?
No, I am not. They should have done better than that. They should
have answered public demand.
Any plan by
the opposition to challenge this?
If we were to think that EPRDF’s attempt would win public trust, we
would have tried to react. However, we do not believe this exercise
gets them support from the people. We also do not think that we lose
anything from the people due to what they are doing now. The people
are very much aware of their propaganda; they cannot be tricked, as
they know everything about their [ways of doing things].
What if the
exercise lasts longer? Do you think it will have changes in the
future?
There could not be any change, as they are not addressing the real
issues. Their propaganda will only be effective if they were to
start answering what the public demands.
What if they
start to address the demands with specific parts of the public? Does
that worry you?
I do not think that they do not know what the problems are for they
have a huge intelligence body. Although I would say what they have
started is good, I do not think it is enough to solve their problems
with the public. Even if a bunch of these officials attend events
every day and have applause from people here and there, there will
not be a change with the public if they fail to respond to the core
questions.
SEE ALSO
Fortune’s Managing Editor Tamrat G. Giorgishad a
chance to ask Bereket Simon, the former Minister of
Information who is currently the public relations advisor to
the Prime Minister, about the ruling party’s ongoing public
relations push since beginning its new mandate last
November. Is the EPRDF trying to make up lost ground since
the divisive events of May 2005?
The ruling party
has been presenting itself to the public in a way completely unfamiliar to
government observers and the public. Inter-party dialogue, contract signings,
press conferences, movie premieres and improvised award ceremonies are just a
few examples of the latest ventures carried out by EPRDF leaders who say they
are determined to start “engagement politics”. What could be the motive and how
much is the otherwise sceptical public impressed? Derese Nigatu and Tagu Zergaw, Fortune
staff writers, tried to find out.
Experts in the
information technology field believe two major components determine the success
of technology-supported learning and training. One is the underlying computing
and network infrastructure and the other is the appropriate content to be
delivered to the underlying infrastructure. In a paper presented in Addis Abeba
to the first international conference on “ICT for Development Education and
Training” on May 24 and 26, 2006, Woldeloul Kassa and Samson Teffera argued that
e-learning offers very little in the absence of affordable bandwidth delivery.
The three
essential capabilities for human development are for people to
lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable and to have access
to the resources needed for a decent standard of living.
But the realm
of human development goes further: essential areas of choice, highly
valued by people, range from political, economic and social
opportunities for being creative and productive, to enjoying
self-respect, empowerment and a sense of belonging to a community.
How is to be achieved?
What has come out undisputable and clear in contemporary
Ethiopia is how important May 2005 was. It has already become a
milestone event. It was an epic moment that has changed almost
everything to everyone involved in today’s political discourse of
any type. Nothing is the same. Interestingly, all those playing the
game saw how powerful public voice has come to be, although their
interpretations and perspectives are as varied as their ideological
positions.
My tall Gojame friend called Thursday afternoon to kindly give me
some information that I needed. He enquired about what I was writing
about, and I ......
various - often
conflicting - mindsets, ideologies and worldviews, as well as
assumptions on what works and what does not, guide our particular
context when it comes to agricultural and rural development
policies.
The uncle that I mentioned in this column two weeks ago
left on the same day as my birthday. It was a bit of an odd feeling
because that day is usually all about me. As he was leaving, that
day was all about him, too.
The title
sounds a bit simple. Let me try to reveal its nature.
The other day I
was walking by the Addis Ketema telecommunications zonal office
right in the heart of Mercato when I saw the massive poster carrying
the slogan "Linking Ethiopia to the Future."
I found it
bizarre. Perhaps the message aims at promoting the
telecommunications technology as the pioneering instrument for all
kinds of advancement. You cannot ponder about such things in Mercato
where there are an awful lot of things to draw your attention.
Everything seems to be in a rush in Mercato as best described in one
of the poems of the late Poet-Laureate, Tsegaye Gabre Medhin, and
entitled "Ay Mercato!"
“I Was There
When…”If everyone who says they saw former US President Clinton
playing saxophone at the Sheraton Addis were actually there when it
happened, some say that not even Addis Abeba Stadium would have been
large enough to host the event.
Because in case you were to hear people in town claiming to have had
the privilege of having been there when former U.S. President Bill
Clinton played saxophone at Sunset Bar, an exclusive club in the
Sheraton with over 4,000 Br annual membership fee, gossip wants to
set the record straight.
