(Capital)
The former Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) majority, which its chair Engineer Hailu Shaul claims is formed by ex-members that are operating outside the party’s mainstream, held a founding congress on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, after gathering the required signatures to form a new party, Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ).For the first time in the nation’s political history, UDJ’s founding congress elected a woman as chairperson. A judge by profession, Birtukan Midekssa, sat down withCapital’s Kirubel Tadesse to explain what prompted the group to form the party and also discussed objectives over the next three years of her leadership of Ethiopia’s newest political party.
Capital: Speaking to Capital a few months ago, you stated that the formation of a new party was only among options and you would wait for Hailu Shaul (Eng) to return to the country before persuing this [if at all]. That didn’t happen as you had already started collection of signatures before Hailu returned. What changed in the last few months that caused you to rush to set up UDJ?
Birtukan: Yes, we were waiting until the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) decides who will take the CUDP. The row was between the majority of the members of parliament, represented by Temesgen Zewide and Ayele Chamiso’s group. Since the MPs Temesgen represents showed interest in working with us, we hoped to carry the CUDP name and work together under the CUDP umbrella if they win back the name. After the name was awarded to Ayele, we were left with only two choices; one was to further seek the CUDP name in court and NEBE. The second was to form a new party and engage in the political process as soon as possible. The supreme council had exhaustive discussions in which we came in agreement that even if the law wouldn’t deny us the name [CUDP], due to the political conditions the country is in and government’s interest that may influence some institutions, the process would be long and tiring. For a process that wouldn’t guarantee the retaining of our name, our efforts weren’t worthwhile and would make our members suffer another period without institutional protection and leaders. The decision wasn’t that hard to announce to supporters since their affiliation is with the ideals our party holds and not with its name only.The process didn’t exclude Hailu Shaul (Eng). It is clear now that the majority members of the former CUDP supreme council are working with us and the council could have suspended Hailu from his position considering some of the serious faults he has committed but it didn’t. Rather we continued on our job, leaving the door open for him to return at anytime.
Capital: Months before last week’s election, quoting some MPs and other sources,two Amharic newspapers reported that you will be the chair of the new party and Temesgen the deputy chair. The reports proved to be true in last week’s election. Isn’t it now fair to say that the election was pre-calculated before it took place?
Birtukan: During the period the stated reports were out, an election wasn’t even raised as an agenda at UDJ meetings, which was why we were very surprised with the reports. Of course in one sense, it was not too surprising since the MPs [even if they are few] that tried to predict the future outcome of our election had already shown their allegiance to Hailu’s group. Sadly, this minority group of the former CUDP has been engaged in defamation so I saw the reports as a continuation of this activity. On the other hand, these MPs know [actually it is an open secret] where our members stand among the public and inside the party in their support, so to color their other claims with this truth, they used the so called predication to serve their interest.Our election witnessed a very competitive process in which until that the last minute, the results especially for the top seats were contested. Mostly the overall results were unpredicted to which we have no regrets since it is one aspect of democracy. It is easy to see from the number of votes candidates gained that it was a close call for most of the executive and supreme council seats. Some of the results were way beyond any possible predictions, but nobody had protested then and nobody now feels dismay since it is a result of a democratic process.
Capital: When will UDJ seek accreditation from NEBE?
Birtukan: On our part, we have finalized the preparation of all necessarily documents. Our program and by laws were both prepared in absolute accordance with the constitution. Our founding congress has elected party leaders that have signed documents that show their commitment to take their positions. We have collected signatures [more than required] so there isn’t a single task we didn’t perform in order that there won’t be any legal hurdle that will keep NEBE from issuing us an accreditation certificate. We will submit our request next week, we hope the process will be a smooth one. If not, it would be because of NEBE not us, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.
Capital: One of the areas you and Engineer Hailu were striving to win support from was the support chapters established by Ethiopians in the diaspora [Europe, North America and Canada.] What is the status of their cooperation with UDJ now?
Birtukan: We can not deny that the dispute between us and Hailu Shaul had created some confusion among our support chapters. But understanding the difference was a fundamental one, a majority of these supporters have agreed to give their support in a very short time, even at a higher level than ever since they are all organized under one umbrella association. For example North American Supporting Chapters Association, the strongest network in the U.S. is working closely with us. They were following our founding congress live. The same can be said for chapters in Canada. In Europe the challenge there is that the continental organization that represents member chapters isn’t performing efficiently due to its own internal problems, but still, its individual members are still with us, working intimately. And generally we can state that there was not that serious damage sustained in our relationships.
Capital: How committed is UDJ to respecting the existing law? In its program UDJ says that it will change some articles of the constitution. Another issue I would like you to comment upon is: support chapters were re-organized a few months ago by a group that included Dr. Berhanu Nega as a member. We are hearing reports that these support chapters have hosted some of Dr. Berhanu’s meetings , Will UDJ break ties with these chapters if they engage in supporting groups operating outside the parameters of the country’s laws?
Birtukan: There are two points here; the first concerns amendments in the constitution. From the very first day of the former CUDP, fully respecting the constitution and pressuring others to do the same was our main target. Of course, the country’s constitution isn’t the Holy Bible or the Koran. It is a document in which the people of the country decided to abide by through consensus. Even if our constitution has not entertained all interests and has many pitfalls, we respect and urge others to do so in fully adhering to it in any of our activities. Our amendments will follow as per articles clearly stipulated in the constitution itself. Let alone our constitution which has many shortcomings of formation, any constitution may be amended with the will of the people and lawful procedures.Concerning our support chapters I don’t have any information that suggests their alleged support to Dr. Berhanu. What we have to understand here is that these support chapters didn’t choose us by accident, they wanted to offer their support because they were in agreement with the peaceful and peaceful only, means of our party. That was the reason why they supported the former CUDP and that’s why now they support UDJ. For us peace is not just a political option, it is the foundation our party is built on. We are aware of the meetings but we need to be clear that they were not conducted to promote the May 15 Movement. The meeting’s agenda was designed by the support chapters themselves. Actually, the meeting in Canada was conducted even before the movement was launched. So far there was no point in which these chapters question the peaceful means at all. For example, the North America Association has its own role which stipulates that it can only support peaceful political parties. I repeat, for us, peaceful means of struggle isn’t a choice, it is the essence of our party and an out look we want to share with the whole nation.
Capital: There are claims that while you were in the U.S., Doctor Berhanu’s movement and UDJ have secretly agreed to follow these two different strategies….
Birtukan: Our aim is of course, to introduce a new leadership for the nation, and this is similar to the movement, but what separates UDJ distantly from the movement is that we value the means we follow more than the end we would like to reach. That’s why any claim or allegation that associates us with the movement is unfounded. Sadly, after nearly two decades, Ethiopia’s political struggle is in a dilemma in which the government claims democracy is under progress while we see no assurance for the non- violent political parties. So for us the target isn’t firing on the ruling party but rather building democracy and empowering the democratic institutions that make the people the real source of power. To reach these goals, a change of government isn’t enough, values that encourage democratic system need to be introduced. We have to have change, the nation has to change for democracy to prevail in our country; it isn’t in a single day that a democratic system can take over, but through the process of making the system that our society can be empowered and control the struggle and the process of which it would eventually enjoy. When the nation’s state of mind is set not to tolerate dictatorship and sees that its vote makes up institutions that guarantees its freedom, it is after all this that we can say we have fulfilled our target, otherwise changing the government at whatever means hardly serves our party interest. And this is a major position which makes it impossible for us to have any ties with the movement. There can be a lot of claims asserted, but non-violent political struggle remains a nonnegotiable belief we stand for.
Capital: After you obtain legal status from the NEBE, what kind of relations will you have with other opposition parties? The opposition alliance in May 2005 was a disaster afterwards, so do you think any good can come out if the opposition works together?
Birtukan: As stated in our party by laws, we will work together with any political party that follows peaceful means. We can not say that the opposition alliance was a total disaster. Of course there were difficulties in leading the unified alliance but we shouldn’t deny its achievements motivating the public to vote and convincing people to trust in their ability and have a say with their vote, is a major accomplishment nobody can’t deny the opposition alliance. What we shouldn’t do is rule out co operation but rather, we should think thoroughly of what went wrong. Considering the much diminished role the opposition has now, the only way forward is cooperation with one another and operating under one platform.
Capital: Will you work with Lidetu Ayalew’s (MP) party [Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP- Medhin)]?
Birtukan: Our main focus for the time being is strengthening our internal structure. Side by side we will look for areas we can work together on with other parties but to do so we first have to answer the question of whether these parties are genuine opposition; it is after this is answered that we will try to examine areas in which we can work together. Concerning EDP, I think the issue has a question mark.
Capital: In your victory speech at the closing ceremony of the UDJ founding congress, you stated that three bills [political parties, NGOs and press] would challenge the peaceful political struggle, why is that?
Birtukan: These three institutions [the press, NGOs, and political parties] need to operate in full freedom if we are to build democracy. In Ethiopia journalism is related with continuous charges and imprisonment; of course, it had reached its peak in 2005 when they were tried for genocide and treason. Now we see tendencies of self censorship in the press. In respect to political parties and NGOs, the government is trying to close down financial assistance and make it impossible for them to operate. If you see the big picture, it tells that the government is trying to reverse the democratic process back to the condition it was prior to the 2005 elections.
Capital: Will you participate in the 2010 national elections?
Birtukan: As I stated earlier, our main goal is bringing the people to participate in peaceful political process of which an election is one aspect of it. So we will participate in elections as we clearly stated in our program. Of course we have to see what kind of features the 2010 election will have. If the recent local and bi elections are anything to go by, it is even hard to consider it as an election.
Capital: NEBE last week submitted its report [accepted by a majority of MPs] that stated the recent elections were better than the 2005 national elections in a number of ways; no long queues, efficient voting process and record high voters, if you are not ready to consider elections of such description, by what means would you realize your program?
Birtukan: There is a long time between today and the 2010 elections. I am sure that things will change for the better. I hope that all interested groups such as the international community and all the opposition forces, can pressure for much better conditions. If not, it will be difficult to establish democracy.
Capital: What do you plan to achieve in the next three years of your leadership?
Birtukan: What I want this chapter to tell about our party at the end is that we built a party that has a well established foundation. I wish to see a favorable internal condition in our party that is accountable, democratic and well structured in all roots of the nation to serve as a means for the people’s question of democracy and development.
Capital: At UDJ’s first press conference, the concept of collective leadership was introduced. According to some critics the main reason for this move is the mistrust among opposition groups. What is your take on this?
Birtukan: I am not aware of this claim that our collective leadership is a result of mistrust and I certainly don’t agree with it. Trust shouldn’t mean that power is collected in one place. It is democratic that responsibilities are distributed along the line. It doesn’t mean that everything in UDJ is conducted collectively but major decisions will be addressed by institutions and groups that have more members and participation, but every elected leader in UDJ has authority he or she is entitled to alongside accountability as per our by laws. In Ethiopia’s opposition party history there is a clear reputation in encouraging a single person to take on all major responsibilities; this is what UDJ would like to replace with collective leadership.
Capital: You are relatively young for a politician; do you think you will enjoy enough space to have a strong leadership in UDJ?
Birtukan: I am ready to take on the chairpersonship as the elected leader but we shouldn’t forget that, de facto, I was performing the task for several months. Even if I can’t say it was 100% smooth, I haven’t had conditions that have resulted in impediments to my work. These kinds of practices are not in our party’s tradition.
