Skip to main content

So Zenawi has died... now what?

By
Ethiopian (former) Prime Minister, President and country hero, Meles Zenawi, has died at the age of 57, according to Ethiopian official sources, although nobody exactly is aware of the circumstances of the passing away (not surprising in such a secretive country). The interim leader will likely now be the country´s Deputy Prime Minister (and Minister of Foreign Affairs) , Hailemariam Desalegn, according to a moot Constitution.

Zenawi was well known for his peculiarities (shrewdness, extreme austerity, seriousness and industriousness) and 20 years-long clinging to power. A former guerrilla member (he came to power as the leader of a rebel group which finally rooted out dictator Mariam in 1991). But, above all, he was a pragmatist: he somewhat "sidelined" his Marxist convictions in favour of a more convenient approach with the aim of luring Western governments avid of giving away money to third world countries after the Cold War. Ethiopia however remains, despite the spectacular growth it has experienced during the last years, one of the poorest countries of the region (per capita of income of more than $1,000). Zenawi also was an overactive and overbearing leader in the regional scene: Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a full blown-out war from 1998 to 2000 (a conflict that remains extremely sensitive), Ethiopian troops have intervened (in collaboration with the U.S. Army) various times in neighboring Somalia fighting yihadist groups, everyone in Egypt knows about his darling project of building an enormous dam (the Grand Renaissance Dam) which drives the Arab Government crazy, and Zenawi played an incomparable role in brokering peace between the "two Sudans".

Moreover, Zenawi was accused many times of putting into practice repressive and authoritarian means against his own population, of being a dictator ruling with an iron fist. Human Rights watchdogs like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International have repeatedly accused him of bashing any individual who dared criticising him: numerous opposition leaders were jailed and/or tortured after the 2005 controverted elections, and most of them, together with dozens of journalists were arrested under a 2009 harshly criticized anti-terrorism Law. According to The New York Times, the Ethiopian government sentenced two Swedish journalists last year to 11 years in prison after they were caught inside Ethiopia traveling with a rebel group, and jailed this year a prominent Ethiopian journalist on vague terrorism charges. Members from his ethnic minority group from northern Ethiopia, the Tigrayan, controlled the government and did not even allow a mere hint of dissent.      

British Prime Minister David Cameron apparently said that Meles was an "inspirational spokesman for Africa". According to Le Monde, William Clinton once described Zenawi as part of the group he called "leaders of the African renaissance", but apparently these leaders did not take into account the country´s actual misery. Maybe this resource-rich country´s extremely religious population will be able to realistically heighten its expectations now?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What about Lebanon?

By
I would never dare to think I have enough knowledge so as to freely talk about this issue and produce a meaningful article, but I will try to write down what I have understood so far (I already had to edit as I misunderstood some facts, thanks Louis!). Lebanon and Syria have always been deeply interconnected. Both countries were part of the Ottoman Empire, both countries were under the dominance of France's colonization, both countries share an extremely complicated ethnic/religious division, and both countries political scenes still depend on the other's. More recently, Syria was a key player in the brokering of the 1989 Taif Accords putting an end to Lebanon's civil war, and its troops (and many authorities) stayed in the country (allegedly guaranteeing the non resumption of violence) until 2005, when the country's population unanimously demanded their retreat. It all started in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, next to the country's northern borde...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Palestinian Spring?

By
I won't sum up the evolution and characteristics of the Arab Spring for you, you are all aware of them. I won't even enter into the debate on the term "Arab Spring" and its real meaning (at least, not now!). But I have to admit I really like the sound of it, moreover when it is used to add a new country to this encouraging domino effect movement, and that seems to be the case of Palestine. Nonetheless, this case presents a new surprising feature... It looks like one of the leaders of the country the events are taking place in is actually supporting the uprising!! So... who/what do the people go against (besides, as always, the Israeli occupiers)? Well, they are mainly demonstrating against the other visible authority of the Palestinian Authority. Wouldn't it be nice if I put names to all of these characters? A (key?) meeting of the Arab League was held last week in Cairo (President Morsi surprised us again with flammable declarations about Syria, he does se...
Post a Comment
Read more

Did you say "Syrian opposition"?

By
Weeks after the outset of the uprising, on August 2011, a new coalition named Syrian National Council (SNC) ( SNC´s web ) emerged as the single and main representative of the Syrian Opposition, following the Libyan example of the National Transitional Council (NTC), a group that gained international recognition as the legitimate governing authority in Libya and acted as such during and after the 2011 Libyan civil war, before handing power to an elected assembly on 8 August (actually, the Council was recognized by the NTC in Libya as the sole legitimate government of Syria). According to Wikipedia , the SNC was in principle a coalition of Syrian opposition groups (in principle: exiled Syrian wing of the   Muslim Brotherhood, Damascus Declaration, the   Assyrian Democratic Organization, the National Democratic Rally, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, the Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution, the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the Fr...
Post a Comment
Read more