Campaign for an urgent reformation of the Ethiopian political stage

We, the undersigned, petition you thereby to apply every effort to create trust and demand trust & cooperation between the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) and the ruling EPRDF party of Ethiopia.


We believe that one of the various issues in Ethiopian politics is the lack of TRUST. Since the beginning of 2007, the ruling party of the Ethiopian government has illustrated one of the root causes of political problems in Ethiopia. For instance, the ruling party has compared some of the radical parts of the AEUP/CUD party to the terrorizing forces of the Rwanda Genocide. This is one of the most outrageous accusations the ruling party has rained on the CUD party. We believe this is not happening because the leadership of the EPRDF hates CUD or because the ruling party is sure of CUD's genocidal capabilities. But ONLY the ruling party's inability to trust CUD is being portrayed loudly.

Meanwhile, the authors of this petition and Ethiopian Society for Peace and Democracy (ESPD) know that some leading members of the CUD party are overtly and covertly related to the previous military government of DERG that was responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent Ethiopians and for the systematic killing & impoverishment of thousands more. We also realize a couple of the CUD members worked as ministers for the DERG regime. However, we can say the same about EPRDF for many current supporters of the EPRDF have been supporters of DERG as well, but only adjusted their outlook for a better EThiopia. The fact is the opinion of all people around the earth will not stay the same from one year to another. And thinking changes overtime and everyone makes mistakes atleast once in their lifetime. As the result, we ask the government to reason out its decisions broadly and create a deep sense of trust that is necessary to work with other parties who oppose its policies.

Meanwhile, ESPD asks and demands for all parties to show reservation and tolerance if they really care about Ethiopia and its future. The politics of exclusion need to stop and all groups in Ethiopia need to hold endless and progressive dialogues; with the "give and take" concept being the only pre-condition for holding such dialogues.

We ask all of those Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians who adhere to the sincere statements above to contact thier group, opposition and ruling parties and demand such necessary values and reformation from them.


Respectfully,

Ethiopian Society for Peace and Democracy (ESPD)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
New Jersey, USA
[email protected]