In a democratic society citizens are guaranteed due process of law if a government acts against them. The individual matters a lot in a democratic society where, more or less, all are equal before the law. I could goon narrating the virtues of democracy but the focus of my article is on Ethiopia, where things stand upside down and yet a dictator dryly states that he's a democrat. Meles Zenawi's political drama has, despite his claim that it has ended, has continued to baffle. Ethiopians asking themselves how this crook staged a coup against his seniors in the TPLF, and wondering what the future of Ethiopia would be as his dubious background is more fitting to label him as Eritrea's undercover.

The unsuspecting mind may still expect Meles to address the nation on the questions that the public throws at him. By now it should be boring to everyone whenever Meles' response to why he led to the spilt of TPLF is because they "walked out a meeting". Do we expect any more answer from the man who is so despised as a sellout by every ordinary citizen? In fact, we should not allow the Meles government to act wrongfully against the constitution in order to twist an agenda that is a bottleneck to his leadership. Meles lacks the legitimacy the legitimacy and public trust to govern Ethiopia. What has a leader who lacked even the slightest trust from his long-time colleagues got to do with governance unless his future agenda is to take the country on a suicidal mission?

Here is an odd situation where noble ideas are obscured by dubious means, where sincerity is clouded by illegal method. Never has an issue been more caught in a tangle as the one between the despised figure and the dissidents. It was quite obvious these attacks were planned and centrally directed. To what extent should the police and cadres be used a stools of this person who has neither the credibility of the people nor of his former comrades. He used the federal police and cadres by illegal means to muzzle and silence the dissidents. What makes this agenda unique is that our country has paid a price with so many precious lives and has wasted the wealth of our nation. Still worse, no Ethiopia for sure knows what the future of the country would be following the sealing of the secret Mele-Isayas meetings to determine the fate of the country. It would be a wishful thinking disguised Eritreans (Tedros Hagos and Yemane Jamaica) would fight for the honor of Ethiopia when they meet their meet their Eritrean compatriots to decide matters of border demarcation and delimitation. And if they live for their country, it would not be a surprise as they have been fighting for Eritreans gain for over 30 years.

Furthermore, the issue belies a more fundamental separation between the people and Meles government caused by his deliberate and manipulative strategy to ignore public feedback. The political difference must be debated openly in party and legislative body, and the public should be informed at every level. We have to put pressure on the Meles clique to exit the political office without any more carnage. The case of the TPLF officials opposed to Meles Zenawi are having their own secrets they would like to reveal to the Ethiopian people. But Meles Zenawi is doing his level best to shut them up, if possible forever. For the sake of our own national interests, we have to strongly fight for the truth to emerge.

We know Meles had neither the truth nor the facts, but only character assassinations and condemnation by a means of carefully edited video cut off. In evaluating the current situation, we have to raise the fact that Ethiopian people deserve to know both sides of the argument through the existence of democratic forum, while at the same time condemning Meles unconstitutional action dismissing the dissenters from public and party duty, conducting a meeting in rush. There is no entity that is more obnoxious than the Meles rule. Meles government has lost the trust of its people. Trust is the crux of the matter. When the basic building blocks of trust are fractured, the whole edifice crumbles. When people lose confidence in their government, people prefer shortcuts as opposed to economic benefits because of the collapse of trust (i.e. they see no long term future and even doubt the very continued existence of the system). It was only a temporary success in getting rid of the12 dissidents from their party and public duty.

The corruption issue is being used to avoid the Eritrean fiasco that always put Meles in the hot seat. He had no alternative but to destroy the credibility of those opposed to him by a propaganda campaign, which has continued unabated. The issue of corruption (which actually yells at him and his equally rotten elements around him) is likely to sabotage the primary agenda of national security that is at risk.

What is to be done? All for Ethiopia, and all against Meles should be the spirit to save our country from the disguised Eritreans that have been fighting every step we take to consolidate our national interests. Fighting against the political virus that leaves Ethiopia naked and exposed to aggression is a duty of every citizen. Meles is intellectually and emotionally castrated by his socialist past of close complicity with inefficiency, corruption and pseudo democracy. His latest animosity against the 12 is perceived by many as anew venue for revenge. Under Meles, Ethiopia has been suckered, looted, pillaged and drained. Economic prosperity can only take hold if democracy exists, and trust between the citizens and rulers must thrive in order for democracy to flourish.

Meles has betrayed many times his promise to his people who have since lost confidence in him. The dissidents stood for principle; the cadres of TPLF were used as pawns in Meles Zenawi's latest political drama. As people who stood up to be counted in the troubled times, I am certain that Ethiopians of the next unborn generation will look back with pride, just as we look back with pride to Tewodros, Yohanness, Menellik and Alula. We must improve the moral standards within our rule of law in order to provide a strong foundation for good governance.

We must get rid of the Meles clique to save our country from slipping into further crisis. Considering the fiasco that Meles orchestrated causing the division of today, our commitment will entail a lot of sacrifice among us all for the sake of Ethiopia. Let's work together to restore the dignity of our people who have fallen on the likes of Meles Zenawi's, whose dearth of ideas has forced the culprit to spit "filthy" ideas to the public.

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