Obbo Bulcha's Interview on the recent Allegations of the PM
"Some people are afraid to be associated with us because for a whole year, government radio and television was saying that OFDM is the same as OLF, which is absolutely unfair, unjust and wrong" Bulcha Demeksa; Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement
Bulcha Demeksa, Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), alleges that Oromos are being persecuted by the government. But PM Meles says that only the dissident group, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) members, are being arrested. To refute the PM's statement Bulcha says that his party members were also arrested, even though they were not OLF members. He insists that the persecution, in its intensity, cannot continue, and democracy must be restored.
Bruck Shewareged interviewed Bulcha Demeksa about the alleged persecutions. Excerpts:
You hoped, last week, that parliament would discuss what you called the plight of Oromos when you raised the issue. But the response from the PM was not what you expected. What would be your reaction to the PM's assertion that it is not the Oromo people but members of the outlawed OLF that are being arrested?
I wish it were true. I wish it were only those people who belong to OLF who have been imprisoned. But the fact of the matter is our own members, members of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), have been imprisoned. It is not only what they call OLF people that are being arrested. So that is why I'm lost when the prime minister said that only OLF people are imprisoned. Our members, who are not members of OLF, those who carry our cards, were arrested. To the best of our ability, we have verified that these people are not OLF people. So we issued our ID cards.
In any case, so many Oromos have been arrested, whether they are members of OLF or not. Sometime back, when OLF was here, in 1991-92, may be these people became their members. But after that, they are not carrying OLF membership cards. They are free people. They can be our members. Just because they were once members of OLF, we cannot tell these people that we won't admit them. They are not OLF members any more.
I don't understand how a person can live here, in Oromia, and be a member of OLF. If somebody is sent into Ethiopia by OLF, then he can be arrested like a criminal. But living here, it is difficult to understand how you can be an OLF member. To be a member, you hold a membership card and you sign certain documents. Since OLF is not here how can these people become members?
If you are talking about their mind, whether they sympathize with OLF, I don't know that. But I don't think that a person can be punished for believing in something in their own mind. How do we know? In the first place, we cannot know what a person believes.
My understanding of the prime minister's statement was that among those people arrested and investigated, there are people who have some kind of connection, physical connection to OLF.
Maybe the PM was saying that some people are holding an other party's ID but doing the works of OLF. Could he be referring to that? Do you understand the statement like that?
No. If they are caught doing something for OLF, the government is perfectly right to arrest and investigate them. If they are caught doing service for OLF, I understand that. But I know that our members are not found doing something for OLF. In any case, my point is, I don't know who is OLF or not, but no Ethiopian, Oromo or anybody else, should be arrested and stay in prison indefinitely. Their case should be processed. They should go to court, and the court should decide whether they are guilty or not. That is my basic and principal point.
The PM said that the government knows that there are not only individuals holding other parties' IDs and working for OLF, but also parties with seats in parliament serving as front organizations for OLF. As far as I know, there are two such parties, your party OFDM and the ONC who is a member of the larger party UEDF. So the statement could implicate your party. Does that bother you? Can the statement be indicative of what action the government can take against you?
The government, as government, of course, can take any action. I'm not worried because senior officials of OFDM have nothing to do with OLF. We have nothing to do with OLF. In fact, we are sometimes at loggerheads with OLF. For example, they broadcast to people, to students sometimes to do something. But we want to do normal campaigns. OLF messages interfere with our local operations. That sometimes poses problems in dealing with the people. So, how can we become a front organization for OLF? I don't understand it.
I'm not worried about the accusation. If we go to court, the court will find out that we have nothing to do with OLF. I'm one hundred percent sure that we are clean. I also believe that Ethiopian courts have been becoming independent in recent years. I believe that if we go to court, we can prove ourselves innocent.
People ask me, "Do you think there is a court system that can release you?" I say, "I believe so". There are now many educated, well-trained judges in the Ethiopian courts system. I think you can appeal to them. You can be acquitted by giving them evidence that you are not involved in anything like that.
How can we be a front for OLF? May be the PM was referring to OFDM and Oromo National Congress. But I didn't hear any specific party name at the time of the speech. But if he means us, I'm not worried because there is a court.
Why do you think is the alleged harassment of Oromos going on? Is it because of the OLF? Or are there other reasons?
There are other reasons. We are going into local and replacement elections soon. In the May 2005 elections, in two months of campaign, we won eleven seats in the Ethiopian parliament and twelve seats in the regional parliament, that is, Chefe Oromia.
This is potentially a dangerous political party which grows so fast.
Dangerous to the ruling party, EPRDF?
It means this party is going to take more seats.
Then, challenging?
Yes, challenging. People are afraid because the PM said OFDM might be a front organization for OLF. We may not be elected. That is an effective way of cutting us out. I understand that. That is one other reason, political reason. Already, some people are afraid to be associated with us because for a whole year, government radio and television was saying that OFDM is the same as OLF, which is absolutely unfair, unjust and wrong. We are a pure, local, home-bred organization. We have no connection whatsoever outside of Ethiopia.
The Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), one of the four constituting parties of the ruling party EPRDF, has kept quiet. We don't hear from them neither corroborating, or denying the allegations of Oromo persecution.
They don't need to speak separately. The government has spoken for them. They are party to that government. So when the prime minister speaks, he is speaking on behalf of the coalition members. So they are okay with it. The PM spoke for them, they accepted it, and they act accordingly.
When you speak about Oromo arrests, Oromo imprisonments, it is done through OPDO.
How well prepared are you for the elections?
We will tell the people the truth. We are not a front for OLF. We have nothing to do with OLF. We believe in peaceful political action. We believe in elections, the ballot box. We do not believe that power should be taken by force. We believe that power lies with the people and the people will give it to you. If you take it by force, you will not be a genuine government.
So we say: "We are interested in election. We have nothing to do with OLF. We are not a front for any other group." The people will have to decide whether to vote for us or not. If you are asking whether we are perfectly prepared my answer is, "No, we are not prepared". We have no fund. In other countries, funds are given to official political parties by the government. That is one disadvantage.
But the law allows the government to do so?
There is a sentence in the election law which say that parties "can" raise their own funds or get money from the government. The government doesn't give money.
The president, in his opening speech to parliament two weeks ago, said that a law will be presented to parliament which will enable the government to provide financial support to the opposition. We hope that will work.
Speaking of the election again, we are not well prepared for the elections for other reasons also. Our offices are closed in the regions. These offices are not operational. In some cases, documents have been taken away by the police.
So you have no access to the people?
We also don't have access to radio and television. The government uses television and radio. These are public assets. We wish we also have access to them. We are not ready. But we are not going to refuse to participate in the elections. We will participate in the local and replacement elections to the best of our ability.
How safe do you think your candidates will be to participate in the elections, if as you alleged there is persecution?
We are struggling. You know that there are risks. But you struggle just the same, knowing that there are risks. Let people judge. If we are genuine party interested in serving the people, they will vote for us. Otherwise, we are not good, and the people will not vote for us. As for the government's accusations that we are a front, it is up to the people to believe that or not.
You are at odds with both the OLF and the government at the same time. So you're in a kind of limbo. Your comment please?
If we are afraid and simply abandon everything and go back to our office and sit, that is not a struggle. You struggle with some forces. So we do that. We have to fight OLF propagandas. We also have to fight government interference. Despite these inconveniences, we have to go to the people and say that democracy is a great hope. Democracy is something that we have to work for. It is a hope, and we continue to hope.
We, therefore, cannot just accept force. We cannot accept imposition or scaring tactics by anybody. So we are going to struggle.
Haven't you approached the Oromo National Congress party even though it works under the UEDF to voice your concern? It seems only your party is raising the alleged persecution of Oromos.
We are an Oromo party. We are not part of a bigger or another party. When you are in another party, your issue doesn't get priority. In parliament, we speak of Oromo's plight. Other Oromo parties should also follow suit. In the past, the ONC spoke of Oromos plight. But this time, I haven't heard anything. The time given to UEDF is seven minutes. And UEDF could have devoted part of that time to speak about the plight of the Oromos. But we do cooperate in parliament with ONC officials. Sometimes we work with them.
When will, do you think, this alleged persecution end? Is it going to ease before the election? Or after the election? Or is it going to escalate?
In any given locality, the police always arrest many Oromos. But they are always releasing other people. So the mumber fluctuates. It is an ongoing motion: they release, they arrest, they release, they arrest ... If you think of the immediate future, the ruling party has to make a decision about what they want for Ethiopia.
Is there another way, other than democracy? In my opinion, no. There is no other way, other than democracy. But something workable has to evolve. In my opinion, it is democracy. We have to march forward to democracy, even if it is not perfect. Yes, these local elections will be carried out. We will see what will happen, then. But I tell you, there are many unknowns.
What implication will these persecutions have on the country if they continue?
I don't believe these persecutions will continue. My hope and conviction is that EPRDF will cease these extremely active arrests and imprisonments. I believe that there are people in EPRDF who say: "let's do the right thing, let's practice justice." I don't think this persecution will continue in its present intensity because no rational person can continue with that. It has to cease, and some kind of democracy has to set in.
Posted on Saturday, November 03 @ 10:37:56 EAT by staff