Can Overcoming the ‘Amhara Elites Vs Oromo Elites’ Face-off Help the Possible Revolution in Ethiopia Erupt?

We like it or not, there is a big ‘elephant in the room,’ which we all tend to evade, but the Weyane effectively exploits; i.e. the conflict: ‘pro-unitary Amhara elites and the likes Vs. pro-independence Oromo elites and the likes’. This conflict is still the main area of fear not to cooperate in the upcoming possible revolution against the fascist and racist Weyane regime. The pro-unitary Amhara elites do dream and wish that the Oromo people share their vision, and the pro-independence Oromo elites also want that the Amhara elites come to their senses and struggle for the freedom of Amhara people from Weyane colonization as well as for the independence of the Amhara region, so that to live in the future as a good neighbor of the independent Oromia. Both blocs just express their respective wish, and they do consider as if their respective wish is the only reality on the ground, but the cunning fox, Weyane, knows very well that these two communities are not yet in a position to trust each other; its cadres do exploit this situation to hinder the Tsunami of the ongoing revolution from coming against their bosses in Finfinne palace.

I personally do agree that now it is the right and suitable time for the revolution against any colonizer or dictator, be it in Ethiopia or some where else. Almost all citizens and nations in the Ethiopian empire are now calling for the revolution as the best instrument to get rid of the fascist regime. Of course, that is why Weyane is now doing everything under the sky to prevent us from revolting. We know that, as long as Weyane is in power, we all will suffer, not only as refugees in Diaspora, but also as slaves at home in Oromia/Ethiopia. Unfortunately, it seems that the ‘Amhara elites vs. Oromo elites’ face-off is yet to be a hindrance to the possible revolution, i.e. it is a hindrance to the necessary change of the tyrant regime. It seems that the ‘Amhara elites vs Oromo elites’ face-off (they neutralizing each other) is a very good historical advantage/opportunity, which Weyane regime got to rule over Ethiopia without any serious challenge and this face-off did not get an appropriate solution. Weyane survives and thrives mainly by dividing and polarizing ‘Amhara elites vs. Oromo elites’ as well as by sowing a fear and mistrust among/between them. We do still hear/read that both camps (the camp of the Amhara elites and that of the Oromo elites) do live under a fear and mistrust of each other, so that they seem to prefer Weyane’s further rule or prefer not to allow each other the possibility of taking over power.

Despite this self-sabotage of the two camps, I think a well coordinated FDG (fincila diddaa garbummaa, i.e. the non-violent popular uprising) of the Oromo people in cooperation with that of the other nations in that cursed empire is still the best way of a struggle to get rid of the fascist Weyane. Actually, the Oromo people do have nothing to lose, if the expected revolution comes. One thing, beside many, in favor of the Oromo liberation movement, is the fact that Weyane will leave Finfinne palace, only after securing its goal, i.e. after securing an independence of Tigrai. Of course, together with such move of Weyane, Oromia’s chance to get its independence is high. Because of this reason, both the Amhara conservatives and the Western protectors of the Ethiopian empire do not want to see Weyane being cornered. They surely know that cornering Weyane is almost tantamount to disintegrating the empire. That is why, it is not the Oromo people, but firstly the Weyane itself, secondly the colonial-minded Amhara conservative elites, and thirdly their Western handlers, who do fear the coming of the revolution to Ethiopia. Thus, the democratic Amhara forces pushing for the revolution are not as such very dangerous for the Oromo liberation movement. Even if not Oromian independence per referendum, we can achieve Oromian autonomy through a genuine federalism within an Ethiopian union, i.e. we can achieve the national freedom of the Oromo people as a result of the possible revolution.

This is one of the reasons that Weyane cadres are nowadays very busy to hinder the revolution from taking place in the Ethiopian empire by using their manipulation of the fact that the peoples of the empire are not homogeneous, but different (the colonized and the colonizer), as their instrument of division and polarization. If the scare tactics, which they try to use, hinder the revolution, the only option we the colonized people do have is the anti-colonial armed struggle, on which we have to concentrate and invest most, even though it is a very difficult job, given the little support we do have from the international community. For the revolution possibly not to take place, unfortunately the pro-independence freedom fighters (the Oromo, Ogaden, Sidama … liberation forces) and the pro-unity freedom fighters (the Amhara, Gurage, Harari … patriotic forces) are still mistrusting each other. Both camps want to secure the direction of the move after the freedom from Weyane (to secure the result after the revolution). The first bloc wants no reversal of the already achieved victory of a limited cultural autonomy on the way towards national independence (self-determination), whereas the second bloc wants to be sure that the empire stays intact and possibly the process will be reversed back to the unitary country.

But, why should these people worry too much about the situation after the revolution? Is the caution regarding the unity of the empire, which is lamented by the pro-unity freedom fighters, different from the scare tactics used by the Weyane cadres? The cadres go to Oromo forums and tell us the “worse will come; Amhara elites will take over, and there will never be the reality of aayyo Oromia, if you push for the revolution;” and then, they go to Amhara forums and tell them “to take care, the worse will come; OLF can take over and it will be the end of imiyee Ethiopia, if you make a revolution.” It is the fact on the ground that both aayyo Oromia and imiye Ethiopia are actually taken hostage by the Weyane. Whenever the Oromo force is stronger, Weyanes threaten with the possibility of dismantling Oromia; and whenever Amhara force is stronger, they threaten with dismembering Ethiopia.

Weyanes use the opportunity of such division among the opposition to threaten both camps of the freedom fighters. If the revolution really should happen, the two camps of the freedom fighters need to be bold enough to take risk of losing their ideals after the revolution and live with a possible compromise solution. This means, the first bloc should be ready to lose, for instance the possibility of achieving independent Oromia, Ogadenia; and the second camp should be ready to risk their long-term goal of fostering unitary Ethiopia. Otherwise, in short, Weyane is really lucky, there will never be any revolution under such condition of the division between the freedom fighters; and getting rid of Weyane through election is, of course, very minimal; that is why armed struggle will then be the only option left. In case both the public uprising and the armed struggle against Weyane are not effective, should not we then be ready to be ruled by Weyane for the next one century? Not to allow Weyane to rule us for such a long time, we need to know and tackle the methods it uses, specially its scare tactics. In short the scare tactics, which the Weyane cadres nowadays do use are:

- “if revolution happens, Amhara elites can take over and dismantle Oromia”
- “if revolution happens, Oromo elites will be in power and dismember Ethiopia”
- “if revolution happens, Weyane army is not like Tunisia’s army, but will massacre the civillians and take over power”
- “if revolution happens, there can be a mayhem against the Tigreans, like that of Ruanda”
- “if revolution happens, there will be absolute chaos and civil war among different ethnies”

Are the freedom fighters from both blocs (from the pro-independence freedom fighters and from the pro-unity freedom fighters) ready to deal with this scare tactics of Weyane? Can they agree on the middle ground: freedom and referendum (on self-determination of citizens and nations)? Those freedom fighters, who just sing about the unconditional independence of nations, must cool down and accept the public verdict, as well as those freedom fighters, who now cry for the unconditional unity, also should learn to be moderates and accept the public verdict. That means both camps must agree on first to get freedom from Weyane fascists and racists, and then democratically decide for either independence or unity per referendum; i.e. only the democratic independence or the democratic unity (independence or unity based on public verdict) can be a lasting solution. We like it or not, all peoples in that region are interdependent, be it they decide for the political independence or for the political union. The political will of the peoples in the empire/region is what matters at the end.

Unfortunately, there are still some blind nationalists in both the Amhara elites’ camp and the Oromo elites’ camp, who yet couldn’t see the common convergent short-term goal of the two big nations, i.e. the ‘freedom from the fascism of Weyane.’ Such blind nationalists do concentrate only on their divergent long-term goals: independent Oromia (Oromo elites’ goal) vs. united Ethiopia (Amhara elites’ goal). But, the smart nationalists from both the Amhara elites’ camp and the Oromo elites’ camp are trying to forge an alliance to achieve together their convergent common short-term goal and then to decide on their respective long-term goals through the public verdict (by referendum). The blind ones are too far from accepting and respecting the will of their respective public as a final verdict. That means, in short, the blind nationalists do preach democracy, which includes the referendum, but they are not yet ready to practice what they do preach. We hope the few smart and genuinely democratic nationalists in both camps, who try to practice what they do preach, will prevail to cooperate and make Weyane’s fascism history. Here, we also can call the blind nationalists as dictatorial nationalists. Those who want to achieve either ‘independent Oromia’ or ‘united Ethiopia’ per public referendum are the democratic Oromo nationalists and the democratic Amhara nationalists, respectively. The others, who just want to achieve their long-term goal without a public verdict, are purely dictators, who can talk about freedom and democracy, but know nothing what freedom and democracy really mean.

Those of us, who do have a cognitive ability to imagine something in an abstract way, let’s just try to imagine a very big letter ‘Y’ and try to distinguish four points on the letter (the bottom tip, the middle junction, the left top tip, and the right top tip). Then, let’s imagine that the bottom tip is the status-quo of Ethiopian politics, where both the Amhara and the Oromo nations are under the tyranny of Weyane; the middle junction is a point for freedom of both nations from the tyranny; the left top tip is the point of Oromian independence; and the right top tip is the point for Ethiopian union. Then, let’s imagine that this letter ‘Y’ is a figure to illustrate the route of the liberation journey for both the currently oppressed Amhara nation and the Oromo nation from the tyranny, from their present common situation, towards their short-term and long-term goals. Can we imagine that these two oppressed nations do have a possibility to move from the bottom tip (point of tyranny) to the middle junction (point of freedom) together? This is our common route of the journey towards the common converging short-term goal. Then will come the two diverging routes towards the two different and diverging long-term goals of the elites of the two nations: the left top tip (Oromian independence, which is the long-term goal of Oromo elites) and right top tip (Ethiopian union, i.e. the long-term goal of Amhara elites).

Now, if we could imagine this route of common journey adequately, it is not hard to comprehend that we need the alliance of Amhara elites and Oromo elites (the all-inclusive alliance) to move from the status-quo of tyranny under Weyane to the point of freedom from Weyane, but not necessarily to move together to the right top tip (together to the Ethiopian union) or not together to the left top tip (together to the Oromian independence). After achieving our freedom from Weyane’s fascism together, it is up to the Oromo public to decide, through referendum, which direction to move further: to the left top tip or to the right top tip. If the Oromo majority will choose to move to the right top tip, then Oromo elites’ long-term goal will be similar to that of the Amhara elites. Otherwise, if the Oromo majority will choose to move to the left top tip, no Amhara elite can hinder the Oromo nation from achieving this Oromian independence. Just concentrating on the struggle for freedom from Weyane’s fascism, I think there are, in general, three main possible ways of struggle leading us to bilisummaa / to freedom / to netsaannet:

- Armed struggle, which was the the method of choice by the OLF and by the other Oromo liberation fronts,
- Popular uprising, which is not yet tried in a well-coordinated way, but now seems to be the upcoming option, and
- Electoral struggle, which was the way chosen by the OFC and by the other Oromo democratic federalists, despite the undemocratic nature of the Weyane in particular, and that of the Abyssinian rulers of the the empire in general.

From these three ways of struggles for freedom, we have seen that both the armed struggle and the electoral struggle were not yet successful. The armed struggle is too slow because of the limited support from the so-called international community; and the electoral struggle failed due to the undemocratic nature of the empire and that of its brutal rulers. The option of the popular uprising was tried separately by only the Oromo students during the years 2000 – 2007, and by the Amhara urbanites after the “election” in the year 2005.

Because of such uncoordinated and uncooperative moves between the elites of the different nations in the empire, specially due to the polarization of the Amhara elites and the Oromo elites, the hitherto fragmented popular uprisings were not successful. But in the future, it seems that there is a hope for a possible alliance of the elites from these oppressed nations against the fascist Weyane, which can lead to a successful uprising and also which can be a quicker means/way leading us to freedom from the Weyane’s tyranny. I think the combination of the above three ways of struggles, in an optimally calculated and planned manner, is the best method, which can lead us to freedom. That is why Weyane cadres nowadays do their best to hinder this currently moving fire of the revolution from coming to Ethiopia and, of course, the “smart” Afaan Oromo-speaking/writing Weyane messengers are trying to do their job among the Oromo, both in the cyberworld and in the real Oromo community, just as the Amharinyaa-speaking ones are doing the same job among the Amhara (the Amharinyaa-speaking community).

If the revolutionaries in both liberation camps (in the pro-independent Oromo elites’ camp and the pro-unitary Amhara elites’ camp) seriously want a revolution to happen against the brutal fascist Weyane regime, then their evading, shelving or undermining of the ‘elephant in the room’ is not the solution. The elites in both blocs should be realistic and pragmatic to face the main and the real problem. None of the two blocs can cheat or outmaneuver the other side; they have to be able to come up with a compromise solution. I personally believe that the public verdict (the popular will of each nation) is the alpha and omega of both the freedom and democracy, which almost all sides do preach, but very few of them seem to be ready to practice. Especially, the elites of the two big nations (the Amhara elites and the Oromo elites) should learn to prepare themselves for the fate of the empire based on such public verdicts per referendum. If they are smart enough, they would settle for Ethiopian regional union either based on polity consensus or as the result of a popular referendum; otherwise, they should accept the possible peaceful separation of Abyssinia and Oromia (i.e. accept national independence of both Abyssinia and Oromia as two independent states to live as very good neighbors, just like that of the Czech republic and Slovakia). The other alternative for the anti-sovereignty forces is, of course, to sing like the president Al-bashir of Sudan, as he did recently: “welcome to a neighboring nation of South Sudan,” of course, unfortunately after the sacrifice of about 2 million Sudan citizens. May Waaqa/Igzabiher help us all understand this fact on the ground, which, of course, is still determining the moves of both our common foes (the Weyane camp) and that of the friends (that of the two anti-Weyane camps, that of both the pro-independence and the pro-unity camps)!

As far as the Ethiopian empire is concerned, the right step to the right direction now is to rise up in unison, if we want to move from dictatorship to democracy, which is actually possible only in the decolonized nations, who are suffering under dictatorship of the rulers from their own respective nations. Even though I don’t think that liberation through democratization is so effective in empires like Ethiopia, where nations are fighting firstly for collective NATIONAL liberation and then secondly for individual CITIZENS’ liberty, we can take the unique situation of the Ethiopian empire into consideration and try to find a unique solution, such as a public uprising in unison (revolution)! Here is the necessity of reconciling the difference between the two opposition blocs against Woyane regime: the Amhara pro-integration bloc struggles for only ‘individual liberty’, whereas the Oromo pro-independence bloc fights for both ‘collective liberation and individual liberty’! This suggests that the struggle of the Amhara bloc (for individual liberty) can be considered as part of the struggle of the Oromo bloc (which includes individual liberty to collective liberation). Unless there is a sort of such compromise between these two opposition blocs to cooperate and coordinate their actions against the Woyane fascists, it is very easy for the Woyane to play the divisive political game by balancing the two blocs, beating them turn by turn as it did till now and by further making the two neutralize each other.

Oromo nation is the one who loses nothing, when Woyane loses everything through the possible revolution and especially if both freedom and democracy be realized in that country in the future, whatever the future type of sovereignity as a result will be: independent Oromia, true ethnic Federation or unitary Ethiopia. But, I think an independent Oromia in an integrated Ethiopia (collective national liberation including individual personal liberty) is the possible compromise solution for the hitherto face-off between the pro-independence Oromo forces and the pro-integration Amhara forces, so that they can work together to help the expected revolution erupt and to get rid of the fascist and racist Woyane. As far as the Oromo are concerned, I hope all Oromo patriots in all Oromo political organizations will agree with each other in the future and act in tandem to struggle for Oromian independence and Oromian unity, also taking into consideration the the necessary unity of the region at the following levels:

- at Finfinne level: to attain and maintain that Finfinne be the cultural, economic and political center of Oromo and Oromia; to be build as a core of our Oromo nation, that means Finfinne is like our Oromo heart; and to promote it be the center of all the other levels of unity; i.e the capital city of the unity at the level of Oromia, level of Ethiopia, level of the Horn and level of Africa.

- at Oromian level: in addition to having Finfinne as a core, to attain and maintain our national liberty and national unity in a form of Oromian independence and Oromian integration unconditionally, because Oromia is like our Oromo body.

- at Ethiopian level: after securing Oromian independence and Oromian unity, we do have no problem with a possible Ethiopian union, which can be considered as our Oromo inner clothing, like a shirt, which we can put on or take off based on our political will and our necessity.

- at the Horn level: a union, which will be based and build on an independent and an integrated Oromia, will be just advantageous for Oromia in particular, and for the Horn region in general, which is our Oromo middle clothing, like a coat.

- at African level: a federation/union with Finfinne as its capital or with Oromia as a center of African politics is simply a glory for Oromia, which is like our Oromo overcoat.

Last but not least, a compromise solution is not an optimal (best) solution. It is always a temporary solution till one will be in a position to demand the optimal result. That is why ‘Oromian autonomy within Ethiopian union’ (true ethnic federation = independent Oromia within integtrated Ethiopia = national self-determination with multi-national democracy = self-rule with shared rule = internal self-determination =…etc) is ONLY a temporary solution for the Oromo question, as a prelude to the optimal solution, i.e a prelude to the REFERENDUM on: ‘Oromia autonomy within Ethiopian union’ vs ‘Oromian independence within African union’. A lasting and optimal solution is only the one, for which the Oromo majority will vote during the public verdict. The Oromo people have nothing to lose if we can decide per REFERENDUM in the future, be it for ‘independent Oromia’ or for ‘ethnic Ferderation’ or for ‘unitary Ethiopia’, as long as we can and will achieve both FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY. So, our future common values and virtues are these two concepts (freedom and democracy), for which we can have an all-inclusive alliance against the fascist and racist Woyane. I do believe that our colonizers (Abyssinian ruling class) also will be compelled in due time to learn accepting and respecting this vision as their own long term goal. Hopefully, the popular mass of both the Amhara and the Tigrai also will slowly start to struggle for the self-determination of their own respective nations in order to then forge the lasting commonly advantageous union of independent nations in the Horn region, based on the public verdict of all the stakeholders.

Related:
- Can Overcoming the ‘Amhara Elites Vs Oromo Elites’ Face-off Help the Possible Revolution in Ethiopia Erupt? ( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26834 )

- My last advice for the suffering Amharas and Oromos! ( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9169 )

- G-7 and OLF discussing on UNITY: enjoy! ( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11552 )

- Oromian National Liberty & Ethiopian Regional Unity!( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11614 )

- ALL against one EVIL: current slogan of the opposition! ( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9071 )

- Why was it easy for Meles’ regime to rule over Ethiopians? ( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16186 )

- Independent Oromia in Integrated Ethiopia: fact or fancy? ( viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1735 )

I hope, you are not under the illusion of people believing that you are an oromo of any soort: just like Bewendimu is and just like Arat Killo an amhara ethiopian nationalist

You are executing your assigned job, and i say go for it

Dr Beyan of OLF says: YES, the overcoming of the face-off is possible! Enjoy: http://gadaa.com/oduu/8605/2011/04/04/e ... dis-dimts/

Compromise solution is not an optimal (best) solution. It is always a temporary solution till one will be in a position to demand the optimal result. That is why ‘Oromian autonomy within Ethiopian union’ (ethnic federation = independent Oromia within integtrated Ethiopia = national self-determination with multi-national democracy = self-rule with shared rule = internal self-determination =…etc) is ONLY a temporary solution for the Oromo question, as a prelude to the optimal solution, i.e a prelude to the REFERENDUM on: ‘Oromia autonomy within Ethiopian union’ vs ‘Oromian independence within African union’. A lasting and optimal solution is only the one, for which the Oromo majority will vote during the public verdict.

The Necessity of Fostering an Effective Alliance or an Efficient Unity Against the Woyane

The only way forward for the Woyane victims (for the affected citizens and nations) in the Ethiopian empire is their unity of purpose to get rid of this fascist and racist regime. That means we need to deal specially with the Woyane’s method of polarizing, dividing and fragmentizing the opposition. We know that OLF’s way of struggle these days is very smart; it effectively tackled the Woyane’s method of destroying any opposition by dividing. It is becoming inclusive of all groups of the Oromo nationalists with the vision to realize one of the different forms of the sovereignity intended for the future Oromia/Ethiopia in a process through which the nationalists will vote for their respective choice, of course after achieving together the common Oromo goal: freedom of the Oromo people from Woyane’s fascism. We do support all the Oromo nationalists, who are fighting for the Oromo’s freedom (bilisummaa), knowing the fact that they wish to realize one of the following three types of Oromia’s sovereignity (walabummaa):

- an independent Oromia of the ULFO (getting rid of Ethiopia) = external self-determination of the Oromo people,
- the Ethiopia-Oromia (Ethiopian union with Oromian autonomy) of the OFC = internal self-determination, and
- an integrated/unitary Ethiopia to be led by the Oromo people and having Afaan Oromo as a federal working language as planned by the politically conscious Oromo nationalists in the UDJ (getting rid of Oromia).

Which type of the sovereignity will prevail in the future depends on the vote of the Oromo majority after achieving our bilisummaa by any means possible, i.e through the armed struggle of the OLF and/or through the public uprising of an all-inclusive alliance and/or through the electroal struggle of the OFC. So, it is good that OLF now leads these moves of the politically conscious Oromo nationalists in different routes/ways towards the same kaayyoo (goal) of bilisummaa Oromo and then to the type of walabummaa of Oromia/Ethiopia, which will be decided by the Oromo public majority.

To hinder this clever move of the OLF, the “smart” Woyanes are trying their best to preach an ‘unconditional independent Oromia’ and an ‘unconditional unitary Ethiopia’ at the same time, just for the sake of sowing a discord between the Amhara democratic forces and the Oromo liberation fronts so that the tsunami of the revolution, which is now almost coming up on their bosses in Finfinne palace, may be hindered; i.e to prevent the tsunami coming from the planned all-inclusive alliance. We like it or not, the spirit of AFD is on the process of resurrecting and reviving, which is really an excellent phenomen on development. Meles Zenawi’s political acrobat as well put by Gadaa.com in the following link will never prevent such an all-inclusive alliance from being a reality: http://gadaa.com/oduu/9059/2011/04/22/z ... auvinists/ . Interestingly Meles Zenawi has already dispatched his cadres in three directions (being camouflaged as independenists in the Ethno-nationalists’ camp of the Oromo, as killil-federalists in his Woyane camp of the Tegaru and as unitarists in the Ethio-nationalists’ camp of the Amhara):

- in Amhara forums and paltalks to preach a ‘unitary Ethiopia’ and to demonize the Ethno-nationalists, specially to blame the Ogaden and the Oromo liberation forces;
- in Tegaru forums and paltalks to act as the popes of ethnic federation (braging about §39) just in order to curse the Amhara unitarists as “chauvinists” and the Oromo independenists as “secessionists”;
- in Oromo forums and paltalks to function as hardliner supporters of an ‘indepnendent Oromia’ just to denigrate and to insult the Amhara camp.

At the moment, the card of the ‘Tigrean independence’, which Meles Zenawi used to preach as he was a rebel, has no more value, as long as Woyane is in power. Even if the Woyane cadres try to use this card, no one is scared of it; also the pro-unity Amharas do say: “go to hell and declare your independence”. This card of course will be important when Woyane starts to see that its power in Finfinne palace is in danger. Till then Woyane purposely advocates an unconditional ‘independent Oromia’ to the Oromo, so that the Oromo people be cornered only at this position, not to be flexible. Woyane knows very well that this position has got a lot of enemies (not only the unitarist Amhara, but also the Western regimes). With the same logic, Woyane preaches to the Amhara nationalists how important an unconditional ‘unitary Ethiopia’ is, because this position produces an enemity of all the oppressed nations in the Ethiopian empire, including the act of inducing the enemity of the Oromo, towards the Amhara. That means Woyane’s best cards now are these two diametrically opposite positions: an ‘unconditional independent Oromia’ and an ‘unconditional unitary Ethiopia’, of course beside its continous song about Woyane’s ethnic federation per force (about its de facto Tigrean hegemony).

Actually the flag, which Meles Zenawi carries in the first picture drawn by Gadaa.com, is the OLF-flag with the slogan “Oromia shall be free”. He already has hidden the “Abbay Tigrai” agenda and the “Tigrai shall be free” slogan behind his current Ethiopianist rhetoric. He is happy when the pro-”Oromia shall be free” Oromo nationals and the pro-”long live Ethiopia” Amhara groups do bark at each other and neutralize each other; that is why he promotes both the Ethiopian and the Oromian nationalisms and tries to control the two emotional communities, who he thinks are ready to be moblized when ever he wants. He tried to mobilize the emotional Amhara nationalists against OLF in the time between 1992 and 2005 and he attempted to moblize some Oromo nationals during the 2005 election and after that against the CUD of Amhara camp; now he again tries to mobilize the gullible part of the Amhara nationals using his Ethiopian nationalist slogan about Abbay River and Assab Port, of course to hinder them from cooperating with the Oromo nationalists during the upcoming revolution. To some extent he is successful; for instance, the fact that Oromo students are now revolting without any help from other students is the proof.

To counter this Meles Zenawi’s move towards the ‘right’ side of the political spectrum, his intention being just to make the Ethio-nationalists to rally behind himself, I think the ongoing cooperation between G-7, ONLF and OLF is a smart progress. They need to foster the necessary all-inclusive alliance based on the common denominators, ‘freedom and democracy’, so that we can build a true killil-federation (Oromian autonomy within Ethiopian union) after the demise of the regime. The independenist wing of the OLF and those in ULFO should be wise enough not to oppose this move. Now the arguement among the Oromo polity on: ‘independence vs union’ must stop. Even we don’t have to oppose the position of the pro-unitary Ethiopian forces as long as they fight against the brutal fascist Woyane.

So, the best anti-dote against the current Woyane’s move is that we do everything possible to make Woyane be insecure and if possible to lose power. The best instruments to achieve this are the imperative ‘tokkummaa/unity of the Oromo liberation forces’ and the important ‘tumsa/alliance with the other democratic forces’. I am sure that the Oromo people do have nothing to lose by pushing in this form. Those Oromo nationals, who fear the possible comeback of the Amhara elites with the assimilationist feudal mentality to reverse the partially achieved Oromo’s right to self-adminstration, are simply unrealistic. So let’s fight together with all the anti-Woyane forces in order to achieve our national Oromo liberty with regional Ethiopian union.

I personally think that now we do have only one all-inclusive opposition against Woyane. This opposition camp has got the ‘left’ wing independenists like the ULFO, the ‘middle’ body unionists like those in EFDUF (medrek) as well as those with the spirit of AFD (the G-7, OLF and ONLF) and the ‘right’ wing integrationists like the AEUP and EPRP. Now, we are in the critical phase of the struggle where we need the cooperation and coordination of the move of all these three parts of the opposition against our common enemy (against the fascist and racist Woyane). That is why we all anti-Woyane political groups should stop our infighitng and start to target only the Woyane, so that we can forge a transitional governement based on the principles of freedom and democracy after the fall of this regime.

Nothing can save the political acrobatist Meles Zenawi, from the imminent and the upcoming revolution; that means the time is for a revolution. But we, the Oromo nationalists, do ask: where are the other students, while the Oromo students are revolting? Why are the Amhara students and the students from the other opressed nations still sleeping? Are they still the victims of Woyane’s divide and rule method? We actually must be able to say together: no more antagonizing the all-inclusive freedom fighters in favour of the Woyane fascist forces. It is clear that the Woyane fascists and racists survived by dividing, fragmentizing and polarizing both the Amhara integrationist camp and the Oromo independenist camp among themselves and between each other.

But now the question is: how long will both the Ethiopian nationalists’ camp of the Amhara and the Ethnic nationalists’ bloc of the Oromo allow the Woyane to play with them and how long do they give a chance for this mafia group to beat them turn by turn? Are they less intelligent than the Woyane not to outsmart this fascist and racist regime? Time will show us for how long Woyane will play the game of pure political acrobat, presenting itself (camouflaging) as either the Oromo independenist or as the only Ethiopian unionist (killil-federalist) or as the Amhara integrationist just to sow a discord among the opposition and make these different parts of the opposition to fight each other; actually the only true motive of Woyane is to keep the Tigrean hegemony at any cost. On the day that the Oromo nationalists start to make also the issue of an integrated Ethiopia as their own regional issue, of course beside an independent Oromia as the national issue, and on the day the Amhara nationals start to accept and respect Oromia’s right to exist, at least within an integrated Ethiopia, this day will be the day of a real demise for the fascist and racist Woyane regime.

Otherwise, we have to be able to differentiate Woyane political acrobatists from the genuine independenist Oromo, the unionist (federalist) South and the integrationist Amhara. To know this difference, what matters is not the position of their guts, but more the direction of their guns. Woyane cadres do direct their guns (verbal bullets) on pro-integration Amhara nationals and on pro-independence Oromo nationalists, whereas the genuine opposition from these two camps nowadays consequently and conciously try to direct their guns only on the currently tormenting enemy (the Woyane). Woyane cadres shoot continously at these genuine Amhara and Oromo groups, whereas the genuine pro-independence Oromo and the genuine pro-integration Amhara nationals do try to tolerate all the opposition political groups with their different tactics and strategies in struggling for freedom from Woyane’s fascism. So we just need to check the direction of their guns in order to differenitate the camouflaged Woyane cadres talking about an ‘independent Oromia’ and an ‘integrated Ethiopia’ from both the genuine opposition blocs advocating these two same agenda respectively.

What ever happens in the politics of that empire, sure is that Woyane cadres are doing everything under the sun to divide and weaken the opposition. It is up to us, the supporters of the opposition, to act against this move of the cadres. That is why we continously push for the imperative unity of those with similar ideology and for the optional alliance of all the anti-Woyane democrats. The opposition camp including the Oromo liberation movement should act together against the mafia group in Finfinne palace. For this to happen, the opposition groups need to agree on the rule of the game regarding the future arrangement: referendum or consensus or force.

The rule of the game against Woyane is clear. Woyane didn’t give any chance for either a referendum or a consensus. What remains then is a force as the only means to deal with Woyane; that means only civil disobedience, armed struggle and public uprising are the choice, not the usual ‘election game’. But the opposition should also find the suitable rule of the game in the post-Woyane future politics: either consensus or referendum, excluding force. Then they do have only the following two options:

- consensus on a middle ground for all; i.e on a ‘union of autonomous nations’ in the region/empire called Ethiopia or
- referendum on: an ‘independent nation like an independent Oromia’ VS a ‘union of autonomous nations in Ethiopia’ VS an ‘integration of the empire devoid of autonomous national areas like Oromia’

Force is only the last option for the opposition groups to settle the difference between each other, in case we will fail to agree on the above two noble ways (on consensus and referendum). If we must use force, then the result will be an ‘independence by force as in the case of Eritrea’, or a ‘union by force as it is now under Woyane’ or an ‘integration by force as it was under the Amhara rule in the past’. Now, the question to be answered is: are both the Oromo camp and the Amhara camp in a position to achieve their goal respectively by force? If the Oromo camp wants an Oromian independence in such a move by force, it must win not only the ruling Woyane, but also the opposing Amhara camp. If the Amharas want to impose an integration by force, they also need to win not only the ruling Woyane, but also the opposing Oromo camp.

I don’t think this is feasible for both camps in the near future; that is why both the Amhara camp and the Oromo camp must make a compromise/have a consensus, not to fight each other, but build an alliance to be a stronger force against Woyane to achieve their common goal according to the consensus, i.e to achieve freedom from Woyane’s fascism and a ‘union of autonomous nations’ as a compromise solution. Woyane cadres are now sensing that this possibility of an alliance between the Amhara camp and the Oromo bloc against their rule is approaching, that is why they are very busy to polarize, divide and fragmentize both camps.