Listen to Me Now … my puppets I made You I am Your Bose ..I have hand picked you…<\/p>\n Do you understand? \u00a0Yes this is \u00a0“Parliamentary\u00a0Democracy” \u00a0my \u00a0makings …<\/p>\n We are there for another 30 years …hahaha !!!!<\/p>\n We do not need\u00a0observers\u00a0and their Radios<\/p>\n Now Let us \u00a0jam it call Bob Marley Please …<\/p>\n httpvh:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qc7_RaJh8rY<\/p>\n \n ___<\/p>\n VOA Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa 17 March 2010<\/p>\n \n Ethiopia’s May 23 elections for parliament have produced some interesting match-ups, with several prominent government officials facing stiff competition. \u00a0One contest pits Prime Minister Meles Zenawi against a former comrade in arms, Aregash Adane. ————–<\/p>\n \n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ethiopianism.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Meles_Zenawi_Angry_at_Blair-e1268987067345.jpg\" "\\"Meles_Zenawi_Angry_at_Blair\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\nThey Lost thus \u00a0 Jail \u00a0is \u00a0a Must !!!<\/h1>\n
I do not Need Observer at my own election.<\/h4>\n
Let them observe their own.<\/h4>\n
They never \u00a0invite me to observe their sham dumped \u00a0election ? Look What they say about my election of \u00a02005:_<\/span><\/h4>\n
“It is time the EU and US realise that the current regime in Ethiopia is repressing the people because it lacks democratic legitimacy “<\/span><\/h4>\n
Ana Gomes<\/h4>\n
EU election observer_<\/h4>\n
<\/span>
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ethiopianism.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/3.71.jpg\" "\\"3.7\\"")
<\/a><\/h2>\nMarquee Ethiopia Election Matchup Pits PM vs Former Comrade<\/h2>\n
\nAregash Adane seems an unlikely challenger to one of Africa’s most respected leaders. Invited for an interview about her bid to unseat the prime minister, she arrives on foot. No aides, no driver, no car.
\n“I’m only a few kilometers away,” she explains, “and I like to walk”.
\nAregash Adane knows Meles Zenawi well. They are both from Adwa, in the northern Tigray region. The legislative seat they are contesting represents the town. She is three years older than the 54-year-old prime minister, but says they have close family ties.
\n“Adwa is both his home and my home. His family and my family are very close. They are friends. We are neighbors,” she added.
\nMr. Meles and Ms. Aregash began their political careers as comrades in a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). \u00a0They fought together to overthrow the murderous Dergue regime led by the Communist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. \u00a0When the Dergue collapsed in 1991, the TPLF seized power.
\nMr. Meles became leader of both the TPLF and the new ruling coalition called the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). \u00a0Ms. Aregash was the senior female member of the decision-making central committee.
\nBut in 2001, a power struggle split the TPLF. \u00a0Mr. Meles crushed his opponents. \u00a0The rival faction, including Aregash Adane, was banished to the political wilderness.
\nMs. Aregash says since then, Mr. Meles has followed Leninist principles, establishing himself as the head of a one-party Revolutionary Democratic state.
\n“It’s a dictatorship,” she noted. \u00a0“Revolutionary Democracy is a philosophy of communism or socialism. It was designed by Lenin to create a certain period where they could develop and transit to socialism, so the ideology itself is very dictatorial.”
\nMs. Aregash says her challenge to the prime minister is not personal, but policy-driven. \u00a0She argues that after 19 years in power, the EPRDF’s promise of democratic socialism has failed to materialize. \u00a0She calls Revolutionary Democracy an ideology of the past.
\n“The EPRDF government has failed in the sense that it didn’t build or create democratic institutions in the country,” she explained. \u00a0“There is no era of socialism, at least in the immediate future, so the ideology which Meles is still following is, I believe wrong, so I challenge him.”
\nThe former guerrilla fighter says voters in Adwa are responding to her message, but she doubts Mr. Meles and the ruling party will give up power through the ballot box. \u00a0She says Ethiopia’s elections are stage-managed affairs designed to produce a desired outcome while giving the impression of multi-party democracy.
\n“If people voted against EPRDF, they are not ready to accept it, so they have to create an environment where the opposition couldn’t get a majority,” she said. \u00a0“The only thing it’s trying to do is portray he’s creating an environment where the election has been held democratically.”\u00a0\u00a0The May 23 election will be the first parliamentary poll since the disputed 2005 vote, which gave the ruling party a solid majority. Allegations of fraud led to violent demonstrations in which nearly 200 protestors were killed. Scores of opposition leaders were tried and sentenced to life in prison for their part in the protests, but later pardoned.
\nEthiopia’s most recent elections, the 2008 local council polls, also gave the ruling party an overwhelming victory. After most opposition parties boycotted, the EPRDF and its allies won all but three of 3.6 million seats being contested<\/p>\nUS criticizes Ethiopia\u2019s \u201cjamming\u201d of Voice of America<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n