CAN BERTUKAN MIDEKSA "OUR ETHIOPIA" SPEECH RESUSCITATE THE AILING KINIJIT AND GET BACK IT'S LOST GLORY?

It was the first speech of its kind that I had heard from Bertukan Mideksa, a mild-mannered graceful lady and Vice President of Kinijit (CUD). She was addressing Ethiopians in Minneapolis gathered for a fund-raising event for Kinijit. She started with words similar to the famous words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence: "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Not quite in those terms, but that is how I wanted to hear it and took the liberty to include it here.

She used a century old story of a young man by the name of Negadras Gebrehiwot Baykedagn, a Tigrean from Adwa, to mesmerize her audience with her slow and measured delivery, and send a powerful message about how government stands for all people and not for a few individuals or ethnic groups. She alleged that with well articulated vision from their party, the Ethiopian people are ready to make a historic sacrifice for their freedom from oppression.

She explained how, during the famous 2005 peace rally, the now famous/notorious statements of Ato Bedru Adem, "We Will Return Them From Whence They Came: wede meTubet inimelisachewalen", was construed by government media to mean "Homes to Kebele, Tigreans to Mekele: Bet wede Kebele, Tigre wede Mekele", and broadcast many times so successfully that their party was forced to send out several statements refuting those allegations. In the same breath, she stated how disappointed she was in the conspicuous absence of Tigreans in the audience, in all of the cities that she had toured in these United States. She did not mention a straw poll or an exit poll taken to arrive at that conclusion. She then apologized for some frivolous statements posted on their behalf on a website they have very little control over, called kinijit.org. This is the website controlled by the "Shaleqa Group."

She then explained how her Kinijit party is free of religious or ethnic ideology and that it stands for all Ethiopians; that they believe in individual freedom without any bias to ethnicity, religion or sex; and that they advocate for freedom of assembly for any people

She mentioned a sentence or two about the problems in Somalia and Eritrea. Interestingly, she seemed to imply that Eritrea is a legitimate free state.

She concluded by mentioning about a certain fear among some segments of our society and that her party will not spend time hair splitting or parsing words about the nature of these fears, but instead will leave no stone unturned, to heal the perceived wounds and establish better relations with all for the good of our country and us all.

I must say that I am pleasantly surprised and pleased by these remarks. Unlike the twenty-some page rambling of Dr. Berhanu Nega

Thanks Bertukan, at least you are trying.