Ethiopia opposition out of jail but in disarray
Sudan Tribune, Sudan - October 17, 2007
When Ethiopian opposition leader Hailu Shawel was freed from jail, hordes of relatives and supporters swarmed his gated mansion in Addis Ababa to raise a dram of whisky to his liberty.
Such was the euphoria at his release — and that of 37 other opposition figures — after almost two years in a maximum security prison for allegedly inciting their followers to riot in protest at a disputed 2005 election.
Western donors hailed the release as a sign Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government would revive its push to foster democracy in Ethiopia, the dominant power in the explosive Horn of Africa and a top ally in Washington’s war on terrorism.
But three months on, the opposition Coalition of Unity and Democracy (CUD) is divided and demoralised. Its battle for change is being fought, instead, by members of the U.S. Congress who passed a law linking democratic reform to future security aid.
"Prison didn’t weaken CUD, they weakened themselves. The CUD was an amalgamation of different groups, different ideas and different personalities so it was weak by its very nature," said Yoseph Tesfaye, an international relations teacher ...