From the Middle Distance – Journalist in Exile

Abiye Teklemariam

21 July 2011

interview

Ron Singer interviews Abiye Teklemariam, founding editor of ‘Addis Neger’ (‘New Addis’), which until 2009 was Ethiopia’s leading dissident newspaper.

Abiye Teklemariam (b. 1978) is founding editor of ‘Addis Neger’ (‘New Addis’), which, until 2009, was Ethiopia’s leading dissident newspaper. I was introduced to Abiye by the Committee to Protect Journalists, and took the opportunity to interview him first on 25 May 2009 at Ledig House, in Omi, New York, where he was working on a book about the prospects for Ethiopian democracy. A second, follow-up interview took place on 30 September 2010 at a restaurant in New York City.

On 8 December 2009, Abiye shut down ‘Addis Neger’ and fled Ethiopia, fearing government prosecution under a sweeping new libel law. Since the end of his sojourn in the US, he has been in residence at Oxford University. ‘Addis Neger’ now operates as a blog.

Highlights from the first interview include Abiye’s early life and path to journalism; a comparison of the current government of Ethiopia with its predecessor; a sketch of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi; ethnic federalism; government control of the media; literacy and democracy.

NOTE: For several reasons, the second interview was not recorded. Thus, the highlights which follow are a summary with, where remembered, paraphrase or quotation, which is indicated by speech prefixes: ‘ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM’ and ‘RON SINGER’. (The material has been vetted by Abiye.)

CURRENT PROJECTS

Abiye is currently working on three books: One on the possibility of democracy in Ethiopia (‘a huge project’); a second, on the post-Derg press in Ethiopia; and the newest one (for Africa World Press/Red Sea Press), which he is co-authoring with a colleague from ‘Addis Neger’, is a biography of Bertukan Medeksa.

BERTUKAN MEDEKSA

Medeksa was jailed by the Ethiopian government in 2005, then pardoned and released after 19 months, when she struck a deal with the government. But when she returned from visits to the US and Europe, in reaction to infighting among the opposition, Bertukan formed her own party, after which she was rearrested. Because she had thanked the Ethiopian community in Stockholm for applying the pressure that led to her release, the Ethiopian government claimed that she had broken the terms of her pardon (which they said she had asked for, and they had generously agreed to). They demanded an apology for the speech, which she refused, so they rearrested her to complete her sentence – life.

A lawyer, judge, politician, very popular and charismatic, Bertukan was adopted by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch. She is 36 now. Her life has been in turmoil, constantly in flux, since her graduation from university.

(In the face of intense international pressure, Bertukan was subsequently re-released, in October 2010.)

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: ETHIOPIA’S RETREAT FROM EVEN TALKING ABOUT DEMOCRACY

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: Since our last interview, the Ethiopian government has decided to do away with the façade that it was ‘transitioning’ to democracy. We had a feeling that this was a stagnating transition. Now it is going backwards.

Maybe Meles realises the US needs him more than he needs them.

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: I think he needs the US for both international legitimacy and economic support. He knows, however, that there is no serious organised political alternative in Ethiopia. The US has interests, and it is a brute fact of realpolitik that they have to deal with what they have. With no encumbrances from the outside and with hegemonic domination domestically, he can call their bluff. One of the things he learned from the 2005 elections and their aftermath was that, if he opens any space in Ethiopia, his popularity is so low that any quasi-political party can push him out of power. He doesn’t want to take any risks now.

What are his motives, at this point? It’s not to stay in power that much longer, is it?

[Meles said in a 22 September 2010 speech at Columbia University, in New York City, that he would not run for another term.]

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: He’s young still, he’s 55. He has no incentive to relinquish power at the moment. I am surprised when people believe his words that he will relinquish power. Tell me why he will. This is a question of political economy. He has little pressure from the Opposition. He has a network of supporters with different interests. He knows they support him because he has power.

If he relinquishes power and endangers their interests, they will be the first to turn the gun in his direction. He knows that, if he loses his power, he’s probably going to end up in prison or being killed. He’s a very good student of Ethiopian history. He knows that his only saving grace is his power. He’s experimental, he’s taken risks, he always learns from his mistakes. He’s made EPRDF [the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front], his party, a kind of personal entity.

And, as I said, he learned in 2005 that opening up space would cause an existential threat to his power. His reaction was to close down civil society, muzzle the press, shut down everything. Now everybody is aware of that.

ETHIOPIA AND THE US

Internationally, this [retreat from democracy] is well-known. The American government has gone out of its way to criticise that [retreat from democracy]. Not many sane people think now that this is a government that is transitioning to democracy. Obama talks a good game about democracy, but has done little to help.

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: Obama is very cautious. As far as talk is concerned, like openly criticising, he’s okay. But, action … very cautious, putting [little] pressure on the government, except publicly criticising them. What can he do? Create strong anti-Meles opposition? Is trying to do that his problem?

Meles may have more leverage on him, our only ally in the region.

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: In terms of the Horn of Africa, if they (the US) have a holistic approach, rather than putting their eggs in one basket, they could probably do better than they are now. Involving Kenya, even Eritrea, to some extent. Instead of considering Ethiopia as the only serious ally in the region, you can make your own allies.

Eritrea? Interesting example. A Marxist dictatorship, isn’t it? But we don’t care about that now?

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: [Laughs] They need a comprehensive approach to solving the region’s problems, pushing for a less militaristic approach: the Eritrea-Ethiopia border problem, Somalia’s problems…

Can Somalia’s be solved at all?

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: Very hard, but the Ethiopian government is not helping, it is exacerbating it.

You can hardly help yourselves with them.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VERSUS HUMAN RIGHTS

So now he is trying to project an image of a very efficient leader, meaning that, even though he’s a dictator, he’s bringing a lot of economic development to Ethiopia. Meles compares Ethiopia to China, a one-party state with fast economic growth. He says, ‘This is not Congo, this is China.’ There is an argument about whether people should give precedence to good government and human rights over economic development. He’s trying to use that conversation to his advantage.

That’s true all over Africa.

ABIYE TEKLEMARIAM: All over Africa. Meles claims that GDP growth has been 11.6 per cent. He’s massaging numbers, with the unfortunate nod of the World Bank and IMF. He is massaging numbers on Millennium Development Goals. He has an incentive to do that. His legitimacy in the past was based on his supposed democratic credentials. Now that it is exposed to be a big lie, he has created a new discourse. Serious scholars, like Stefan Dercon of Oxford, dispute his numbers, questioning Ethiopian agricultural productivity claims. The GDP growth percentage is probably about 6 per cent, but population growth is about 3 per cent, and [GDP is] starting from a very low base. So the discourse is a lot about economics, about numbers. For now, for strategic reasons, the World Bank accepts his numbers, gives him loans. But, like the discourse about democracy, he will be exposed soon. People will wake up to the fact that he’s not really bringing prosperity to Ethiopia, he’s just making up numbers, like in the old Soviet Union.

AllAfrica – All the Time