Re: You got to be in it to win it!

Besides....

XCUD is trying to have their cake and eat it to.
On the one hand they argued that justice delayed was justice not served.
They complained that the CUD defendants were denied a quick trial which deprived them of their rights to have a quick resolution.
All the while they were doing all they could do to delay a quick resolution.
They huffed and puffed and failed to provide a defense.
The Court awaiting their response was simultaneously accused by the same defendants and their supporters of unduly extending the trial further denying them of a quick resolution.
At the end the Court exercised its only option when the defendants refused to put up a defense.
Now one can interpret why they refused to have a trial. Maybe the evidence was so overwhelming and incriminating that had a trial been conducted, the whole world would have seen how guilty they were in forming and directing an attempted insurrection.

Such a scenario would no doubt destroy them beyond repair.
In the US a defendant faced with overwhelming evidence pointing to his guilt will often accept a plea deal with the prosecution in order to receive a less harsh sentence.
Just maybe the CUD defendants chose to not mount a defense because their guilt was so overwhelming.
Finding themselves in a, lose-lose scenario, they just may have decided to defy the constitution so that a guilty plea would be entered and their guilt not exposed.
At the same time the engine that drives the buggy CUD formula quickly shouted that Justice was denied because the Court acted in haste making a decision.
Come on....they can not have it both ways.
They can not scream that justice delayed is Justice denied and then flip flop and shout Justice is not justice because it was done in quickly.

What a mess have these people created for themsleves at ever turn. How can one make so many mistakes? Amazing!


On 6/13/07, Dg; wrote:

Even more reason to go to court! You are under the critical eye of the Safeguarder of Democracy (USA, Bush) and as such, are subject to criticism and other actions if you act in an Undemocratic manner. I would think that every DEMOCRAT would be hoping for anything to criticize Bush and his new ally (meles) for their actions in Somalia or anywhere in general...

It would have been a smart move towards longevity of the opposition to do that.

Like I said from day 1, I was pleasantly surprised by CUD and the movement it generated amongst the people. But that doesn't make you ready to run a country. Anyone who thought they were should by now have realized that the party was a Lemon. Time always Tells.

Them guys quit when the going went rough. You do that when you are running a country and you open it up for corruption, scandal and risk of it becoming like a Nigeria (sorry Nigeria!).

T; wrote:

ya ya ya.........the usual excuses!

On 6/13/07, S; wrote:

Who you foolin? Meles is there as Bush's puppet because he invaded Somalia for him. He is the neo-cons darling now don't you know. No Somalia and Mele would not have been in this picture.

Re: You got to be in it to win it!

S, What are you talking about?

the winner in ETH's election was acknowledged by 2 of 3 independent observers. The 3rd observer turned out to be a campaign manager for the opposition and is still campaigning as we speak.

Do not make believe that the election was a shame. the whole rational world knows otherwise. To reassure you that the ETH gov't is widely accepted for its hard work to alleviate its people from poverty and for its legitimacy, check out this pic taken a few days ago at the G8 summit. No one fitting your description of the ETH gov't would be invited at such events.

Who are you trying to fool?



On 6/13/07, S wrote:

Bemba accepted a Supreme Court ruling that Kabila was the rightful winner. If a handful of his supporters still decide to act stupid and act up hey... Some of Segoline Royals supporters decided to act stupid too after she lost to Sarkozy in France. These are sore losers. Regardless in both cases we clearly know who won the election. Not so in Ethiopia.

On 6/13/07, T wrote:

But of couRse, his supporters think they have been disenfranchised!

They rioted as the style is for us Africans loosing opponents. They Rioted my brother!

There is still tension and military presense all over DRC due to this, months later!

and stop yelling!

On 6/13/07, S wrote:

IT IS IRRELEVANT BECAUSE HALF OF THE FREAKIN POPULATION IS NOT BEING DISENFRANCHISED. THE LOSING SIDE KNOWS THAT EVEN THOUGH IT LOST ITS VOTES WERE COUNTED PROPERLY, TRANSPARENTLY AND INDEPENDENTLY. THIS IS THE BASICS OF DEMOCRACY THAT A TWO YEAR OLD CAN TELL YOU. UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES THE LOSING CANDIDATE CAN CRY FOUL AND TAKE HIS RAG TAG MERCENARIES AND GO TO THE MOON FOR ALL I CARE. IF HIS SUPPORTERS ON THE GROUND DON'T BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE DISENFRANCHISED HE WILL NOT HAVE A BASE OF SUPPORT WITHIN THE COUNTRY IN WHICH TO START A CIVIL WAR USING THE ELECTION RESULTS AS AN EXCUSE. THIS LEADS TO STABILITY AND PROGESS.

On 6/13/07, T wrote:

S,

How is this irrelevant? in Africa, this is the trend. All loser are sore losers. Independent or not the losers always call foul.

Besides, the DRC is a country the is trying to emerge from the rubbles of WW4, African style. it has to be seen in its own context. ETH '05 election has a different history and birth.

On 6/13/07, S; wrote:

Whether Bemba refuses to accept results is irrelevant. More fool him. The fact is the votes were counted and certified by an independent body. I thought you would be able to understand the difference between genuine disenfranchisement and just being a sore loser. Big difference my friend.

On 6/13/07, T; wrote:

S,

and what happended to the opposition in the Congo?

He, Bemba, refused to accpet the decision of the IEC, his security crew had gun battles with the military, and he is now in exile in Portugal, vowing never to return.

So what does this prove, even with the so called IEC outcome is the same.

Besides, in ETH 05, the election board and all other aspects of the institutional make ups were known and ageed upon by all oppositions. All went very smoothly until they found out they lost. Then they unleashed their mafiossos on the public.

The reason that truth is stranger than fiction is that fiction has to have a rational thread running through it in order to be believable, whereas reality may be totally irrational. And irrational is what the XCUD is!

On 6/12/07, S wrote:

S1 the Congo, which recently became a democracy, held general elections last year and guess what....the votes were counted by their Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). "The members of the electoral commission were designated on an equal basis between different entities and components formed during the Congolese talks in 2002 and 2003. This equall formation has henceforth consecrated its independence." Why did they only have wait a couple of years to get this very important institution of Democracy and we Ethiopians have to wait 100 yrs to get ours? Oh yeah I forgot. We have to be patient and play within the system. 16 yrs and counting. Can't wait.

On 6/12/07, S1; wrote:

N, you are making my point for me. The country has moved forward in the last 15 years faster than it has moved in the last thousand years. Could it have moved even further? Sure it could have with some policies here and there being tweaked. But that is crying over spilled milk. You got to play in the system to expedite the process so it won't take 100 years. In my opinion, CUD should have defended themselves in the courts and proven to the international observers and their supporters how shameful the judiciary system under the EPRDF is run. The bottom line is I don't see the gain they made by not defending themselves.

Re: You got to be in it to win it!

S

How is this irrelevant? in Africa, this is the trend. All loser are sore losers. Independent or not the losers always call foul.
Besides, the DRC is a country the is trying to emerge from the rubbles of WW4, African style. it has to be seen in its own context. ETH '05 election has a different history and birth.



On 6/13/07, S wrote:

Whether Bemba refuses to accept results is irrelevant. More fool him. The fact is the votes were counted and certified by an independent body. I thought you would be able to understand the difference between genuine disenfranchisement and just being a sore loser. Big difference my friend.

On 6/13/07, T wrote:

Sirak,

and what happended to the opposition in the Congo?

He, Bemba, refused to accpet the decision of the IEC, his security crew had gun battles with the military, and he is now in exile in Portugal, vowing never to return.

So what does this prove, even with the so called IEC outcome is the same.

Besides, in ETH 05, the election board and all other aspects of the institutional make ups were known and ageed upon by all oppositions. All went very smoothly until they found out they lost. Then they unleashed their mafiossos on the public.

The reason that truth is stranger than fiction is that fiction has to have a rational thread running through it in order to be believable, whereas reality may be totally irrational. And irrational is what the XCUD is!

On 6/12/07, S wrote:

S1. the Congo, which recently became a democracy, held general elections last year and guess what....the votes were counted by their Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). "The members of the electoral commission were designated on an equal basis between different entities and components formed during the Congolese talks in 2002 and 2003. This equall formation has henceforth consecrated its independence." Why did they only have wait a couple of years to get this very important institution of Democracy and we Ethiopians have to wait 100 yrs to get ours? Oh yeah I forgot. We have to be patient and play within the system. 16 yrs and counting. Can't wait.

On 6/12/07, S1; wrote:

Nemo, you are making my point for me. The country has moved forward in the last 15 years faster than it has moved in the last thousand years. Could it have moved even further? Sure it could have with some policies here and there being tweaked. But that is crying over spilled milk. You got to play in the system to expedite the process so it won't take 100 years. In my opinion, CUD should have defended themselves in the courts and proven to the international observers and their supporters how shameful the judiciary system under the EPRDF is run. The bottom line is I don't see the gain they made by not defending themselves.

On 6/12/07, N; wrote:

I haven't read all the postings, but I'll just add this limited point.
The US civil war ended in 1865. This was a huge huge war, needless to
say. And yet brothers only got to vote in the south of the US in 1965.
I don't know what point you were trying to make, but 100 years of Jim
Crow is not the historical model we should wish upon Ethiopia. And it
wasn't just dogs and police batons bro. There were plenty of "strange
fruits hanging from the poplar trees" as Billie Holiday sang...

-N-