My take

 

In the above picture is the only outspoken opposition MP whose motion is supported by no other candidate but himself. By all votes, his motions were flanked by the majority of the MPs. My reason for stressing on this aspect of the parliamentary theatre is not to put blame or criticize the obviously strange look of the procession on one party. It is my understanding that whatever I observe in the current development of the Ethiopian economy, politics, infrastructure, and cultural activities, however one chooses to look at it, there are undeniable progresses being made. It is hard to tell the leadership is not trying to contribute to the country's welfare in its capacity. There can be problems here and there, some potentially unavoidable, others man made. Unless the country is being secretly run by a North Korea style totalitarian regime, I don't believe it is possible to have such a majority of support in the parliament without the regime doing something good for the people. But seeing Mr. Girma, the poor opposition MP who happens to be the only member to vote for his motion, it makes me think either the opposition is paying for its previous miscalculations, or the leading party has given developmental state priorities extremely high importance to the extent of blatantly avoiding gambling on building a more sustainable system, a vibrant democracy based on diverse views, mainly due to waste of the desperately needed time, or the unexpected security risks that inherently come with it. It is my sincere hope the next election will not produce a parliament that looks this odd. Something I don’t deny is that the orderly and organized meeting looks extremely different from most parliaments I know of. The questions posed by the MPs are reasonably critical and cover diverse areas, other than questioning the politically charged and sensitive questions of the life span of the EPRDF as a government, which in my opinion shows a striking difference from the times of Meles.

Expect the unexpected

The recent developments in Ukraine and Crimea have their own root causes. Whenever a determined people movement is displayed with an outpouring anger, there must have been some fundamental cause gone wrong. It was agreed by both sides; the orange movement and the Russian Federation that the level of corruption was cruel, given the worsening economic situation there. I am still having a challenging time understanding this kind of recklessness from the authorities who were "democratically" elected to serve their people not only for being unfair to their people but also in terms of lack of anticipating the outcome due to the already sensitive situation in the region after the wake of the cold war era. While the level of corruption is the main cause of the people's outburst, there could have been an alternative solution for what I regard a newly developing internal problem of Ukraine. It was best for all detractors to stay away from the conflict until things settle and the people sort out their future. As it looks, the geopolitical interest of the west and the east clashed again, interfering in the decision-making ability of the people of Ukraine to shape their future. What came about is the worsening of the east - west relation with the proclaimed 93% of Crimean's voting to secede from Ukraine. We are yet to see which way this goes.

We don't have to forget the current turmoil is happening next door to the 21st century Russia, Ukraine. The west never forgot its indulgence of eliminating communism to the last man, so it looks, however the former Soviet Union deflated to its present size. It is still a big territory and globally influential with a new drive to restore what was once known to be the Russian significance in the world politics. As one can witness, they have come a long way, but until lately they realized, when what they had been suspecting came to be heavily true; the west never slept. The west as Putin put it, know what they want and work for it persistently. It is against what most of the world population would choose - forget the cold war era and continue with the new world order of building a dynamic world community where the ideologies are never about being dominated by a single interest but rather a combination and most importantly of new but unifying world principle that doesn't necessarily reflect the emergence of a single victor. Can the west make the world a better place to live by dominating the new world order or by facilitating the diversity of the people and inventing a way to make it work for all? I think the final goal should be about establishing a unified but diverse world community rather than instigating a dominance, as the world is too big to look in a totalitarian sense. When one is equipped with these principles, one can always be prepared to lead the world with the ability and wisdom to adopt a sophisticated system where anything that is not a destabilizing factor, but a creative alternative is always a welcome gesture.

 

Does Ukraine ring the bell?

It is not my intention to stir the already troubled waters in select areas of the world, but things that unfold as time unveils itself not only draw my attention to ask what is to be expected in the near or long term in our planet that is filled with turmoil, but what to expect tomorrow.

The trending developments are extremely troubling to the extent that even the wisest and most foresighted individuals may have a hard time grasping the role the future plays on its own leaving every one else powerless to foresee the outcome.

The reason for my concern is not based on unfounded and or misguided assumptions about the welfare of our world. It is the result of being stricken not only once, twice or three times, but more often than not, by surprises that show the down grading of  the human spirit, and in some instances, cruelty of disproportionate dimensions.

Examples can be numerous. Every day we hear horror stories be it the cause of natural disaster, individuals taking the law in their hands, wars of no nonsense that turned to killing sprees by those who submit to shortfalls of anger management, and so on.

As big as this world of ours is, it is imperative to expect its intricacies can, as a result, grow exponentially. There is a tendency for the regional entities that encompass groups of countries that otherwise should have common strategies and interests for mutual development may well be the stooges of bigger influences that can instigate bigger frictions among powers whose grips on their life stream interests cannot be loosened without devastating consequences.

These are the main reasons why the world body has to create an effective system of a world government that lays ways to tackle emerging problems, some of which can get out of control, specially when least expected. If there is no predefined method of prevention against such misfortune, the only way out is getting the answer the days or years after a fierce war among the powers of interest. Historically, the two world wars so far had been the result of seeking the answer to resolve the undefined state the world once was. If this kind of price has to be paid to resolve complex world problems as a natural rule that can't be avoided, then there is nothing that can stop another one from coming, hopefully, after which a very important scientific theory may be in the coming.