TPLF/EPRDF in Political Message Mix Up

31 August 2012 [ESAT]

Remain of Meles is currently lying in state at the National Palace

TPLF/EPRDF cadres are ordered to change the tune of their propaganda to avoid a backlash from the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Until yesterday the nonstop media campaign was to paint the deceased Prime Minister of Ethiopia as the sole force behind what is working in Ethiopia. Even the Acting Prime Minister who is expected to take the reins of power in an official swearing in ceremony expected in the immediate aftermath of the burial of the Prime Minister has painted Meles as an ‘irreplaceable leader’.

The media campaign is believed to be coming from the office of Bereket Simon. The original tone and content of the campaign was to paint Meles as the greatest leader ever and perhaps in continental Africa. Soon after the campaign grew out of control and some people say it started to look like a cult.  That has been a source of worry among people with other opinion of how politics should be run with in the TPLF led coalition.

Meles was extolled as the sole source of ideas and the brain behind everything in the last 21 years so much so the propaganda started to make the others within the nomenklatura look like of no importance or role. One political observer questions how what remains of the front after September 2^nd could come and tell the people of Ethiopia that the EPRDF government is still able to do any good now that Meles is gone.

The simmering worry seemed to have gained ear with in the front. Yesterday the lead cadres of the party were called in for an impromptu meeting. They were given orders to tone down the excessive accolade to Mr. Meles and direct the political fortune to the organization instead. The cadres were specifically ordered to smother the growing public sentiment that the front will have no life without Meles.

Many senior leaders with in TPLF are livid about the superfluous credit given to Meles. They believe the age old image of ‘collective leadership’ within TPLF seemed to have been casted away for the sake of burnishing Meles’ controversial legacy. They fear this would strip a deserved credit from the many within the organization and may make TPLF look like a one man show. Party insiders say senior TPLF leaders from the gorilla era are haunted by a fear that the excessive display of cult towards Meles would reinforce the accusation that Meles is a dictator who micromanaged everything.

Some opposition political parties are taking notice that the public is starting to believe what the government officials are projecting on media. AEUP has openly requested the incoming administration to look into an era of political reconciliation and transition instead of trying to cling onto power while many political actors are excluded from the political process because of PM Meles’ obstinacy.