Power and = Self-restraint

Five More=20 Years!

I read on Aiga; =93Mr. Prime Minister, no = Retirement, Five More=20 Years!=94 by Muluberhan Tsehaye, and I thought about it long and hard = and decided=20 to write this counter article.

In the short history of the United States, it is = Abraham=20 Lincoln who looms large in the minds of most people as one who saved the = Union=20 from breaking up during the Civil War and as one who freed the slaves, = and not=20 Washington. Except for Washington being the First President and Father = of the=20 Nation, so little is known about him. Most American school children tell of = Washington crossing the Delaware River, of the Cheery tree he cut and = confessed=20 to his father, and of the false wooden teeth he had, but not much = else.

Washington however, was a colossal figure who = really wielded=20 power through hard work and quiet charisma. When the Second Continental = Congress=20 assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, who attended as a = Virginia=20 delegate, was elected as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On = July 3,=20 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained = rag-tag=20 troops and started the campaign against the British.

After the Declaration of Independence in 1776 = Washington was=20 embroiled in a war that lasted six grueling years. He lost all six of = the nine=20 major battles and had to escape and/or retreat. But he would not give = up.=20 Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies, he forced the surrender = of the=20 British General Charles=20 Cornwallis at Yorktown,=20 and won the war.

After the victory, Washington longed to retire to = his farm in=20 Mount Vernon but it soon became apparent the nation was not functioning = well=20 under its Articles of Confederation. So he became the prime mover in the = delicate background work for the Constitutional Convention at = Philadelphia in=20 1787. As the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College = unanimously=20 elected Washington President. In the more than two hundred years history = of USA,=20 he is the only person ever to be unanimously elected President!

When taking office, Washington refused a payment of = $25,000=20 as a salary, a large sum in those years. He wanted to serve his nation = freely as=20 he was wealthy, and he could afford to do so. But Congress pressed it = upon him=20 and he accepted. Washington served only two terms of office. Many supporters pleaded and begged = him to stay=20 for a third term, saying that the nation was new, still weak and = fragile, and=20 they were right. But he would not listen to them. He had more faith in = the=20 Constitution of the Nation, and knew that given the opportunity many = capable=20 people would rise to the occasion. He was proven right!

So, Washington walked away from power to retire to = his=20 private farm on Mount Vernon to brew whisky, his favorite drink. The = =91fragile=20 nation=92 survived and thrived, and there was no shortage of capable = people to=20 follow in his footsteps. He set an important example that soon became = law and no=20 president now serves more than two terms* in office.

Just like the Horse-Power of an engine is measured = by its=20 breaking power, the real power of a person is ultimately measured by = Self=20 Restraint. In Amharic we say: Marim sibeza ymeriral and also: Aletigib = by sitefa=20 yadral. Had Haileselassie passed on his authority to a successor timely, = he=20 would never have been dethroned and disgraced. He would have remained = the=20 revered King of Kings, and his legacy would have been totally = different.

Thus, unlike Muluberhan Tsehaye, I would like to = say this to=20 PM Meles Zenawi: Sir, you have demonstrated outstanding capability and = skill in=20 leading your party and the nation through thick and thin over the last = decade=20 and half. You have also succeeded in bringing about a fantastic track = record of=20 progress and development in Ethiopia of which you should be exceedingly = proud.=20 Three five-year terms of office however, is long enough.

There are some of us, therefore, who would like to = see you=20 lead your party to victory in the next election, appoint a capable = successor,=20 and within one year of your fourth term, bow out gracefully, in dignity = and=20 honor, to be a backbencher in the Ethiopian Federal Parliament. That = would put=20 your name as the first in Ethiopian history to do this, and a give you a = far=20 greater stature as a true Statesman. That would usher in a historic = trend of=20 genuine democracy in our country, a trend for which Ethiopia is waiting = and=20 longing for.

G. E. Gorfu

* An = exception to=20 this rule was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected President four = times,=20 but held the office for only about 13 years.