AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - Catholic Bishops call for respect for the rules of democracy and confirm their commitment to promoting reconciliation

Addis Ababa (Fides Service)- In a message to Catholics and all men and women of good will in the country the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia call for respect for the rules of democracy and confirm their commitment to promoting reconciliation. “We want to express our deep concerns in a spirit of genuine desire of contributing towards a process of conflict solving and peace building” the Bishops say
“What concerns us”- the Bishops continue-“ is that the events of the first week of November are not to be considered only as an accident or as an isolated act of popular indiscipline. We lived in Addis Ababa a similar situation earlier this year in June. As fever is not the cause but only a symptom of any disease, social unrest is also a symptom of a social and political unhealthy situation.”.
In Ethiopia, following elections in the Spring won by the governing part, there have been clashes between police and demonstrators protesting against an irregular vote.
“Though the Election Day passed peacefully with a civic participation much greater than expected, the subsequent counting of the votes started bringing doubts and perplexity to many of the voters” - the message says - “Our concern now is that it seems very hard at this point to change the opinion of those who, notwithstanding the re-election in some places, still hold that the post-election process was not free from irregularities.”
The Bishops say situation is due to the fact “there has not been a proper political dialogue between the opposition parties and the ruling party despite the attempts made.”.
“It is normal in any democracy in the world that there is political opposition to the established Government. Such opposition is not to be considered as a social evil or as a lack of patriotism. the Bishops say. On the contrary, political opposition should play a positive role of check and balance in the social and political fields.”
This is why the Bishops say “It seems that two dangers are to be avoided in a genuine democracy: a political opposition whose purpose is only to oppose and not to collaborate and a ruling party that radically denies all right of collaboration to the opposition parties. A Parliament without a fair opposition is not necessarily a positive source of harmony and unanimity. Politics is to be understood as a noble profession for the common good, not as a battlefield for ambitions and power.”.
With regard to incidents, the Bishops call on demonstrators and police to help restore peace “by respecting human rights”.
“In the name of God we appeal to everyone, the authorities, opposition parties and the citizens of Ethiopia to assume a constructive attitude to end the present conflict through dialogue and reciprocal. We urge men and women of good will to restore in a spirit of reconciliation a climate ot reciprocal trust, justice and peace” the Bishops conclude. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2005 righe 43 parole 514)