One of the reasons I respect Prof. Merera Gudina, even if I may not necessacirly share his current political views, is his unflinching stand on his political views as a cause. At the peak of the Oromo Protest he was outside of Ethiopia touring North America and Europe, around the end of the year 2016, or so, I could be wrong, and he was sought for arrest back home. I attended one of the meetings he addressed and there was clear message from the participants if he indeed is really serious about returning back to Ethiopia: His answer was short and to the point; while our people are suffering in their homeland and I am in this struggle to represent them, there is no way for me to abandon them and stay back in a foreign country. I will return to my country, he added, and he did. I think it was on arrival or the next day that he was arrested like expected and known already by many he himself. The day he was released from prison, the people between Ambo and Addis literally filled the whole road and celebrated his release. He even admitted latter on that this was the reason why he decided to continue his political campaign, while before that having contemplated about resignation from his post.
If I compare that with the current situation of Gedu Andargachew this man seems now to me to have used the opportunity to criticize the government in parliament and use that as a reason to seek asylum somewhere else. He was a top cabinet member of the current government, while prof. Merera was not part of even the government and relatively unknown figure in the Ethiopian public, in comparison to Gedu.
Now he has successfully submitted to his former bosses.