Isaias’ Last Ditch to Bury the Legacy of the EPLF: The End of the “Hope” for Constitutional Governance/Political Pluralism and his Resolve to Continue Clique/Personal Rule in Eritrea
Thursday, 26 February 2015 21:37 Written by EPDP Information Office
EPDP Editorial
Part I
In reality, Isaias is digging the last ditch to bury the legacy of the EPLF/the liberation struggle and with that comes the continuation of denial of Eritrean people their right to have a constitutional political system that upholds the rule of law and respects the fundamental principles of freedom and basic human rights.
The history of modern Eritrea is the history of a long and arduous struggle in search of statehood and national identity. Successive generations of Eritreans waged both peaceful and armed struggle collectively against their common colonial powers (Turks, Egyptians, Italians, British, and Ethiopians). Particularly, organized Eritrean national resistance against colonial rules got momentum during the 1940’s and the 1950’s, which overtime got transformed into an armed national liberation movement in the 1960’s. Thus, after struggling against successive colonial powers for almost 100 years that includes thirty years of bloody armed struggle against the last alien ruler, Ethiopia, Eritrea's de facto independence was realized under the leadership of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) in May 1991 and the birth of the nation was formally legalized, de jure independence, through the April 1993 United Nations monitored referendum, which of course had its drawbacks regarding the representation of sister liberation fronts. However, as we know, independence was not an aim in itself but a means to an end - to have an all-inclusive democratic, political, economic, and social system with solid political and civil institutions. That is, independence was a necessary condition not a sufficient condition for establishing a democratic and prosperous Eritrea.
Indeed, the core objectives and aims of the Eritrean war of liberation were freedom, justice, democracy and economic and social emancipation. In this, it is well-evidenced that throughout our struggle for independence, leading Eritrean figures of the armed struggle constantly made solemn pledges and vows of the importance of the establishment of democracy, rule of law, and a society governed by democratic principles and institutions anchored on a constitutional governance that is accountable to the people in post-independence Eritrea. These pledges also continued during the first few years after de facto independence. The National Charter(adopted by the 3rd congress of EPLF in 1994) and the 1997 Constitutionfor example, pledged the birth/creation of a free, democratic and prosperous Eritrea with a constitutional political system that upholds the rule of law and respects the fundamental principles of freedom and human rights. Again notwithstanding the drawbacks of the constitution making process, the pursuit of these noble objectives, many of them included in the 1997 constitution, was the raison d’être for the Eritrean liberation struggle where generations of Eritreans paid untold sacrifices. Hence, the ultimate legacy of the Eritrean liberation struggle in general and the EPLF (as an organization that led the final phase of the Eritrean struggle to victory) in particular would have been the creation of a constitutional and democratic Eritrean State, which would recognize the legitimacy of a government that derives from the consent of the governed (the people) and that would become sustainable by an active citizenry engagement and participation in the governance of the country. It did not happen.
Because, not long after independence, the process of nation building and the democratization of Eritrea was hijacked by a group of ruthless predatory dictators and subsequently the noble objectives of the liberation struggle were subverted for personal power and aggrandizement of these few unscrupulous predators – by all account antithetical to what Eritrean martyrs and Eritrean people had all along struggled and envisioned for their country, meaning the establishment of popular governance and not a dictatorship. But, what we have now in Eritrea is the latter, which is the rule of dictatorship under one man with unlimited power that rules by decrees. With this, all the pledges and the concrete promises that were made during and after the liberation struggle were betrayed to the core by none other than Isaias and his henchmen elites who are anti democracy, anti diverse views, and anti Eritrean citizens’ sovereignty.
After securing power through the PFDJ Party, which is the nucleus of authoritarianism in Eritrea, this kleptocratic group led by Isaias went on a spree of purging and eliminating pro democracy elements among the ranks of the EPLF first and later against members of the PFDJ. Once Isaias took control of the PFDJ, he changed its structure and character, reduced it to a mere exploitative weapon, and made it a brute Party to suppress all political dissenters and oppositions. And over the past two decades, Isaias frozen public servants and military personnel, tortured opponents, outlawed press freedom, imprisoned and murdered hundreds of pro democracy movement groups who pushed and called for constitution governance in Eritrea, and put hundreds of others in incommunicado and solitary confinements. Needless to say, now two decades later, it seems that Isaias has reached the stage where he thinks he can have a free and smooth ride to his dream land – an Eritrea ruled by a person of his choice to maintain his “legacy”– even if it means that person is from his own clique or from his own family.History shows that some dictators succeeded or attempted in creating family dynasties such as the three generations lineage of the Kim Dynasty of North Korea and the Al-Assad Dynasty of Syria; and other dictators such as Mubarak of Egypt, Gaddafi of Libya, and Ali Abdella Saleh of Yemen - attempted to create a family dynasty but they failed due to popular uprising.
In his 2015 New Year interview, after shelving it for 17 years, Isaias declared his own 1997 constitution as a ‘dead’ document. Not only that, but also he declared that he is planning to draft a new one. Will he draft a new one? What kind of constitution will it be? How will it be different from the 1997 constitution? If at all his hidden drafters produce one, it will be either a document that will allow ONLY One Party System or a NO-Party System of which both these systems pave the way for the continuation of his unholy “legacies” in Eritrea – the dream land of Isaias. In reality, Isaias is digging the last ditch to bury the legacy of the EPLF/the liberation struggle and with that comes the continuation of the denial of Eritrean people their right to have a constitutional political system that upholds the rule of law and respects the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights. Whether or not Isaias will be able to land in his dream land will depend on what the Eritrean people will do. But what is absolutely clear now through his recent interview is that Isaias has admitted that he has in fact been ruling Eritrea without a constitution (without the consent of the Eritrean people) for the last 17 years. For the brainwashed majority followers of the PFDJ, this should be a red flag that Isaias’ regime is illegitimate and that Isaias has neither a right nor a legitimacy to eliminate or declare the 1997 constitution as dead.
But in a reversal of fortune, as if the Eritrean history is not replete with betrayals, the Eritrean people have been betrayed once again by a homegrown predatory dictator. Because of this, almost 24 years after independence, Eritrea does not have a constitution, has had no elections and no contract between the governed and the government. The Isaias regime has failed Eritrea in all its political, educational, cultural and socio-economic policies. Instead, Isaias all along engaged in looting the country’s resources and distributing it to the ruling class and other selective minority groups as a means to maximize the power of his dictatorial regime. The use of the country’s resources as a form of patronage and favoritism is used to placate supporters and punish those who oppose the regime.
The brute fact is instead of establishing governance structures and resources allocation system that allows popular participation, the regime from the outset adopted extractive and exclusionary laws that allow it to capture all the benefits of our independence. As a consequence, many population groups in our country were and are marginalized politically, socially and economically. Ever since its inception, the regime has centralized the production and distribution of resources, established patronage and privileges at the expense of all other elements of the nation’s economy. We know, using this political power, the few in PFDJ have accumulated enormous wealth and resources of the state for themselves. In addition, the state power arrangement does not constrain the powers of the government: it does not guarantee economic freedom; it does not provide mechanisms for peaceful resolution of conflicting interests of various groups within Eritrea; it does not advocate for peaceful coexistence in Eritrea. What we have in Eritrea is a “failed state phenomenon” where the regime neither cares for the majority of the people or for the public good, nor for the people’s right.
Last, with the latest declaration of scrapping the 1997 constitution, Eritrea is being exposed to a bone-deep deficiency of statehood and representative political system, which is a major threat to the country and its people. And this is the final nail in the coffin of all the legacies of EPLF and of the struggle of Eritrean people for democracy and freedom. Where is the anger and fire of ex-EPLF fighters who paid blood and sweat to achieve free Eritrea, but betrayed by Isaias? Our question is, was not the basic precept of the constitutional process to establish rule of law and representative government in Eritrea? Is not it time that we say enough is enough and stop the evil minded Isaias from destroying and burying the legacy of our armed struggle and thedream of our people – a dream of democracy, rule of law, and constitutional governance that is accountable to the people of Eritrea? EPDP says “it is high time that we should” intensify our call upon the Eritrean public in general and all ex-EPLF fighters and supporters in particular to join hands and confront the evil intent and design of Isaias and save the “Eritrean Nation” from descending into political, social, economic and demographic abyss. Understanding the evil mind behind this unfortunate negative trend is relegated to the Part II of this series.
ኣብ ዓይኑ ዘሎ ጕንዲ ገዲፉስ ኣብ ኣዕንቲ ካልኦት ዘሎ በሰር ዝርኢ ስርዓት
Monday, 23 February 2015 22:17 Written by ቤት ጽሕፈት ዜና ሰዲህኤ
ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ
ብዕብየቱ ኣብ ካልኣይ ደረጃ ዝስራዕ ባንክ HSBC፡ ኣብ ስዊስ ዝርከብ ግላዊ ጨንፈሩ ናይ ገበነኛታትን ብልሽዋት ሰብ ርማልን ሰብ ስልጣንን ገንዘብ ተቐቢሉ ኣብ ስውር ሕሳብ ከቐምጥ ምጽናሑ ዘጋልጽ ሓበሬታ ጋህዲ ድሕሪ ምዃኑ፣ እቲ ባንክ፡ንዝስንዘረሉ ዘሎ ኣህጕራዊ ነቐፌታታት ንምክልኻል ላዕልን ታሕትን ክብል ይርአ ኣሎ። ገለ ካብ'ቲ ገንዘብ ብሕቡራት ሃገራት ናይ ዝተዀነኑ ኣብ ንግዲ ደቂሰባት፡ ንግዲ ኣልማዝን ብልሽውናን ዝተዋፈሩ ዕሉላት ገበነኛታት ምዃኑ ውን ይሕበር ኣሎ።
ናይ'ዚ ባንክ'ዚ ተገልገልቲ ናይ ዓለምና ዓበይቲ መራሕቲ ምዃኖም ውን ናይ ኣደባባይ ምስጢር ኢዩ። ፕረሲደንት ሑስኒ ሙባረክ ናይ ግብጺ፡ ፕረሲደንት ቢን ዓሊ ናይ ቱኒዝያ፡ ፕረሲደንት በሻር ኣልኣሰድ ናይ ስርያ፤ ከምኡ'ውን፡ ንጉስ መሓመድ 6ይ ናይ ሞሮኮ፡ ናይ ባህረን ንጉስ ሳልማን ቢን ሓምድ ዒሳ ኣልኸሊፋ፡ ናይ ስዑዲ ዓረብ ንጉሳውያን ቤተሰብ ገለ ካብ'ቶም ተጠቐምቲ ናይ'ዚ ባንክ'ዚ ኰይኖም ምጽንሖም ክዝረበሉ ዝጸንሐ ኣርእስቲ ኢዩ።
እቲ ካብ ኵሉ ዘገረመና ግን፡ ካብ'ታ ዝደኸየት ሃገር ኣብ ዓለም እትብሃል ኤርትራ፡ 695.2 ሚልዮን ዶላር ኣብ'ዚ ባንክ'ዚ ተረኽቡ ዝብል ሓበሬታ ምስማዕና ኢዩ። ህዝባ ብኩቦን መግቢ እናተዓደለ፤ ብሕጽረት ማይ፡ መብራህቲ፡ ነዳዲ ትሳቐ ዘላን መንእሰያታ መጻኢ ዕድሎም ጸልሚትዎን ንስደት ዘምርሕላን ግዳይ ነጋዶ ደቂሰብ ዝዀኑላን ሃገር፡ ክንድ'ዚ ዝኣክል ገንዘብ ብስም ውልቀሰባት ተቐሚጡ ምጽናሑ ዘስደምም ኢዩ። ኣብ ደገ ተቐሚጡ ዘሎ ናይ መራሕቲ ኤርትራ ገንዘብ እዚ ጥራሕ ከምዘይከውን ርዱእ ኢዩ። ክሳብ ዕለቱ ኣኺሉ ዝጋለጽ፡ እዚ ተረኺቡ ዘሎ ፈዲሓ ንባህርያት መራሕቲ ስርዓት ኤርትራ ንምርዳእ ዝሕግዝ ኣገዳሲ ተረኽቦ ኢዩ።
ብልሽውና ዘይብላ፡ ዕዳ ዘይብላ፡ ኣብ ርእሳ እትምርኰስ እናተባህለ ብመራሕቲ ኤርትራ ዝዝመር ዝነበሩ መዛሙር፡ ሎሚ ሓሶት ምዃኑ ብዘየማትእ ኣገባብ በሪሁልና ኣሎ። መራሕቲ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ'ቶም ድሕሪ ስዕረት ባዕዳዊ መግዛእቲ ስልጣን ዝጨበጡ ኣፍሪቃውያን መራሕቲ ዝኸፍኡ እንተዘይኰይኖም ካብ'ኦም ዝሕሽሉ ዝዀነ ይኹን ክቐርብ ዝኽእል ጭብጢ የለን።
እዚ ኣብ ስዊዘርላንድ ተቐሚጡ ዝጸንሐ ገንዘብ፡ ናይ መራሕቲ ኤርትራ፡ ካብ 2%፡ ንግዲ ማዕድን፡ ዘይሕጋዊ ንግዲ ብመንግስታዊ ትካላት (09)፡ ንግዲ ደቂ ሰባት፡ ዘይክፈሎ ባርነታዊ ስርሓት ....ወዘተ ዝተረኽበ ኣታዊ ምዃኑ ምግንዛብ ኣይጽግምን ኢዩ። መንግስቲ ኤርትራ ኣብ ናይ ሓዋላን ኮንትሮባንድን ንጥፈታት ከምዝዋፈር ዘይፈልጥ ኤርትራዊ ዘሎ'ውን ኣይመስለናን። ብቐደሙ ውን፡ መንግስቲ ወናኒ ናይ ንግዳዊ ትካላት እንተደኣኰይኑ፡ ብልሽውና ዘይተርፍ ባህርያቱ ክኸውን ምዃኑ ዝስሓት ኣይኰነን። ኣብ ዓይኑ ዘሎ ጕንዲ ዘይርኢ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ግን፡ ብናይ ካልኦት ሃገራት በሰር ክወራዘ ኢዩ ዝውዕልን ዝሓድርን። እታ "ሓቂ'ያ ትዛረብ ዝብላ ኤሪ ቲቪ ደኣ፡ ነዚ ጽሓይ ዝወቕዖን ዓለም ዝዛረበሉ ዘሎን ሓቂ ስለምንታይ ኢያ ዘይትዛረበሉ? እዚ ከም'ዝን ከይዝረበሉ ብማለት እኳ'ዩ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ንናጽነት ናይ ፕረስ ከም ቍሪ ዝፈርሖን ብዅሉ ዝከኣሎ ኣገባብ ዝዋግኦን።
ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰዲህኤ)፡ ነዚ ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው ኢዩ፡ ኣብ ቀዳማይ ጕባኤኡ ኣብ ዘጽደቖ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮኡ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ምሕደራን ኣጠቓቕማ ማዕድናትን ዝብል ኣርእስቲ፡ ነዚ ዝስዕብ ሓሳብ ዘስፈረ። "...... ሰዲህኤ ማዕድን ንዕቤት ሃገርና ብዝልዓለ ከበርክቱ ካብ ዝኽእሉ ባህሪያዊ ጸጋታት ሃገር ሓደ ምዃኑ ይርዳእ። ብፍላይ ድማ፡ ካብ ፍቓድ ዕደና ምሃብ ጀሚርካ ግሉጽነት ብምትእትታው፡ ብልሽውና ብምውጋድ፡ እቶት ማዕድን ብግቡእ ብምምሕዳር፡ ህዝብና ካብ ድኽነት ክገላገል ይኽእል እዩ ዚብል ቀንዲ ኣምር ሰዲህኤ እዩ። ብፍላይ ተመኩሮ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ኣፍሪቃ እንተድኣ ተገንዚብና፣ ብሰንኪ ዘይግሉጽነትን ብልሽውናን መራሕቲ ሃገር ማዓድናት ይኹኑ ካልኦት ዕቑራት ጸጋታት ሃገር ጠንቂ ውግእን ደም ምፍሳስን ኮይኖም ጸኒሖምን ኣለዉን። ከምኡ’ውን መለኽቲ ዘለውወን ሃገራት ክሳብ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘለዉ ሃብቲ ሃገር ብሒቶም ይጻወትሉ። ኣብ ዝሃድሙሉ እዋን ከኣ ኣብ ስደቶም ንሕልፈት ዘነባብር፡ ማእለያ ዘይብሉ ገንዘብ ህዝብን ሃገርን ዘሚቶም ይሕክሉ..."።
ስርዓት ኢሳያስ'ውን፡ ክሳብ ኣብ ስልጣን ዘሎ ብጸጋታት ኤርትራ ይጻወት ኣሎ፡ እንተደኣ ካብ ኤርትራ ሃዲሙ ወጺኡ ድማ፡ ነዚ ኣብ ደገ ዘቐመጦ ገንዘብ ናብ ግላዊ ጥቕሙን ንርግኣት ኤርትራ ኣብ ምዝራግን ከውዕሎ ምዃኑ ካብ ዝሓለፉ ተመኵሮታት ናይ ብዙሓት ሃገራት ክንበጽሖ እንኽእል መደምደምታ ኢዩ።
ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ
“ቃልስና ምእንቲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዩ። ቃልስና ተዓዊቱ ዝበሃል ከኣ ናይ ህዝብና ጭንቂ ብራህዋ ምስተደብሰ እዩ። እቲ ናብዚ ዓውትዚ ዘብጸሓና ሓቀኛ ለውጢ ከኣ እቲ ካብቲ ዋና ለውጢ ህዝብና ዝነቅል እዩ ” ዝብሉ ሓረጋት ካብቶም ካብ ነዊሕ ግዜ ጀሚርና መውጽእ ኣፍና ጌርና ክንዝምሮም ዝጸናሕና ሓርጋት እዮም። ሓቅና ከኣ ንሱ እቲ ኣፍ ከለዎ ዝተለጉመ፡ ኢድ ከለዎ ዝተኣስረ፡ ብርሃን እንከሎ ዝጸልመቶ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ስለ ዝኾነ ክንብጀወሉን ድምጹ ከነስመዓሉን ኢና ምባልና ዘምሕረልና እምበር ዘኽፍኣልና ኣይምኾነን። ኣካል ህዝብና ስለ ዝኾና ናይቲ ህዝብና ብቓልሱ ዘመዝግቦ ጸጋ ተጠቀምቲ ምዃና ኣይንዝንግዖን ኢና። እቲ ካባና ካብ ተቓወምቲ ዝድለ ናይቲ ከስመዖ ዝግብኦ ድምጺ እንከለዎ ልሳኑ ዝተዓጽወ ህዝቢ ልሳን ኮንካ ምብቃዕ እዩ። እዚ ከነማልእ ክሳብ ዘይከኣልና ንቃለስ ኣለና ምባል ኪኖ ድኻም ትርጉም ከም ዘየብሉ ፍጹም ክንስሕቶ ዘይግብኣና እዩ። እቲ ሕቶ እምበኣር ”እቲ ብስሙ እንብሎን እንገብሮን እቲ ናይ ልቡን ትጽቢቱን ድዩ ወይስ ንትጽቢታቱን ሃረርታኡን መዝሚዝና ኢና ጸቢብ ስምዒታትናን ህርፋናን ንነዝሕ ዘለና?” ዝብል እዩ። ዋላ’ኳ በቲ ካብ ልቢ ድዩ ካብ ክሳድ ንላዕሊ “ህዝቢ እዩ ወሳኒ” ዝብል ጭርሖ ብዙሓት ንደዓዓስ እንተኾና፡ ካብቲ ኣብ ደንበ ተቓውሞና ብስም ህዝቢ ዝቃልሕ ዳንኬራ መብዛሕትኡ ብስምቲ ሎሚ ዘይዛረብ ዘሎ ጽባሕ ግና ምዝራቡ ዘይተርፎ ህዝቢ ዝመሓልን ዝጠሓልን ናቱ ናይቲ ለውጢ ዝጽበ ዘሎ ህዝብና እዩ ክትብሎ ዘጸግመሉ ኩነታት ንዕዘብ ኢና።
ብፍላይ ንእዋናውነትን ቀዳምነታትን ዛዕባታት ብዝምልከት እሞ ከኣ፡ እቲ ጉዳይ ግልብጥሽ እዩ ዝመስል። ሎሚ ህዝብና ውሱናት፡ ሃይማኖቶም፡ ብሄሮም፡ ቋንቋኦም፡ ኣውራጅኦምን ድሕረባይተኦም ኣብ ቃልሲ ምእንቲ ነጻነት፡ ብዘየገድስ ጸረ ደሞክራሲ ባህሪኦም ዘጫነዎም ብዲክታቶር ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዝተጠመቑ፡ ውሱናት ኣካላት እዮም ጸላእተይ እዩ ዝብል ዘሎ።። ብስንኪ እዚ ጸረ ደሞክራሲ ጉጅለ ዕድመ ስልጣኑ ንምንዋሕ ዝፈጠሮ ምፍልላይ እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ እቲ መናብርትናን ጸጋናን እምበር ሓድሽ ዘይኮነ ኩለመዳያዊ ብዙሕነትና ኣይኮነን ጸገምና ይብል ከም ዘሎ ኢና እንርዳእ። ርኢና ከምዘይረኣና ክንሓልፎ እንተዘይኮይና፡ ንዓና ነቶም ቃናኦም ክንልውጡ ዝጽዕሩ ዘለዉ እውን ይጠፍኦም እዩ ኣይንብልን። ምኽንያቱ ኣብኡ እንዲና ዓቢና። ነዚ ብዝሑነትና ዓቂብና እንዲና ቀዳማይ ምዕራፍ ቃልስና ኣዕዊትና። ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከምቲ “ህበይሲ ካብቲ ኣብ መቐመጫይ ዘሎ እሾኽ እሞ ቅድም ኣገላግሉኒ፡ ነቲ ዝተረፈስ ኮፍ ምስ በልኩ የርክበሉ” በለት ዝበሃል፡ ናይ ህዝብና ናይ ቀዳምነታት ቀዳምነት ንጉጅለ ህግደፍ ሓጢጥካ ምድርባይ እዩ። እዚ ንሕና ተቓወምቲ እውን ፍልልያትን ስምምዓትን ንስራዕ ክንብል እንከለና እንብሎ’ዩ። እንተኾነ ብተግባር ክንመዝኖ እንከለና ገሌና ካብ ሓይልታት ተቓውሞ ከምቲ እንብሎ ክንከውን ከም ዘይበቓዕና ንርእዮ ዘለና እዩ።
ኣብ ክንዲ ምእንቲ ብሓባር ተጓዒዝና ኣብ ንህዝብናን ሃገርናን ኣብ ዘዕግብ ውጽኢት ምእንቲ ክንበጽሕ ነታ ዝርካባ ተራኽበና ኣውንታዊት መሰማምዒት ነጥቢ፡ ንኣብነት ምውዳቕ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ከነዕብያ ንጽዕር፡ ንሓንሳብ ኣርሒቕና ንቕድሚት ብምቁማት ንሓንሳብ ድማ ኣርሒቕና ንድሕሪት ብምምዕዳው “ኣበይ ኣላ ዘይተሰማምዕ ነጥቢ” ኢልና ሃነፍነፍ ንብል እሞ፡ ነቲ ሓቢርካ ንቕድሚት ንምጉዓዝ ገታኢ ክኸውን ዘይግበኦ ዝነበረ ፍልልይ ኣተዓባቢና ሰማይ ነዕርጎ። ነቲ ፍልልይ ድማ ናብ ጽልኢ ነደይቦ። እቲ ብዛዕባቲ ጀማሪ ሰውራ ሓምድ እድሪስ ዓወተ ቅድሚ ዳርጋ ሰለስተ ዓመታት ዝተፈጥረ ህቦብላ ከም ኣብነት ምውሳድ ዝከኣል እዩ። ከምቲ ወለድና “ምስ ሓመምካ ምሓረኒ እምበር ስለምንታይ ኣሕመምካኒ ኣይበሃል’ዩ” ዝብልዎ፡ ካብ ተፈጥረ፡ “ስለምንታይ ዝፈላሊ ሓሳብ ይፍጠር? ዝብል ሕቶ ከነስተማቕር ኣይኮናን ግዜን ጉልበትን ከነባኽን ዝግበኣና። እቲ ናይ መስተውዓልትን ሓላፍነታውያን ሓላፍነት ክኸውን ዝግብኦ፡ ”ከመይ ጌርና ነቲ ፍልልይ ከነወግዶ ንራታዕ ዘይኮነስ ከመይ ጌርና ንዓኡ ወጊና፡ ነቶም ዘሰማምዑና ንመጻኢና ብኣሉታ ክጸልው ብዘይክእል ኣገባብ መስመር ነትሕዞም’ዩ ክኸውን ዝግብኦ። “ዝገበረኒ ክገብርሲ፡ ዓዲ ነየጋብር” ዝብል ምስላ ወለዲ ምስዚ ኩነታት ከም ዝኸይድ ኣይንስሕቶን ኢና።
ብሰንኪ ኤርትራ ናብ ሓንቲ ዓባይ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ተቐይራ ምህላዋን፡ ናትና ሰርሲርካ ናብ ህዝቢ ክትኣትው ዘይምኽእልን ተደማሚሩ፡ ህዝብና ወጻኢ ካብ ኤርትራ እንታይ ይግበር ከም ዘሎ ብዝምልከት ዓሚቝ ቀጻሊ ሓበሬታ የብሉን ይኸውን። እንተኾነ ናይ ግዜ ብረታዊ ቃልስና ተመኩሮ ተመሊስና እንተ ዳህሲስናዮ፡ እሞ ምስዚ ሎሚ ዘሎ ናይ ቴክኖሎጂ ዕቤት ተተዛሚድናዮ ግና ብውሕዱ፡ ነቲ ዝኾነ ውድብ ድዩ ማሕበር ከምዚ’ዩ ፖለቲካዊ እምነተይ ኣብ መጻኢት ኤርትራ ኢሉ ዘቕርቦ ሓሳብ ዋላ ብጩራ ኣይፈልጦን እዩ ማለት ኣይኮነን። ብሓባር ኮይኑ’ኳ ክቃለሖ ተዘይከኣለ፡ ህዝብና ዋላ በብውልቁ እሞ ድማ ኣብ ገገዝኡ ኮይኑ፡ በቲ ኣውንታና ተስፋ ከም ዝሰኩዕ፡ በቲ ድኽመትና ድማ መዓንጣ ከብዱ ከም ዝሓርር ምግማቱ ዘጸግም ኣይኮነን። ንሕና ክንምልሶም ዝግብኣና ሕቶታት እውን ኣለውዎ። “እንታይ እዩ እቲ ብሓባር ኣንጻር እዚ ስጋና ልሒጹ ዓጽምና ዝቑርጥም ዘሎ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ዘየሰልፎም ዘሎ? ንሕና ንጽበዮም ዘለና ንጉጅለ ህግደፍ ከተኣልዩናሞ፡ ደሓር ዝተረፈ ጉዳይና ኣብ ትሕቲ መትከል እሂንምሂን እናተባሃሃልና ንዓምም ኣንዳበልና፣ ነዚ ሸለል ኢሎም፡ ክብደትን ቀዳምነትን ዘይንህቦ ፍልልያት ክትተዃትኹ ትውዕሉ ስለምንታይ?፡ ኣንቱም ሰባት፡ ዘለናዮ ጸልማት እዩ። ካብዚ ጸልማት መውጽኢ መንገዲባ ሓብሩ? ….” ዝብሉ ሕቶታት ኢዮም። እቲ ህዝብና ዝጽበዮ መልሲ ከኣ ኣብ ጠረጴዛን ወረቐትን ዘኹድድ ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ባይታ ዝረአን እንሀኹ ዝብልን እዩ።
ከምቲ “ርሑቕ ዓድስ መሐሰዊ” ዝበሃል ኩልና ሐሒዝናዮ ንዘለና ፖለቲካዊ ፖሊሲ ንህዝብና ዘዕግቦን ዝቕበሎን ከም ዝኾነ ኢና ንኣምን። ከምዚ ምእማናስ ኣይመጸገም፡ እቲ ህዝቢ ብቕምጡ ርግጸኛ ኮይንካ ምቕራብኳ ዘሰክፍ እንተኾነ፡ እቲ ጸገምስ ነቲ ኣነ ዝኣምነሉ እንተዘይተቐቢልኩም ኣዝማድ ህግደፍ ኢኹም ኢልካ ንነብስኻ ብጹእ ናይ ብጹኣት ጌርካ ከተቕርብ ምምጥጣር ይቀላቐል ምህላዉ’ዩ። እንተኾነ ከምቲ ህዝብና ዋላኳ ብኣካል ረኺቡ ከዛርበና ዕድል እንተዘይረኸበ፡ ብዛዕባኡ እንታይ ክንብል ከም እንውዕል ግና ኣይጠፍኦን እዩ፡ እቶም ናይዚ ጌጋ በሃልቲ’ውን፡ ክዕምጹ እንተዘይደልዮም ከሎ ጌና በቲ ሓደ ወገን እቲ ህዝብና ዝድግፎን ክበሃለሉ ዝደልዮን፡ በቲ ካልእ ወገን ከኣ እቲ ኣይኮነንዶ ናተይ ክብሎ፡ ክዝረብን ክጸሓፍን እንከሎ ዕረ ዝጥዕሞን ዝቃወሞን ኣይፈልጥዎን እዮም ማለት ኣይኮነን። እቲ ካብ ልቢ ህዝብና ንዘይነቅል ሓሳብ፡ “ናይ ህዝቢ ድሌት እዩ” እንዳበልካ ሒዝካዮ ምዃድ፡ ኣብ ውሽጡ ጽባሕ ህዝቢ እንተተቐበሎ ጽቡቕ፡ እንተዘይተቐበሎ ከኣ ነገድዶ ዝብል ተመኩሮ ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ዝደግም ብደዐ ከይህልዎ፡ ዘየስግእ ኣይኮነን። ንርእሶም መሪሕን ደሞክራሲያውያንን ውድብ ወይ ምንቅስቓስ ብዝብሉ ቅጽላት ኣመላኺዖም “ህዝብና ዝጠቕሞን ዝጐድኦን ስለ ዘይፈልጥ ንሕና ከምዚ ይሕሸካ ከምዚ እዩ ወጽዓኻ ክንብሎ ናይ ግድን እዩ” ብዝብል ስርንጢጥ ክኣትዉ ዝደልዩ እውን ኣለዉ። እቲ ናይ ደሞክራሲያውነት መለክዒኦም እንተንዝርዝሮ እሞ ድማ መሊሱ ዝያዳ መስደመመና።
እቲ ጉዳይ “ግደ ዓዳላይ ደልዳላይ” ዝዓይነቱ እዩ። እዚ ኣገላልጸኦም ብዛዕባ ግደ ህዝቢ፡ ምስቲ ህግደፍ “ህዝብና ስለ ዘይነቐሐ ከብዱ እንተመሊእካሉ ደሞክራሲ ኣየድልዮን እዩ” ዝብሎ ኣሽካዕላል ዘየሳኒ’ውን ኣይኮነን። ንኣብነት ሓድነት ህዝብን መሬት ኤርትራ ኣጽኒዕካ ምሓዝን ምዕቃብን ኣብ ኩሉ ዝሓለፈ መድረኻት ናይ ሓያልነቱ ምስጢር ምንባሩ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ይፈልጦ እዩ። ካብ ምፍላጥ ሓሊፍሉ፡ ነዚ ሓድነቱ ገጢምሉ፡ ደሪስሉ፡ መዲርሉን ኣዝይምሉን እዩ። ነዚ ዘንጊዕካ፡ ሓድነታ ኣብ ዝተሓለወት ኤርትራ ደሞክራሲ ክትከል ኣይክእል እዩ ናብ ዝብል መደምደምታ ዘምርሕ ዕላል ምስማዕ ዘገርም ኮይኑ ዘሎ እዩ። ኣቦና ሱናባራ መሓመድ ደበና ምስ ዓረፉ፡ ሓደ ብዛዕባኦም ሰፊሕ ኣፍልጦ ዝነበሮም ኤርትራዊ፡ ቃል ሓዘኖም ክገልጹ እንከለዉ፡ መዋቲ ብህይወት እንከለዉ የስምዕዎ ካብ ዝነበሩ ወርቃዊ ቃላት “ንሕና ኤርትራውያን ከም ጸባ ሓንቲ ላምን እቶት ሓንቲ ዓውድን ኢና” ዝበልዋ ጠቒሱ። ካብዚ ወርትግ ዘይሃስስ ላዛ ሓድነት ነቒሉ ህዝብና ሎሚ ብኣካል ረኺቡ ሚዛና ኣብ ዕዙዝዝነት ሓድነት ከነንጽረሉ እንተዝሓተና፡ መልስና እንታይ መኾነ እንድዒ። ካብዚ ናይ ሎሚ ኣተሓሕዛና ሓደ ዓይነት መልሲ ከምዘይንህቦ ግና ንጹር እዩ። ንሕና ኣብ ደገ ኮይና ኪኖ ናይቲ ኣባላቱ ዝኾና ውድብ ወይ ማሕበር ናይ ህዝቢ ውክልና ዘይብልና ክንስና ”ህዝብና ከምዚ’ዩ ዝደሊ ክንብል እንዳወዓልና፡ መስመር ቀይርና “ህዝቢ መጻኢ ዕድሉ ባዕሉ እምበር ካልእ ዝውስነሉ የለን” እንዳበልካ ምምጽራይሲ ምስ ምንታይኮን ይቑጸር። ንሕለየሉ ደኣ ንመላሳይ እምበር እዚ እውን ህዝባዊ ሕቶ ዘየልዕል ኣይኮነን።
ሓደ ግዜ ኣብ ገለ ክፋል ደንበ ተቓውሞና፡ ብዙሓት ኤርትራውያን ብሓባር ስለ ዝተኣከብና ህዝባዊ ውክልና ኣለና ዝብል ዘረባ ከይዱ ሳዕሪሩ ነይሩ። ግዚያዊዶ ናይ ስደት መንግስቲ ክንምስርት ኢና ዝብሉ ወረታትውን ይነፍስ ነይሩ። ደሓር ግና ገለ ህድግለነ ዘለዎም መስተውዓልቲ ግዲ ተረኺቦም፡ ኣዚ ኣበሃህላዚ ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜ ቅሂሙ። ኣብ ክንድኡ፡” ኣይኮነንዶ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ንብመላኡስ ንደንበ ተቓውሞ’ውን ኣይንውክልን፡ ውክልናና ነተን ኣብቲ መገባእያ ዝወዓላ ውድባት፡ ማሕበራትን ውልቀሰባት ጥራይ እዩ” ብዝብል ተተኪኡ። ግና “ምእራሙስ ጽቡቕ፡ እቲ ምድንዳንከ እንታይ ኣምጸኦ? ዝብል ናይ ህዝቢ ሕቶ ምልዓሉ’ውን ኣይተረፈን።
15 ለካቲት 2015
‘Two Wrongs do not Make a Right’: We Have Been on this Road Before
Monday, 09 February 2015 20:47 Written by EPDP Information OfficeEPDP Editorial
Lately EPDP has been posting articles on some fundamental and burning issues that are ailing the Eritrean nation in general and the opposition forces in particular. At issue were politics of regionalism and the devastating effect it would have on the overall coexistence and tolerance among our diverse social groups, as well as on our nationalism, nation building, and national integration. And if we do not reject it as a phenomenon against the long collective struggle we waged, it will be a big liability and it might present incalculable social violence and political instability to the country in post PFDJ Eritrea.
Now, some of the responses to our editorials were utter simplifications and crude exaggerations instead of admitting that there is politics of regionalism in the work in the Eritrean politics/opposition. They were evocative and emotional reactions that are far from realistic and genuine debate. The truth is we may not consider politics of regionalism yet a household politics, but it is out there. In fact, it is not only politics of regionalism, but also sub regionalism is another that is spreading like a wild fire in the opposition. And the argument of those responding to our critics is simply to blur the distinction between encountering the reality and dealing with their own subjective personal reading of the subject at hand. As usual, such individuals go beyond reality to give their gullible readers information that is not objective, but by and large a rhetoric narration of the issue being discussed.
There is a name for this in the science of debate or dissemination of information. They call it generalization and assumptions. For example, if you are not a truth seeking writer, you choose to be general, meaning you must avoid being emphatic and detailed, which requires proof and not assumption. And this is a dishonest exercise to the core in an effort to appear you are genuine and objective, but you are not. And few people, especially those who are attached to certain subjects, in our case politics of regionalism, will buy it as a true story simply because the information delivered to them by their mentors does not allow them to navigate beyond the general context given to them. And this is what the regionalists love to do. In essence, it is our region vs. that region; our culture vs. that culture in an effort to appear as if their region is dominated or suppressed by another region.
EPDP understands that a small minority of regionalists celebrates intolerance and harbor deep politics of regionalism and sub regionalism attitudes and politics in our midst through distortion and red herring argument, which is diametrically opposed to the democratic struggle that we are attempting to wage collectively. And we know they cannot engage in critical public discourse on the subject because they know doing so will render them wrong; and this is not the first time Eritrea has seen this. We had it all along in our history with few groups popping up now and then behind politics of regionalism and militating either at the cost of other regions or a desire to be recognized as a distinct entity for a bigger pie in the country.
EPDP sees the danger of politics of regionalism to the wellbeing and existence of Eritrean society. And it does not matter from which direction it is coming, whether it is from the PFDJ or from the regional entrepreneurs in the opposition camp who attempt to exploit the emotion of some on the account of their misplaced personal accounts on the agenda of regionalism. For EPDP and for the majority of Eritreans, both features of regionalism are the same phenomenon that divides and polarizes Eritrean people to the core, impedes national integration, and they must be stopped. In fact, there is little striking difference between the PFDJ politics of regionalism and the regionalist entrepreneurs, in essence the latter does not constitute a challenge to the former but exacerbates the problem to the likening of the former.
EPDP does not dismiss regional grievances that deserve focus. EPDP also recognizes that the main culprit of politics of regionalism is the PFDJ regime. But the few regionalist entrepreneurs have made ‘politics regionalism and sub regionalism’ their central program, a desire to assert their narrow regional politics with the false assertion that they have a unique social and political problem than the rest of the population. However, such justification is a gross misuse of the state of tyranny in Eritrea to validate their claim – that their region (s) is being systematically oppressed by the PFDJ regime and that everyone associated with PFDJ either by region or religion is automatically a culprit, which is a false, dangerous, and meaningless assertion. In some way, their argument seems to be about grievances, but their fight is aimed against other regions rather than the minority regime of PFDJ. The point is instead of engaging in a united struggle under one banner (remove PFDJ and replace it with democratic system), they are blaming other regions by counting them equivalent to the PFDJ while in reality every region in Eritrea is facing the same injustices and grievances. This mentality is not healthy and is not an expression of justice and democracy, as well. It is ironic when the regional entrepreneurs say they stand for freedom and democracy while in reality they are poisoning the fabric of unity and diversity of Eritrean society, which is the core value and strength of our existence.
The full picture is there for all to see: the only entity responsible for the brutality and injustices in Eritrea is the PFDJ regime, not the Eritrean people or some regions. And if our regionalists continue to blame other regions because those regions belong to a larger group (region or religion), it does not mean that they are responsible for the crimes of the PFDJ. The enemy is not other regions; it is the PFDJ regime, and until the regionalists get grasp of it, no progress will be made.
The caveat is this: should the region of Seraye be responsible for the crimes of PFDJ? Should the region of Barka, Hamassen, or Akel Guzay be responsible for the brutality of PFDJ? It is like asking all these regions must apologize for our regionalists for something the regions are not responsible. EPDP says let’s not allow this narrow discourse strangulates the democratic struggle that we are waging against the enemy, the PFDJ regime. The exploitation of regional sentiment to capture self interest, or drawing few gullible into regional tendencies at the end of the day won’t help. It does not have currency in Eritrea proper. The indisputable, rational, and justifiable thing to do is to echo the collective voices of Eritrean people against the PFDJ regime.
ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ወርሒ ጥሪ ናይዚ ሒዝናዮ ዘለና ዓመት ምምሕዳር ኢስያስ ኣፈወርቂ ኣብ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ካብ ሰላሳ ዘይውሕድ ሓድሽ ገዛውቲ ደቂ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ሰዓት ሕሙሽተ ንግሆ ብሆሊከፕተርን ታንክታትን ዝተሰንዩ ኣፍረስቲ ሊኢኹ ከም ዘዕነወ ኣብ ዜናታት ተቛወምቲ ምልኪ ከም ዝተቓለሐ ዝዝከርዩ። ዓዲ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ካብተን ኣብ ከባቢ ማእከላይ ቤት ጽሕፈት ርእሰ መራሒ ጥፍእት እትርከብ ዓዲያ። ምምሕዳር ማዛጋጃ ቤት ኣስመራ ካብ ሱሳታት ከተማ ኣስመራ እናሰፍሐ ኣብ ዝኸደሉ ዝነበረ ጽርግያን መዛናግዒ ቦታታትን ካልኦት ህዝባውያን ትካላትን ድሕሪ ምቕያስ: ደቂ ዓዲ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ንመደብ ህንጻ ኣስመራ ብምኽታል መሬቶም ኣዋሪዶም ገዛውቶም ክሰርሑ መምርሒ ምስ ተዋህበ: ብሰፊሕ ምርድዳእ ዓድን ምምሕዳር ማዛገጃ ቤት ኣስመራን: መሬቶም ብምክፋል ምሉእ ዓቕሚ ዝነበሮም ቪላታት ሕጽረት ገንዘብ ዝነብሮም ከኣ ፍርቁ ሸይጦም ፍርቂ መሬት ብጺሒቶም ሰሪሖም፡፡ እዚ ጽፉፍ ባህሊ ንምቕጻል ድሕሪ ቀጻሊ ዕብየት ከተማ ብ 2005 ኣብ መንጎ ደቂ ዓዲ ብዝተገብረ ውሳኔ ቀጻሊ ምክፍፋል መሬት ብምግባር ኣብ መሬቶም ገዛውቲ ክሰርሑ እብ ዝተዋፈርሉ: ደቂ ዓዲ ኣይኮንኩምን ዝበልዎም 120 ዝኣኽሉ ሰባት ምንባሮም ምስሓሓብ ተፈጢሩስ ፎዝያ ኑርሑሰን ብዝሃበቶ ፍርዲ ክካፈሉ ኪኢሎም። መሪሒነት ህግደፍውን ንዝቐርብዎም ሰባት ብዶላራት ሸይጦም ዝዓደልዎ መሬት ናይዚ ዓዲ ኣሎ።
ኢስያስን መምሪሑኡን ኣብዚ ጠጠው ኣይበለን። ምርድዳእ ምስራሕ ገዛውቲ ደቂ ዓዲ ኣብ ውሳኔ ምስ በጽሐ ዝኾነ ገዛ ኣብ ኣስመራ ንኸይስራሕ ኣውጁ። ምስራሕ ገዛውቲ ብሕቡእ ግን ዋላ ኣብ ጥቓ ቤት ጽሕፈትን መቐመጥን ኣይተ ኢሳይስ ቀጺሉዩ። ገለ ደቂ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ኸኣ ድሕሪ ነዊሕ ትጽቢት ኣብ መሬቶም ከባቢ ቤት ክርስትያን ኪዳነ ምህረት ክሰርሑ ጀሚሮም። መብዛሕትኡ ዝተሰርሐ ገዛውቲ ቆልዑ ብዘለውዎም ስድራ ቤታት ዝተስርሐዩ። ምዕናው ናይዚ ገዛውቲ እምበኣር ክንደይ ስድራ ቤታት ኣብ ጎልጎል ኣጻጢሑ ምህላው ብሩህዩ። እዚዩ እቲ ማሕበራዊ ኲናት ምልካዊ ስርዓት እሳያስ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ። ኣብ ምምሕዳር ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ ዘይተነግረ እምበር ዘይተገብረ የለን።
ብንጹር ድሕሪ ኲናት ዶብ ምስ እትዮጵያ ኲናት ኣብ ልዕሊ መላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራዩ ዝካየድ ዘሎ። ምስዚ ሕጂ ምዕናው ገዛውቲ ህዝቢ ኣርባዕተ ኣስመራ ንዓሰርተታት ኣሽሓት ስድራ ቤታት ኣብ ጥመትን ዘርምዘርሞን ስደትን ዝንቖተ ካልእ ፍጻመ ኸኣ ዝስዕብ ዛንታሎ። ኩሉ ህዝቢ ዝፈልጦ ውጽኢት ኲናት ኢትዮ ኤርትራ ብፍሽለት መሪሒነት ኢሳይስዩ ተዛዚሙ። ስዕረቱ ንምጉልባብ ከኣ ኣብ ምእሳርን ምጭዋይን ጠለብቲ ሕግን ቁዋምን ተዋፊሩ። ፍርሒ ኢሳይስ ብጽላሎቱውን ስለዝኾነ ፍሉይን ኣብ ጽንኩር ቦታን ዝበሎ ከጥፍኦም ነይርዎ። ሳይበርያ ኢስያስ። መእሰሪኦም ንህግደፋዊት ኩባንያ ሰገን ኣብ ሰሎሙና መደበር ሃኒጹ: ዋርሳይ ይከኣሎ ዝብል ወፍሪ ሽፋን ገይሩ: ንሱ ዝሃንደሶ መጀር ጀነራል ገርዝጊሄር ዓንደማርያን ዝመርሖ ብብርጋደር ጀነርል ሚኪኤል ዩውሃንስ- ወዲ ሃንስ ዝምራሕ ኣተግባሪ ሰራዊት: ሓደ ብርገድ ኣብ መግኦ ካልኣይ ብርገድ ኣብ ፍልፍል ሳልሳይ ብርገድ ኣብ ሰሎሙና ብምዕራድ መስራሕ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ዒራዒሮን መገዲ ሰራዊትን ተሃኒጹ። እዚ ስርሒት ኲናት ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኣብ ዝጀመረሉ ቅድሚኡን ባዶ ሰለስተ ሰሜናዊ ባሕሪ መናፈሻ ህዝብን፡ንትሩዝምን ክሕዛእዩ ዝብል ኣእምሮ ህዝቢ ዝኸፋፍል መናፍሕ ተኻይዱ። ምስዚ መስርሕዚ ካብ ቢብዮ ጀሚሩ (ቢብዮ ካብ ውኪ ወሪድካ ዓናጉለ ሓሊፍካ ቀራና ቦታ ንሰመናዊ ምዕራብ ማለት ንፍሾይን ምራራን ንሰሜናዊ ምብራቕ ንሞግኦን ሳቡርን ፍልፍልን ካብኡ ቀጺልካን ዘማሓልፍ ቦታዩ)። መስርሕ ዋርሳይ ይከኣሎ ኣብዚ ቦታታትዚ ቀንዲ ስርሑ ምስጢራዊ ተግባራት ንምክያድ ንህዝቢ ካብ ማሕረሱን ጉሱነቱን ኣዛናቡሉ ዝሕረስ መሬትን: ቡንን ካልን ኣትክልትን ዘራእትን ዝቦቕለሉን ንብረትን ዘመናዊ ገዛውቲ ዒላታትን ኣስተሪናታትን ዝተሃንጸሉ ንመፍረን ማሕረድን ዝኾና እንሳታት ዝፈርያሉ ዓድታት: ካብ ግዜ መግዛእቲ ጥልያን ኣትሒዘን ዝናበራሉ ዝነበራ መሬትዩ። መግኦ: ሳቡር: ፋጌና: ፍልፍል: ሰለሙና: መድሓኒት። ካብ 2004-2005 ኣትሒዙ ኸኣ ገባር ወይ ሓረስቶት ኣብዚ ቦታዚ ተወዝ ከይብሉ ስለ ዝተኸልከለ: ሓረስቶት ኣብኡ ተራእዮም ኣይፈልጡንዮም። ዓበይቲ ኣብ ደንቢኦም ተኾርምዮም ዝውለዱን ዝዓበዩን ዝጥምትዎ መጻኢ ሂወት ዝረኣዮም ናብ ሳዋ ብምዃኑ ንስደት ብምምራሕ ዓድታቶም ይጸንትዩ ዘሎ። ሳዕበን ወፍሪ ምልካውነት ምርጻም ህዝቢ ምስ ምልካውነት ኣብዚ ዝተጠቕሰ ቦታታትን ከባቢኡን ዝተጋህደ ፍጻመዩዚ። ዝያዳ ኣብዚ መስርሕዚ ዝተሃስየ ህዝቢ ወኪዩ።
ቀጻሊ ምፍንቓል ህዝቢ ብህግደፍ ካብ 2007-2008። ፍልፍል ዋና ቤት ጽሕፈት ብሪጋደር ሚኪኤል ዮሃንስያ ነይራ። ሰሎሙና ኣብ ኣገዳሲ መተሓላለፊት ንሰምሃር: ንሳሓልን ንሰንሒትያ። እዚ ኣብዚ ዝጥቀስ ካብ ታሕታይ ፈልሒት ጀሚርካ ንደብረመዓር ንጸጋም ተጸጊዕካ ንፈልሒት ላዕላይ ሓሊፍካ ነስሓቐት ንገብረምሓረን ደይብካ ንገምኒ ዘውጽእ ንየማን ገዲፍካ ንኽሳድ ኣልገና ንጽጋም ተጸጊዕካ ናብ ዊና: ንምድሪ እምባደርሆን ግራት ኣውሊዕን ሓሊፋካ ንርእሲ ዓዲ ትድይብ። እዚ ቦታታትዚ ካብ ርእሲ ዓዲ ብወገን ምዕራቡ ዝዘንብ ማይ ንሸባሕዩ ዝወርድ። ብወገን ምብራቕ ሰፋሕቲ ናይ ሕርሻ ቦታታት ዘለዎ ኮይኑ ግልዕን ባሕሪባራን ዘለዎ ቦታታትዩ። ካብ ዒራዒሮ ንጎድኒ ክሳብ ድርፎ 50 ኪሎመተር ዝኸወንዩ። ካብ ገማግም ዓድታት ንምብራቕ ማለት ካብ ዓዲ ንፋስ: በለዛ: ኳዜን: ዓዜን: ደፈረ: ዛግር: ወኪ ዘሎ ከም ኣብነት ካብ ዓዜን ተበጊስካ ናብ ባሕሪ ባራ ክትወርድ ብግምት 30 ኪሎመተር ይኸውን። ኣብ ከምዚ ጎድንን ቁመትን ዘለዎ ቦታታት ብማሕረስን ጉስነትን ዝናበሩ ዝነበሩ ካብ ዓድታት ዓዲ ቆንጺ: ሃዘጋ: ዓመጺ: ዕናናላይ: ጨዓረሺ: ገረሚ: እምባደርሆ: በለዛ: ዓድንፋስ: መስፍንቶ: ዓድሸኻ ኳንደባ: ደፈረ: ዛግር: ዓዜን: ዓደንጎዳ: ዓዲረጊትን ደቀጥሮስን ዝኣመሰላየን። ካብዘን ዓድታት እዚኤን ክሳብ 30 ሺሕ ዝኸውን ስድራ ቤታት ብመናባብሮ ሕርሻን ጉስነትን ዝናበሩ ነይሮም ክብሃል ይከኣል። ሂወት ዝነበረን እንሳሳ ዜቤት ከብትን ጠለበጊዕን ንመጽዓኛ ዘገልግሉ ኣእዱግን ዝፈርዩሉን ዝራብሑሉን ኮይኑ ንመናባብሮ ሰባት ሂወት ኣብ ምሃብ ዝዓንገለ ቦታታትዩ። እቲ ኲናት ስርዓተ ምልኪ ኣብ መንባብሮ ናይዞም ሰባት ፈጢሪዎ ዘሎ በሰላ መዐቀኒኡ ኣብዚ ብቓላት ክግለጽ ዝከኣል ኣይኮነን። እቲ ስጉምቲ ምስጓጒ ክውሰድ ከሎ ቅልጡፍን ግዜ ዘይህብን ብምንባሩ: እቶም ሓረስቶት ዝነብረኦም ከብትን ጠለበጊዕን ዓርቢ ንዓዶም ኣእትዮም ንጽባሒቱ ኣብ ዕዳጋ ቀዳም ዝሸጡ ብዙሓትዮም ነይሮም፡፡ ኣብ ዓዲ ዝብላዕ መግቢ ኣይነበረን ነተን እንስሳታት፡፡ እዚ ሕሱም ተግባርዚ ብ 2011ዩ ተዛዚሙ፡፡ እዝን ግፋ ንሳዋን ተሓዋዊሱ ኣብ ዝሓለፈ እርባዕተ ዓመታት ካብዘን ዕድታትዚኤን ሃጽ ኢሎም ናብ ወጻኢ ሃገራት ዝተሰዱ መንእሰያት ኣሽሓትዮም፡፡ ገለ ኸኣ መገዲ ተቓውሞ ክሓስቡ ጀሚሮም። ንኣብነት ሸውዓተ መንእስያት ደቂ ዓዜን ንህግደፍ ብሓበረታ ይምግቡዮም ኢሎም ንዝሓሰብዎም ደቂ ዓዶም ብለይቲ ኣብቲ ቀልቀል ተባሂሉ ዝጽዋዕ ገማግም ንዝነበረ ግዛውቶም ኣቃጺሎም ዘራእቶምውን መንቁሶም፡፡ እዚ ሓበረታዚ ዝሰምዐ ምምሕዳር ምልኪ ኮለነል ሓረጎት ፍርዙን ዝመርሖ ሰራዊት መጺኡ ንደቂ ዓዲ ኣኪቡ: ነዞም ከምዚ ዝገበሩ ደቅኹም ኣረክቡኒ እንተዘይኮይኑ ዝወስዶ ስጉምቲ ኣሎ ይብሎም። ዓዲ እዚ ዝብሃል ዘሎ ተግባር መን ከም ዝፈጸሞ ኣይንፈልጥን ኢና፤ ይኹን እምበር ተገይሩ ምህላው ስለ እንፈልጥ ነቶም ንብረቶም ዝጠፍኦም ክንክሕስ ድልዋት ኢና። ኣብ ምንጎ ደቂ ዓዲ ዝተፈጸመ ስለዝኾነ ኸኣ ብምምሕዳር ዓድና ክንፈትሖ ቁሩባት ኢና እኳ እንተበሉ: ዓበይቲ ናይ ጽዕነት መካይን ኣምጺኡ 420 ደቂ ዓዲ ካብኦም 70- 80 ዓመት ዝገበሩ ናብ ምትካልኣቤት ዝበሃል ምብራቕ ካብ ደብሪመዓር ዝርከብ ኣጻምእ ቦታ ከም ዝእሰሩ ገይሩ። ዝብላዕን ዝስተን ኣይነበረን: ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ተዓገስ ተኽለግርጊሽ ዝብሃል ሰብ ይመውት። ኣብ ኣስመራ ዝነብሩ ደቂ ዓዜን ብዝዋጽእዎ መግብን መስትን ከኣዮም ክድሕኑ ዝኸኣሉ። ድሕሪ 40 መዓልቲ ነቶም ኣረግቶት ንዓዶም ክምለሱ ኣፍቂደሙሎም: ዝተርፉ ግን እቶም ገበርቲ ዝበልዎም ረኺቦም ኣብ ቤት ማእሰርቲ ዓዲ ኣቤቶ ምስ ዳጎንዎም ነቶም ብጃምላ ሒዘሞም ዝነበሩ ድሕሪ 6 ወርሒ ለቒቖሞም። ኣብዚ ኩነት ንህግደፍ ኣውራ ዘሻቐሎን ቀረባ መጽናዕቲ ዝገበሩሉን ካብ ሰራዊት ብሕቡእ ኣብቲ ተግባርን ሓሳባትን ከይህሉውዩ ዝነበረ።
ነዚ ዝተባህለ ህዝቢ ዘባሳብስ ተግባር ዝእዝዝ ኢስያስዩ። ላዕለዋይ መራሒ ናይ ኣተግበርቲ መጀር ጀነራል ገረዝጊሄር ዓንደማርያም፡ተወላዲ ኣፍደይዩ ዝነበረ። ኣተግባሪ ምፍንቃል ሓረስቶት ሰመናዊ ባሕሪ ብርጋደር ጀነራል ሚኪኤል የውሃንስ ተወላዲ ዓዲ ንፋስዩ: ኮለንል ሓረጎት ፍርዙን ተወላዲ ኳዜንዩ። እዚ ተጠቒሱ ዘሎ ዓድታትን ዝነብርሉ ዝነበሩ ዝተጠቕሰ ቦታታትን ኣብ ግዜ ብረታዊ ቃልሲ ንህዝባዊ ሓይልታት ድሓር ህዝባዊ ግንባር ምስ ኩሉ ዝወርዶ ዝነበረ በደላት መብዛሕቱኡ ንቓልሲ ዘበረከተን ብዓቕሙ ዘገልገለን ልዕሊ ኹሉ ግን ሰላምን ፍትሕን ምዕባለን ክመጽእዩ ኢሉ ዝኣመነዩ ነይሩ። ጠላም መሪሒነት ምልካውነት ኢስያስ ኣፍወርቂ ግን ዋላውን ንዝኣምኖ ኣብ ትሕቲ ፍጹም ምቁጽጻሩ ክረግጾ ንጥመትን ድንቁርናን ሕማምን ማሕበራዊ ምብትታንን ከም መሳርሒ ከዘውትሮ ኢና ንዕዘብ ዘለና። ኣብዚ ዝሓለፈ ምወዳእታ ዓመትሞ ምልስ ኢልና ንዘክር: ”ዘራእቲ ጽቡቕዩ ነይሩ ኢሉ ኢሳያስ ሽማግለታት ሰባት ክሰርሑ ምርኣየይ” ብምባል ”ዝተኣከብ ቂሚጦ ርእየ: ክኽየድ ግን ኣይኮነን ሒዝናዮ ዘለና መደብ ምልመላዩ ቀዳምነት ዘለዎ: ርግጽዩ ካብ ማይ ሕዳር እንበጣ ሕዳርዩ ዝምረጽ” ከኣ በለና። ነዚ ዕርቃኑ ዝወጸ ጸላእ ሕግን ቁዋምን ንመላእ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ገምገም ጥፍኣት ኣብጺሒዎ ዘሎ ዕሉል ምልካዊ ስርዓት ብሓደ ዓይኒ ክርእዮዩ ዝግባእ። ፍታውየዩ ዝብሎ ወገን የብሉን። ምሕዝነቱ ምስ ዘይዓግብ ስልጣን ጥራዩ።
ንባራበር።
Issais’ New Year Interview: The Production of More Manipulations and Lies
Wednesday, 28 January 2015 04:44 Written by EPDP Editorial BoardEPDP Editorial
Part 2
The question is not to count the dangers, betrayals, and evils of Issais to our people because we already know those. The question should be why all these dangers and evils of the regime are not setting off a firing revolution and lead to a deep sense of national and united opposition against the regime?
[For Part 1, please click here http://www.harnnet.org/index.php/news-and-editorial/epdp-editorial/item/1289-issais-new-year-interview-production-of-more-manipulations-and-lies-1]
Apart from the constitution talk, Issais also roared a lot of things in his New Year interview,among ofwhich were the so-called development plan for 2015, human resources development, five-year plans…etc. These were all rehashed Issais’ tyrannical policies from last year and the year before, and presented as if they were new. No new thing, unfulfilled promises and declaring further promises that would not be fulfilled, a scheme designed to manipulate Eritrean people into thinking that something good will take place in their lives next year.
For example, when asked…on realizing the objectives associated with making Eritrea a prosperous country…how do you assess our capacity to realize our aspirations? Do we have the human and material resources required to accomplish the tasks ahead? Issais said, “Human and material resources are what you can create. For example, everybody wants to live peacefully. However, peace is not something that is a heaven sent opportunity. Rather, one has to work hard to bring peace. We need to clearly identify the resources required for achieving our objectives. There are different resources such as technology, machinery, different raw materials, etc. However, human resource is the key of all the resources…work culture is also very important for materializing what you aspire (Eritrean Profile, January 14, 2015).
The above response is Issais’ fixative prayer for preserving his power. No matter how evil, atrocious, or deceptive the ends are as long as they justify the means, it is what Issais is doing – recklessly and without hesitation assault Eritrean people to empower his tyrannical power. Think about this: every year, Issais tells Eritrean people that they will be better off next year than the year before. He declares the problems and uncertainties of today will not be repeated next year. He claims that Eritrean people have learned lessons from past year and they would use those experiences to achieve their goals in the coming year. We will overcome them next year…etc. How many next years have Eritrean people gone so far without realizing their dreams - exactly over two decades now and still continuing. Simply put: by using unending promises and running a cynic campaign (usually in the name of Eritrean people), Issais managed to run an absolute system in the country for over two decades.
The fact is Issais can claim prosperity and development, but the reality is Issais is running one of the bloodiest governments on this planet: forced hundreds of thousands of Eritrean youth to exile; destroyed many Eritrean lives; altered Eritrean polities and institutions; eroded the living standard of the people; and committed widespread violation of human rights. Issais has it all, except freedom and democracy. Today, the Eritrean people are suffering from chronic shortages of basic consumer goods, water, electricity and fuel.
When asked … about the mass exodus of Eritrean youth…and if there are any tangible plans regarding their compensation or their future? Issais said, “I don’t want to talk about something that doesn’t exist. Many have been plunged into quagmires in consequence of their actions (motivated by their families and environments) to go somewhere where they would supposedly find riches and change their lives…Generally speaking, those who have gone to these “dream lands” will eventually regret their actions. Many of them mistakenly fled because their desired state of affairs didn’t come overnight in this country…” (Eritrean profile January 10, 2015). The content of the above statement simply recalls Issais’ contemptuous mockery when he said, “they are going for a picnic” in reference to the mass exodus of Eritrean youth few years ago. So, Issais did not shift ground on this; nothing new. He just doubled it down on his crusade to annihilate the Eritrean youth in order to continue his grip on power. Remember that this comment is made against the backdrop where hundreds and thousands of Eritreans are being forced to work in Party and military-owned businesses as unpaid laborers. The reality is that the mass exodus is the result and consequence of this form of forced labor imposed on the Eritrean people for the last two decades by Issaias and his dictatorial regime. The bigger picture here is that the exodus of Eritrean youth represents a major threat to Eritrea’s integrity and continuity as a nation. A country without a young generation has no future.
At this juncture, though, Issais and his cronies can roar as long as they want regarding drafting new constitution, development promises, foreign forces, war hysteria …etc. Eritrean people know the promises are empty and the development plans/projects are nonexistent; the war hysteria is a lie to keep Eritrean people in a state of war. The point is all this barrage of lies can no longer reverse the multitude crisis unfolding in Eritrea although Issais will continue to exploit such lies as a necessary strategy to muzzle and reduce the whole population to slavery. We know Eritrea is now a dilapidated, stagnated, and hungry place, with a life standard plummeting to abyss every day. Maybe this time the era of Issais’ manipulation is coming to an end. Eritrean people seem to be waking up because they are increasingly realizing that the entire edifice of Issais’ politics is based on lies and perpetual manipulations. In fact, we are witnessing Eritrean people slowly detaching if not divorcing their susceptibility to the regime’s unending lies and manipulations. They see it; and they are not buying it anymore. And there is nothing more inspiring than seeing Eritrean people finally searching their souls and beginning to withdraw their support from the PFDJ regime.
At the end, we should ask ourselves what is the lesson we can learn from Issais’ New Year long tirade and menacing interview against our citizens:
- One, Issais is spinning such an endless catalogue of lies and manipulations regarding drafting constitution, development plans, aggression of foreign forces, and others because of the increasing erosion of support base to his regime that began as a result of the crackdown on pro democracy decedents within his leadership and on journalist in 2001. This was reinforcedby the January 2013 (Forto mutiny), followed by the Eritrean Catholic priests (Where is Your Brother), and finally amplified by the excommunication declaration issued by the clergy of the United Eritrean Orthodox monasteries.
- Two, the above revelations are reinforcing Eritrean people’s confidence both in challenging and rejecting the propaganda that the mad dictator has been roaring like a wild animal for years on one hand, and in leading to a collective and united action on the other, all making Issais’ lies and unending promises more and more fragile, especially inside the homeland. We need to understand and exploit such development, and break it open to reveal the danger of Issais’ regime to our country.
- Three, we must understand that the strategy of Issais’ interview is to stifle the evolving internal opposition by conditioning Eritrean people to his own reality – a reality of fear and conformity that he knows would enable him to continue enslaving Eritrean people. Our role should be to deconstruct those realities as they are designed to perpetuate tyranny and submission to the power of Issais.
- Four, there is nothing that scares Issais than the emergence of factions within his own inner circle. We must target such a unity of the inner circle in a manner that amplifies the blunder of Issais and leads to the demise of his system. This is the major task of establishing and nurturing internal opposition.
- Fifth, we should understand that Issais will continue to lie in the face of mass exodus of the Eritrean youth. This is not an ordinary lie; this is a threat to the existence of our country. The message here is that whether ignorance or weakness not shattering such dangerous policy of Issais is strengthening his rule in Eritrea. The sad thing is there is nothing Issais has said or done that we do not know. The problem is every time, we encounter Issais’ speech, we denounce his insanity and we become delusional instead of systematically and collectively challenge it.
- Sixth, now the issue is no more about Issaias and his regime. Issaias’ contempt to the collective wisdom of the Eritrean people is boundless. His disrespect and disregard to the interest of the Eritrean people is deep and profound. His declaration of the 1997 Eritrean Constitution as “dead and nonexistent” is another in a series of blunders that exposed issais’ inner motive and evil intent. The real culprit and enemy are known and it is up to the opposition and the people what to do with it. As the saying goes, ‘snake at your feet, a stick at your hand’ “በትሪኣብኢድካተመንኣብእግርኻ.”
Last, Issais does not care about democracy, constitution, and development in Eritrea. Why should he? After all, being democratic or accepting the sovereign right of Eritrean people denies his power. He is a malignant narcissistic dictator and that is the nature of dictators, conditioning the people to their own reality and fighting for their power until they are booted out from power. The question is not to count the dangers, betrayals, and evils of Issais to our people because we already know those. The question should be why all these dangers and evils of the regime are not setting off a firing revolution and lead to a deep sense of national and united opposition against the regime? Where is our collective action?
دعك من القفز، بل لم نقدر علي الحبو!!
Sunday, 25 January 2015 18:23 Written by اعلام حزب الشعب الديمقراطي الارتريلجميع الدكتاتوريين في التاريخ العالمي سمات مشتركة تتلخص في التالي:
1- يحرصون علي أن يكونوا مرهوبي الجانب
2- تحت الزعم بوجود أعداء للأمة يعمل الدكتاتور علي إسكار الشعب بسيمفونية الوطنية (nationalism)
3- لا يسمحون بوجود أي رأي مخالف لهم، كما يشجعون ويعطون الأولوية للانضباط والطاعة والإخلاص لهم.
4- يميلون الي العزلة وإخفاء كل شيء يتعلق بهم.
تلك السمات تنطبق علي إسياس أفورقي ونظامه بنسبة مئة بالمئة، وكأن الجيش الحالي قليل وغير كافٍ نراه في خطابه التلفزيوني السنوي الأخير في الثلاثين من ديسمبر 2014م يقول: إن كل الشعب جيش، وبالتالي يعرب عن نيته السافرة في تجنيد وتسليح كافة أفراد الشعب، ليس هذا فحسب، بل ورغم إبداء حيرته إزاء تزامن فصل الشتاء وحملة التجنيد الحالية إلا أنه لم يخف إعطاءه الأولوية للتجنيد والتدريب. إن إسياس لا تهمه أوضاع الشعب بقدرما يهمه الإبقاء علي سلطته. لا يهمه من أمر الشعب إلا أن يبقيه ساهراً قلقاً بحجة حماية الوطن من الأعداء والغزاة.
بل برر إسياس سياسته للعسكرة الشاملة التي لا تستثني أحداً بأن أنكر علي الشعب النوم في الأسرّة مشنعاً عليه ذلك بالمقارنة الظالمة وغير المنطقية بين الشعب الذي ينام علي سرير وبين الجيش الذي يفترش التراب ويلتحف السماء علي حد زعمه، لقد ساق كل تلك الأحاجي والألغاز المربكة عن وضع الجيش والشعب لتبرير العسكرة الشاملة حتى ينام الجميع في الخنادق وتخلو المدن والقرى والحقول والمراعي من الناس. وحتى تشمل العسكرة الجميع، شيباً وشباباً، أقفل أبواب الجامعة الوحيدة في البلاد وكل مؤسسات التعليم العالي والثانوي وأبدلها بثكنات التدريب العسكري، إنه يستهدف بهذه العسكرة بث الرعب في قلوب الشعب الارتري وقلوب حكومات وشعوب الدول المجاورة وإقلاق راحة المنطقة بأكملها.
وعن سؤال عن إنفاذ الدستور أجاب الرئيس قائلاً: ( نسبةً لأن الكل يعلم أنه كان هناك دستور لن أقول لك: نعم كان لنا دستور لكنه مات أو بعث من جديد...الخ، كما لا أود تعليق الأمور علي شماعة ما واجهنا خلال الخمس عشر عاماً الماضية من تحديات، حيث كنا مهددين في وجودنا، سيادتنا، نمونا وتنميتنا، ولكن ولأن معظم حقب مسيرتنا السياسية كانت غالباً ما تعاق بالكثير من المعوقات والتدخلات الخارجية في الأغلب من عواصف وأمواج وأنواء، لذلك كله مضت وثيقة الدستور الي حال سبيلها بغير إنفاذ ولا إعلان ).
إن الزعم بموت الدستور أو اهترائه بهذه اللهجة المستترة واللا مسئولة إنما هو استخفاف بالأموال والجهود التي أنفقت علي إعداد وإنفاذ تلك الوثيقة من قبل الشعب وبرلمانه والدول والحكومات الصديقة، وإذا افترضنا أن الأموال قد فقدت ولن تعوض وأن الوثيقة قد تآكلت فهل الشعب والبرلمان المصادقان علي الوثيقة والشاهدان الحيان عليها أيضاً قد هرما وفارقا الحياة، أم أصبحا عنده نسياً منسياً؟؟؟!!! إنه لأمرٌ يدعو الي الرثاء والخجل.
إنه بينما حاول أن ينزه نفسه عن تبرير تأجيل عملية إنفاذ الدستور بالعوامل الخارجية، إذا به يناقض نفسه زاعماً أن عملية تأجيل أو موت الدستور لا تعود اليه بقدرما تعود الي عوامل وتدخلات خارجية، وكأنما دستور البلاد هو دستور الأمم المتحدة أو دستور حلف الأطلنطي!!
إن الدستور وثيقة عقد اجتماعي(social contract) بين الشعب والحكومة، لذلك وبحكم أن الشعب هو الطرف الأول والأهم في ذلك العقد فمن صميم حقه أن يعلم بأي تعديلات تجرى عليه أو ما يتعرض له من تأجيل أو وفاة كما زعم الرئيس. قرار الحرب هو الآخر قرار سيادي يعود للشعب أو برلمان يمثله وليس فرد أو جماعة حاكمة، لذلك كان من العبط والاستعباط الجدل حول ضرورة قرار الاعلان من عدم اعلانه، إن من يسعون سراً هذه الأيام لتمهيد الطريق لدستور إسياس يحاولون إقناعنا بأن نتناسى ونتجاهل الجدل حول اعلان الدستور ومن وضعه. إن الدستور لا يمكن إعداده أو إجازته أو إنفاذه في الظلام والغرف المظلمة كما يفعل أفورقي الآن، لا يتم شيء حول الدستور إلا بواسطة الشعب صاحب القرار الأول في التشريع.
عودنا إسياس أفورقي نهاية كل عام، أن يزعم أن العام المنصرم قد أنجز مهاماً تستشرف القفز الي إنجازات العام القادم، كما تعود إلهاءنا بالآمال والأحلام والتمنيات والوعود في كل عامٍ جديد. واليوم أيضاً كرر في هذا العام مزاعمه المعهودة كل عام، فهو قد رفع قفاز التحدي والرهان أمام المشاهدين والمستمعين بكل غرور عندما قال: انظروا الي ما أقول لكم خلال ثلاثة أشهر فقط لا ثلاث أعوام، وجعل يعدد الإنجازات الموعودة خلال العام الحالي 2015م في مجالات الزراعة، الثروة البحرية، الصناعة، التعدين ....الخ. ولكن الواقع يكذب ذلك كما ظل يكذب كلَّ عام كلَّ المزاعم الإسياسوية المتكررة، لذلك لن نستطيع تحقيق شيء من وعود هذا العام دعك من أن نستشرف أو نقفز الي منجزات العام القادم، بل العكس، فنحن إما أن نظل حيث كنا وإما أن نتراجع الي الخلف خطواتٍ وخطوات.
إن نظام إسياس الدكتاتوري الذي يتلون كالحرباء يلبس أمام حكومات العالم لبوساً وأمام شعبه لبوساً آخر، فهو لكي يخرج من عزلته العالمية والاقليمية يعد حكومات الغرب بإنفاذ الدستور، تحديد مدة أداء الخدمة العسكرية الإجبارية ب18 شهراً، إتاحة الحقوق والحريات الانسانية ...الخ. وعلي العكس من تلك الوعود المعسولة للأجانب فإنه قد توعد كل من هاجر وترك بلاده دون إذن بأشد وأفظع العقوبات والتهديدات، إنه زعم أنه أعز نفساً وشموخاً من زعماء الغرب، كما أن تلفزيونه لا يعرض إلا سوءات الآخرين موارياً النظر عن سوءاته.
إن من يعرف غدر إسياس وكذبه لن يصدق تلك الوعود التي يسوقها عاماً إثر عام، بالأمس قال إنه أقرَّ بالنظام التعددي قبل أن يصبح موضة عالمية كما هو اليوم، واليوم ابتلع وعوده السابقة وتنكر لكل من ناضل أو عمل أو انتظم يوماً خارج حزبه الهقدف، وتحدى من خالف الهقدف الرأي بان يبحث عن مكان لرأيه في االفضاء لا في الأرض. وبعد أن أرهق كاهل الشعب والعالم ضجيجاً بوضع وإنفاذ الدستور ها هو اليوم يعلن أمام الملأ موت ذلك الدستور قبل أن يعلن، كأنه يقول لنا: إنه مات قبل أن يولد. إنه بعد أن ظل يشبع الشعب وعوداً وردية بالحرية، العدالة، الديمقراطية والأمن والاستقرار ها هو اليوم قد تحول الي دكتاتور جلاد يذيق شعبه الذل والهوان، ويبقي رفاق نضاله ومن توجوه رئيساً عليهم وعلي البلاد رهن السجون بلا إدانة ولا محاكمة. إذاً فليس مستبعداً أن يتناسى وعود عامه هذا ويفاجئنا بأقوالٍ أو أفعالٍ مناقضة تماماً لما وعدنا.
Issais’ New Year Interview: Production of More Manipulations and Lies
Monday, 19 January 2015 13:15 Written by EPDP Information OfficeEPDP Editorial
Part 1
Issais Afeworki made himself a laughingstock overnight again in his New Year interview with his egotistic and misleading accusations/claims that because of the external challenges, provocations, and plots waged against Eritrea, his regime was unable to implement the constitution of the 1997 and that the constitution is now dead, end of history. Issais said, “As everybody knows, there is no constitution, I cannot say there was a constitution that existed or died, the constitution could be taken as an already dead document before it was declared; since we have learnt too much in the last 15 years, the new one should be better and that serves for the future (Eritrea Profile Saturday 10, 2015 edition). What Issais told us was that the 1997constitution is no longer useful; it is dead; a lot of things changed over the last fifteen years; the constitution does not reflect Eritrea’s reality today; we have gained a lot of experiences that we did not know when we wrote the constitution …etc.This is not the first instance of Issaisostracizing the constitution.Back in Independence Day in 2014, he echoed the same thing, and on numerous occasions he has oozed his deep-rooted disrespect to the collective wisdom of the Eritrean people.
Reading his interview, the dictator did not give a reason as to why the constitution of the 1997 is dead, or the reason why it was not implemented, or what specific experiences of the last two decades contributed to trashing the constitution. Nothing, what the dictator spewed was a confused, mismatched, and disorderly speech to justify something unjustifiable, with one idea in mind, and that is to systematically continue to impose his tyranny and assault on Eritrean people on the account of drafting a new constitution. After all, Issais could not tell us why because he did not have one. The fact is history shows that there is no constitution that gets discarded in a span of less than two decades, but in the worldview of Issais it does. Not only that, how could one scrap an entire constitution even before it gets implemented? Only malignant narcissist dictators like Issais who are drunk with power and tyranny do.
In his interview, Issais was not only denying reality but also pathetically lying. His message was one of manipulating the public, camouflaging his malevolent agenda, and even sometimes appearing to be very normal and seemingly a loving person. And yet, he is very skilled both at entrancing and putting others under his spell, not to mention portraying every trait of a narcissist leader such as lying, creating false propaganda, presenting exaggerated and dubious claims, and instilling fear into the minds of his followers as a ‘controlling techniques’.
The reality is that, despite some limitations/controversies and this is normal because no constitution is perfect, to the majority of the Eritrean people, still the 1997 Constitution is democratic in content, nationalist in vision, and secular in its politics, not to mention that the constitution contains an amendment provision in it. It has a ballot box, too, which scares Issais to death.
The other far-reaching historical ramification that needs to be emphasized here on discarding the constitution of 1997 is this: the erosion of the ideals of the EPLF as a nationalist organization. As we know the constitution of 1997 reflects EPLF’s vision for Eritrea, and if it had been implemented, it would have been the living legacy of the EPLF as a nationalist force in the Eritrean liberation history. But Issais has no history and by declaring to bury the constitution, he has reached the final stage of eliminating the “foot print” of the EPLF, including the Eritrean people, and its fighters. PFDJ members have the opportunity now to turn the page and stand against their vicious and cold-blooded tyrant who is betraying Eritrean people by stacking up lies on top of one another. For example, compare the following quote with that of Issais’ New Year 2015 interview: The constitution is the supreme law of the land and the government is implementing it, including the holding of democratic elections at the local, sub-regional, and regional levels…national elections will be held once the threat to national security and the country’s sovereignty is irrevocably removed (Issais regime response to UPR on Eritrea, Geneva, 2009).For PFDJ members, this should spark frustration if not opposition against their boss.
If people can decipher, and we are sure most can, there is no qualification in his latest interview on the constitution except a chain of lies: everything is him, everything is right, everything is absolute, everything is PFDJ; and everything is positive in Eritrea and that Eritrea is high on the top. Whether exploiting foreign forces or other entities, Issais throws passion over reason and emotion over reality, a stratagem dictator Issais perfected over the years on how to condition Eritrean people into his own reality - a reality of fear and conformity that would allow him to control and enslave the Eritrean people for eternity.
The fact is that the call for drafting and adopting a new constitution is irrelevant for the Eritrean people. Eritrean people know the constitution has been swept into the dustbin of history by Issais a long time ago, but it does not mean that the constitution is not a living document; it is. What is relevantis the motivation of Issais. You see, Issais does things that can be best described as manipulating the public by pretending that change is going to happen in the lives of Eritrean people by drafting a new constitution while beneath all these efforts lie the maintenance and perpetuation of his fate and power. What is different now is that Issais is at the end of the road and he has to distort reality; his power is increasingly being threatened, and he must come up with something that he thinks should slow down the threat to his power. You might call this: Issais’ hodge-podge of winning strategy by hiding behind the wall of Eritrea’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We want to leave you with following crucial messages:
- Eritrean people must continue on opening their eyes, and own an accurate reading and understanding of Issais’ lies when he uses, for example, patriotism and nationalism as a method to manipulate the public into serving his tyrannical government, and not to the interest of the people. Remember, Issais knows what patriotism means to the people and Eritrean people must distinguish between patriotism to their nation and patriotism to the service of Issais’ tyranny. We have seen this for two decades and continuing.
- Drafting new constitution is being presented by Issais as a development and potential change in the lives of Eritrean people. But remember Issais and his elites have been telling Eritrean people all along that they would not implement the constitution until the border was demarcated. Now, what has changed? Nothing, the border is not demarcated and the status quo of “no war no peace” continues. The fact is we know whether the border is demarcated or not, the constitution could have been implemented and an elected democratic government could have been established in our country. There are many countries that have border problems, and yet they are democratic. For example, India and Pakistan; Israel and Palestine; Cameroon and Nigeria, Senegal and Mauritania...Etc.
- Eritrean people must understand the doublespeak and detachment of facts that the Issais regime is spewing to control the thinking of Eritrean people. For example, when Issais says we have to continue to have over 300,000 youths in the trenches to protect our sovereignty and independence and to maintain our liberty and freedom, it is all a complete fallacy to keep the people united under fear of war and never questions his power. We must ask: where is the liberty and freedom that he is talking about? We need to stop Issais from rewriting our history and controlling our future every New Year.
Second Part will follow.
Constitution or No Constitution: Issais Afeworki is Gearing up to Become a Tyrant for Life
Thursday, 15 January 2015 05:02 Written by EPDP Editorial BoardEPDP Editorial
Editorial note: This article first appeared in June 2014, and it is being reposted because of multiple requests from our readers.
After twenty-three years of dictatorship and eighteen months into the operation of Forto, and in the midst of a wave of Eritrean worldwide grassroots movement that is sending shivers through the PFDJ dictatorial establishment, Issais Afeworki is looking for a new route to prolong his dictatorship in Eritrea. And he thinks he has found one, which is to draft a new constitution, “a constitution drafting process will be launched in order to chart out the political road map for the future government structure” (in his televised speech he gave on May 24).
Needless to say, for years the tyrant has been calling constitutional democracy or democratic governance an illusion and an invention of western countries that does not work not only in African societies in general and in Eritrean society in particular, but also in western countries that practice democracy. We have an expression in Tigryina, “one who does not have a chicken ridicules those who have a donkey.” (ደርሆዘይቡሉስንባዓልኣድጊይንዕቕ).
We also know on several occasions Issais was asked by Ajezzira journalists and by many others as to the chance of having a multiparty system, democracy or free election in Eritrea, Issais emphatically said, “Free election will not happen in Eritrea for the next 30 years or 40 years. I have no plan to leave my position regardless what you say or you do. Remember I did not sign any contract with you or anyone. Any one hoping for multiparty system can go to the moon. Only daydreamers believe in alternatives to the ruling of the PFDJ. Only daydreamers can think about ‘constitution and constitutional governance in Eritrea…etc.” Unless conveniently forgotten, this is Issais’ worldview that revolves around an absolute power at the cost of brutalizing and repressing Eritrean citizens. And if one asked the majority of Eritrean citizens where the power lies, the answer would be all power lies in the hands of Issaias who exercises such a power ruthlessly through his army and state security machinery.
Now, after all these years, why is the tyrant proposing a new constitution? What is wrong with the 1997 constitution that Issaias himself monitored and gave his blessing for its ratification in March 1997, but later dishonored it and put it aside for two decades? Certainly, Issaias knew then and knows now, if the constitution (despite all the critics surrounding it) of 1997 had been implemented, among other things, it would have laid down a ground for a democratic system of governance in our country that would have allowed political parties/political pluralism, individual liberty, fair and free election, peaceful change of leadership, accountable government, citizens’ participation, rule of law…etc., a vital for peace and sustainable development for a country ravaged by a 30-year war of independence. But like all dictators, Issais hates rule by the people and that is why he and his elites took a barbaric action, and subverted the implementation of the ratified constitution back in 2001, exposing the country into a protracted socio-economic and political disaster. The fact is Issaias’ talk of new constitution is nothing, but another scandalous manipulation with the most fundamental document a country can own, a constitution.
In history, we know many dictators who banned constitutional system of governance, and some who drafted their own new constitution or created a version of any existing constitution to stay in power for life. For example, the late Hugo Chaves of Venezuela (2012), Paul Biya of Cameroon (2008), Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua (2011), Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (2005), as well as many other dictators who either got rid of limits on presidential terms or made severe restrictions and changes on their countries’ constitution in order to stay in power. Recently, Paul Kagame of Rwanda in power since 2000 is campaigning to change the term limit, a means to dig in power for life.
Issaias is unelected president who is ruling Eritrean people with iron-fist since independence after having either imprisoned, tortured, arbitrarily arrested or murdered thousands of Eritrean citizens because they demanded constitution and freedom. Ever since undeterred, Issais’ continued to violate human rights and commit civilian killings for over two decades. And his power of legitimacy has been rested for the last two decades on continued repression and brutality. But this is not enough for this menacing dictator. Now after having banned the ratified constitution of the 1997, he is poised to draft his own new constitution with one an unambiguous mission: and that is to crown himself as a dictator for life with the intention of using the new constitution as a legitimate instrument to stamp any and all emerging popular struggles. And he is doing this by shifting the debate from “implementing the already ratified constitution to drafting a new one”, again a sinister move aimed at deceiving Eritrean people into thinking that he is ready to pay homage to democratic principles while he continues to undo everything we have earned as we know it. This is an old trick of getting Eritrean people to support him under the guise of a new constitution. But Eritrean people know that Issaias is a dictator, and constitutionalism and dictatorship do not go together.
In summary, what kind of constitution is Mr. Issaias, who hates democracy or government of the people, talking about? Well, the kind of constitution that Issaias is talking about is one that would prepare new ground for extending his tyranny indefinitely, if he survives the fire power of the ongoing popular resistance; he is talking about prolonging his reign for life, that is if he sails through the ever simmering popular uprising across the Eritrean political landscape. EPDP knows that only very few Eritreans will be deceived by the so-called drafting constitution saga. The truth though, Issaias should by now know that the majority of Eritreans know that the call for “drafting new constitution” under the auspices of his PFDJ regime is nothing, but a continuation of terror and injustices of his rule in Eritrea. And if at all he ventures to write one, Eritrean people should know that he will use it as a facade to enable him to legitimize his vicious grip on power- all nothing to do with the will and true democratic aspirations of Eritrean people. No Eritrean, in a true sense of the world, believes Issaias can hold free and democratic elections because he knows the Eritrean people would reject him. Therefore, new constitution or no constitution, there should not be any confusion here: this is the PFDJ tyranny in black and white, a tyranny that knows no bounds. EPDP calls on all Eritreans to stand up and unconditionally reject Issaias’ call for new constitution, understanding that the reason for his call is to permanently subvert the ongoing opposition and prolong his despotism. Eritreans should take it seriously that this is the despot’s mockery of constitution at its extreme, which won’t stand as Eritrean people are saying enough and willing to fight for the rule of law, human rights, and political freedom. But it suffices to remember the old adage: “If you fool me once, shame on you; if you fool me twice, shame on me.” Finally, it is important to underscore that Issais may be on his last legs, but he is not defeated. He is determined to fight to the last; he is determined to fight for his own life. Yet, the paradox is that while the PFDJ is hanging on the cliff, the Eritrean opposition has yet to figure out on how to go about forming a coherent leadership and opposition against the PFDJ regime and its evil system of governance. EPDP says it is time that we must go beyond staging protests and narrating the crimes of the PFDJ regime.
Response to the Critique on “State Failure and Identity Politics: Is Regional Mobilization the Answer?” by Eritrean Afar State in Exile (EASE)
Monday, 12 January 2015 22:40 Written by EPDP Editorial BoardEPDP Editorial
First, we would like to express our appreciation for the comments and critiques given by EASE. But, the writer has missed the context and the essence of the EPDP Editorial Article. Here is why:
The Context:
- EPDP believes that Eritrea, as a nation-state, is the result of a common and long history of the social, economic, and political struggle by the people (the different ethno-linguistic groups, including Afar) who inhabited and constituted the present day Eritrea. In essence, Eritrean is a shared identity that was more enhanced and solidified during the 30-year war of liberation for which Eritrean people from all walks of life: all ethnic and nationalities/social groups, young and old, men and women came together and died in search of their freedom, liberty, and national sovereignty. Thus, Eritrea is a pluralistic society that belongs to all Eritreans (individuals, ethno-linguistic groups, etc.) equally. Furthermore, EPDP believes that the proper management of Eritrea’s diversity in post PFDJ Eritrea is a critical determinant factor for the continuity and sustainability of Eritrea as a nation-state and for a durable peaceful coexistence among its diverse ethno-linguistic groups.
- EPDP recognizes that the struggle against foreign occupiers was not waged in the name of one nationality or social group, nor was it waged by one nationality or group. It was a cumulative force of Eritreans whose loyalty to their own social group was never at variance with their country, Eritrea.
- EPDP understands and knows the fact that, instead of establishing democratic governance structures and resources allocation system that allows all population groups full participation, the regime from the outset adopted extractive and exclusionary laws that allow it to capture absolutely all the benefits of our independence. As a consequence, many population groups in our country were and are marginalized politically, socially and economically. Here, the Eritrean Afars are no exception.
- For EPDP, Regionalism in the Eritrean context is not the same as ethno-linguistic affiliations. Regionalism or “Awrajawinet” (Serewetay, Akeleguzetay, Hamasienetay, Barketay, Senhitetay, etc.) is the result of regional self-awareness or regional self-identification ascriptions and the bases for these kinds of cleavages in Eritrea are the Italian colonial legal administrative regions that had been developed solely to serve Italian interests. The Editorial Article used the term “regional mobilization” in this context.
- EPDP believes that the major culprit for generating regionalism and identity politics in the Eritrean political landscape is primarily the undemocratic nature of the Eritrean regime, which suffocates the political space. Hence, indisputably, the solution for Eritrea’s ills squarely lies in dismantling the kleptocratic regime and replacing it with a democratic system of governance in which real power lies in the hands of the people of Eritrean and in which justice and rule of law with all its features become the solid foundation of Eritrean life. It is very legitimate to argue about how best this noble aim can be achieved.
The Essence:
As stated in the Editorial Article, EPDP wishes to reiterate that the single solution to the Eritrean quagmire is to dismantle the dictatorial regime and to replace its absolutist and extractive political and economic institutions by a pluralistic and inclusive political and economic system through establishing a united front of the democratic forces of Eritrea in the opposition, including the Afars, both inside the country and in the Diaspora. In this, the Political Program of EPDP stipulates a decentralized system of governance where political and economic power is devolved to the lower levels of administrative units (province, district, and village) with self-governing authorities (for a detailed information, see the Political Program of EPDP). The key vision here is to establish a system of governance that guarantees a constitutionally protected decentralized self administration in which Eritrean regions and/or nationalities will have greater power to administer their localities by maintaining and protecting Eritrea’s full sovereignty and territorial integrity. For the convenience of our readers, Article 2.7 and Article 4.2 of the Political Program are reproduced below as follows:
2.7 Decentralized Administration
Well aware of the plurality of cultures and traditions in the Eritrean setting, EPDP believes that decentralizing and spreading power down to the provinces, districts, sub-districts and villages will prevent the concentration of state power and wealth in the hands of a few, a phenomenon which can jeopardize national unity. In order to apply decentralized administration, the following must be fulfilled: a) proper socio-economic and historical/geographical study on the condition of the settlements; b) the willingness of the people to create the new administrative divisions; c) and approval of the plan by constitutionally established organs of the state. Until then, EPDP shall support the continuation of the administrative divisions/provinces that existed before the independence of the country.
4.2 EPDP Policy for Equitable Economic Development of Eritrean Provinces
- Give special attention to underdeveloped provinces,
- Struggle for every province to develop its own economic administration, that the province administers by itself, which is in line with the general economic policy of the country:
- Struggle for the establishment of an all inclusive relationship and support system in all levels of government (province, district, and village) based on national constitution.
Unlike what the writer’s comments and the critiques try to allude, EPDP neither represents Ethnic Tigrigna nor is the flip side of PFDJ regime. This is fundamentally a gross misrepresentation and mischaracterization of EPDP. Again, EPDP is well aware of the motivation, and the negative interpretations, descriptions, and tendencies that float now and then against it by some quarters in the opposition. Two, EPDP neither condones nor ascribes to PFDJ’s policies and actions and hence should not be blamed for the actions of the current regime. The writer is directing his/her political grievances against a Political Party that struggles on his/her side, ‘barking at the wrong tree’ as they say. Three, the political orientation and the composition of EPDP reflect the diversity of Eritrea more than any political group in the Eritrean opposition, and that EPDP through its official positions made it clear that its primary objective is to make Eritrea a country where ethno-linguistic diversity is properly managed (for example, minority rights are recognized, respected, protected and even promoted) and that the unity and mutual trust between Eritrea’s social groups is nurtured, and that the growth of equitable and fair economic development as well as social and political equality is part of the system we establish in post PFDJ Eritrea.
Another, EPDP has never ever said it is planning to implement the 1997 Constitution as is if it were to come to power. This is another misrepresentation of EPDP’s official stand on the 1997 constitution. The fact is EPDP understands the controversies surrounding the 1997 constitution, and it is within this understanding that it adopted the following resolution in its first Merger Conference:
The Merger Conference, having considered and discussed the relevance of the Unimplemented constitution of Eritrea, resolved that the question on what to do with the 1997 constitution finds ground only after the fall of PFDJ. The option of discarding the document or accepting it in any form shall be left to the people to decide: either through a popular referendum or through its elected representatives.
From EPDP stand point, the constitution of 1997 is not a bone of contention, and dwelling on it not only gives the dictatorial regime a space to exploit and benefit out of it, but also it misplaces the priority of our struggle against the PFDJ regime.
The author of the critique is advised to rectify his/her facts and redirect the critique to the regime, which is the “mother of all evils” in Eritrea. Population displacements and the exodus of Eritreans, including Afars, are well chronicled and they are squarely the result of the brutal tyranny of PFDJ, and we must join hands to eliminate PFDJ from the face of Eritrea, rather than engaging on issues that polarizes us as an opposition.
Yes, we agree with the writer that Dankalia is one of the cradles of modern Eritrea and there is no Eritrean nation-state without Dankalia, or without any of the other components of Eritrea for that matter. A democratic and prosperous Dankalia is impossible without a democratic and prosperous Eritrea. EPDP firmly believes that modern Eritrea is a pluralistic and diverse society and that the integrity of Eritrea as a nation-state must be preserved by anchoring it on the pillars of peaceful coexistence of its diverse social cleavages. We know the current regime continues to mismanage and abuse indiscriminately this diversity to perpetuate its misrule, and reversing all these problems will be an uphill battle in the aftermath of its fall. Therefore, to throw some light, in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Issaias regime, the most challenging issues will be numerous, but the key ones are these: One, the establishment of effective and good governance that allows access to fair and equitable socio-economic development, wealth distribution, and equal political representation as a necessary condition for ensuring a durable peaceful coexistence among Eritrea’s diverse groups. Two, organization of government institutions and structures that can effectively manage and accommodate the diversity of Eritrea’s social groups in a manner, for example, that defines the relationship between the national government and its local government bodies. Last, EPDP knows that it is not alone in the Eritrean political landscape and cannot achieve this noble objective by itself. Instead, EPDP strongly believes that it must strive to work with other Eritrean compatriots, including the Eritrean Afar State in Exile to dismantle the dictatorial regime in Eritrea and replace it with a constitutional and inclusive governance structure. Hence, we would like to take this opportunity to call upon the Eritrean Afar State in Exile to join hands with us in this endeavor.
Harnnet Editorial Board
