The ailments, as chronicled, are many.  Anxiety has overwhelmed Eritreans at home and abroad. Our people are becoming poorer, desolate and weaker by the day. Kids have literally grown up in trenches. Adults are aging in trenches. Children�s aspirations are limited because they don�t see a bright future. School-age kids are thrown into violent marches instead of going to school. It is bleak and sad.  People are arrested for no reason other than to create an environment of fear and intimidation.  

It would be easy to write pages and pages about the evil and corrupt nature of both Sudanese and Ethiopian governments and, no doubt, it would please many �nationalists� who equate patriotism with denouncing enemies.    But this is an Eritrean website interested in Eritrean issues only and we must clean our house first.  It is no use denying that we lack political leadership that meets our expectations. The PFDJ leadership failed the nation. The President failed the nation. The opposition leaders failed the nation. Eritreans, collectively, failed the nation.

The Role of the PFDJ in Our Current Mess

Whatever strengths this Eritrean organization has, however that contributed to the liberation of Eritrea, has not helped in the governance of the nation.  The PFDJ is exclusivist: contrary to its claims of being a Front that accommodates all, it is partisan group that is all about exclusion.  It is about secrets.  It is about cells.  It is about us and them: the constant �us� and the shifting �them.�  It is an organization best described by one of its best-known leaders now in jail, Mr. Petros Solomon, who told the AFP on June 17 that the PFDJ is �a fighting, secretive and rigid organization.�  It has a culture of arrogance; a culture of name-calling, a culture of derision.  But above all, it has a culture of �we know it all� that has no qualms about lecturing the world powers about how to run the world.  It has lessons on how Africa should behave; it has lessons on how the Arab nations should deal with Israel; it has lectures on how America should run the world; it has lessons on what kind of arrangements are best for Ethiopia, for Sudan, for Somalia for Congo.  It is at once a turtle and a butterfly and it knows not the meaning of humility.

The Role of the President in Our Current Mess

President Isaias was promised the status of George Washington. He wanted to remain Isaias and at the same time become George Washington. The two personalities clashed inside him. He came out of the conflict neither Washington nor Isaias; he lost both. We suggested a third choice, that of ex-president, an elder statesman.  He is refusing that as well.

When we target Isaias, we don�t do it to please someone or annoy another.  We do it because we believe he has become a hindrance: a rock that blocks the normal flow of water in a narrow irrigation canal.   A bottleneck.  He never tried to adjust his heartbeat to that of the Eritrean people; he wanted Eritrean to adjust theirs to his. Thus, the slogan �Hade hzbi Hade lbi�: of course, Isais� lbi, his compassionate heart.

Isaias� unpredictability has become quite predictable. He has used his charisma and position in the Eritrean struggle to encourage arrogance, promote rejection of dialogue and shun humbleness. He has established a trend of intolerance; a culture of badmouthing and defamation that has been mimicked religiously by all who aspire to be noticed by him.  He has trained and convinced people that everyone is out there to get the other; and it has become virtually impossible for Eritreans to describe why they love their country without referring to an enemy.  He has created an alien culture molded after his personality. In the process, Eritreans lost our Eritreaness: our culture of humility, modesty, and dialogue.  We lost ourselves. Our long struggle and endurance, waged for the sake of liberty and dignity was translated to mean training for eternal struggle and endurance for unnecessary pain and suffering. 

The Role of the Opposition in Our Current Mess

An opposition that has one unifying theme�bringing peace, justice and democracy to Eritrea---should not be splintered into ten tiny factions were it not for its leadership�s refusal to look beyond their power interest and actually work for the best interest of Eritrea.  We appreciate the inclusiveness of the opposition but, at some point, they are going to have to answer the question of what is the minimum requirement to be an opposition.  A hodgepodge group with contradictory goals that will come into conflict the day after the post-Isaias day is launched cannot, in good conscience, say their agenda is in the best interest of Eritrea.  Eritreans want a sovereign, unified nation guided by the principles of secular democracy.  The problem of organizations, whose principles do not reflect this, either because they want to bring about ethnic-federation or their commitment to secular democracy is questionable, should be solved.  Not that there is no place for them; it is just too difficulty to understand how they would fit in the mainstream of Eritrean politics.  They don�t strengthen the alliance; they are the weak links of the alliance.   At the end of the day, we have to look forward:  what does the post-Isaias era look like? Can we draw a picture of the era and describe it? Will we be faced with another elite kidnapping the outcome of the struggle and continue to rule by decree and be worse than the monster that we created ourselves? What is the action plan of our so many aspiring would-be political leaders, the opponents of Isaias, ranging from the religious zealots, to ethnic groups, to remnants of the Marxist era, to dictators on the making, to democrats, to waves of new and old, to traditional opposition to the Alliance and to those thousands of people in between?  What is the future holding for us?

The Alliance as a political power that aspires to take over power has not communicated its activities clearly. It has not solved the problem of �military diversity� and its charter of minimum-agreements is outdated. Moreover, its relationship with the Ethiopian government should be clearly spelled out.  Eritreans need to know if the relationship is an alliance of necessity, or an alliance of principle.  The Alliance does include groups whose formula for governance, ethnic federation, is identical to that of the Woyane.   We believe that this is a fringe belief and it should not be used to define the Alliance.

The Reformers, from the tones that we detect, have not yet fully divorced their pre-formed opinions and views about Eritreans outside the EPLF/PFDJ. Here, it is important to remind the Reformers that no political force has the authority to exclude and judge others. All Eritreans are equal stakeholders and no one is more Eritrean than the other. They have to leave legal issues to competent courts and stick to their politics. Mixing legal issues with political issues has not taken the PFDJ anywhere but to the murky field of authoritarianism.

The other Eritreans have failed to produce leaders who can challenge the current situation. Our young generation stopped growing up and cannot be assertive for attaining its rights; it has preferred to remain under the umbrella of the generation of Isaias and colleagues wherever they are.  They have not been able to remove themselves from the myth of the Liberators.  

The Third Wave�s strategy, including the EIDM and the many movements and civil societies, albeit attractive and genuine, is long term and it has not communicated its short-term strategy properly.

What do we make out of all this? We are in dire need for a short-term strategy and a plan for transition, not towards changing the PFDJ with another political power, but towards handing the power to the people. This is the reason for the entire struggle and not for changing the PFDJ with another group or organization. 

Enough Chronicles; Time For Action

Dear compatriots, we have said what needs to be said. We have complained enough. You have complained enough.  We pinpointed the ailments; you�ve pointed the ailments. Now is the time for the cure.  Now is the time for action.  The people own all the issues that the Eritreans are debating and struggling for. They are not wedge issues for political aspirants. Political parties, movements and pressure groups are just tools to help the people achieve what are rightly theirs; they are not vehicles for ambitious politicians to reach their target. We believe the best hope is for the Reformers, the Third Wave and the reformed Alliance to be guided by principles of secular democracy and reach out to one another and say, �damn be political careers; onward with Eritrea�s agenda.�   

The alternative to the PFDJ agenda includes: national reconciliation where every Eritrean, regardless of his/her history is welcome to his/her country and one where free courts assign innocence and guilt (not one where a tiny clique decides who is a good citizen and who is a traitor).  It is an Eritrea where an environment of peace is the norm and war is the exception waged only in self-defense by the people and their representatives.  It is a vision of Eritrea where relationship with neighbors ranges between cordial and intimate--not between cold war and hot war.  It is an a vision of Eritrean people who own their culture and own their land, not one where their culture is sifted and their land nationalized.  It is a vision of a people who can speak to one another and their government through a common language (agreed upon official languages).  It is a vision of an economic policy, whether semi or un-regulated, that is not dominated by a political party with unaccountable and un-audited records.  It is a nation whose foreign policy is cognizant of the resources and limitations of the nation, not one that dreams of regional domination to satiate the ego of its leaders.  It is a nation where the rights of the free press, free assembly is guaranteed; not one doled and withheld by the government.  It is a nation with an autonomous and free religious institution, consistent with Eritrea�s traditions and religious teachings and not one where religious leaders act as party propagandists and party cadres.    It is a nation where the government is ruled by majority opinion; not one where the people are fearful of minority government. 

The People�s Issues

Less some of us forget, the issues of contention with the ruling party and Isaias are not personal issues; they are national issues. They are not issues of the Reformers, the PFDJ, The ELF-RC or other organizations; the issues belong to the Eritrean people as a whole.

We must not be carried away and start to believe that with the demise of Isaias and his PFDJ, the whole Eritrean political situation is going to turn flowery, we do own all the sickness that are being sharpened by the PFDJ. It is only that PFDJ are sharpening it and have become a hindrance to their resolution. We do not care about Isaias or the PFDJ as entities; we care about what Isaias and the PFDJ are doing to Eritrea.   Whatever they are doing must be undone and the longer they do it, the longer it will take to undo it.  Trying to find an easy exit by blaming all our social ills on Isaias and the PFDJ is not a solution.  There is no red and green-feathered chicken knifed by a voodoo doctor that would take all our maladies with it.

Democrats and patriots are not struggling to advance a certain leader over the other; yet they understand any popular movement needs a dedicated leader. However, as far as the people are concerned, it is less important who leads Eritrea compared to how a leader leads Eritrea. It is because of this that we say democratic forces must unite to enable the people to own their destiny.

Those disunited by the PFDJ must unite and embark on a serious trust building activities in order to contribute solving social problems. The multitude of divide among Eritreans was exasperated under the reign of the PFDJ. The fissures between urbanites and rural; women and men; Moslems and Christians; highlanders and lowlanders; literate and illiterate; Diaspora and home; rich and poor; tegadalai and gebar; yekaloo and warsai; draftee and volunteer�in short, virtually every segmentations one could think of has been exploited by the PFDJ to the detriment of Eritrea, all the while sloganeering Victory To the Masses. It is the duty of the democrats to struggle for the democratic rights of all Eritreans. It is the duty of democrats to struggle to narrow the gap and bring together all Eritrean social forces under one nation. 

Vote of No-Confidence

We have seen different petition projects. They were all signed by well meaning people. Yet, the PFDJ government never even considered replying to any of the petitions by Eritreans citizens.   Petitions signed by people with money�EU, USA---are called �demarches� and �memorandum� and they get immediate attention by the government.   We are not surprised; the PFDJ speaks top to bottom in a paternalistic way. What citizens say is not its concern. To the PFDJ, citizens are docile, obedient serfs who don�t question the wisdom of their leaders even if the leaders are not elected though they act and behave as if they were elected.  Citizens are good enough to listen, but not to talk.  Their ears are appreciated, but not their mouths.  Their hands are not good enough to cast votes; they are only good to write checks and carry weapons.  The PFDJ leadership looks at Eritreans citizens with contempt and disgust. The petitions fell on the wantonly blocked ears of the PFDJ.

We didn�t want you to petition; we want you to vote. That is what we did.  We were sure that there are citizens who are fed up with the government of Eritrea and if they had democratic means, they would vote it out. This way, when the government says, �the people said�� or when a government supporter says, �I just came from the country and the people overwhelmingly support the government�, we could have something to point to and say, �well, not these people.�  We were concerned that some might not be able to vote against the government publicly because they have valid reasons.   Reasons like facing a vindictive embassy employee with a long memory.  Still others might not vote because that will mean kissing goodbye to their Enda TaHanit investments. But we had to start it. The first of its kind vote of no confidence in the Internet was launched on October 18. The response, considering the PFDJ�s level of intolerance to dissent, was impressive. We encourage those who haven�t done so, to cast their votes in the remaining three days: it is the most democratic and civilized way to make a statement.  

More than the numbers, what impressed us was that, despite all the defamation campaigns by government officials (including Ambassadors), and other self-appointed guardians of Eritrean unity, the readers of Awate.com are a more reflective, a truer representation of Eritrea�s diversity than any other website.  We are Christians and Muslims and we come from every segment of Eritrea�s society in all its glory.   For people who write in websites whose membership is predominantly of one religion to lecture us about �hate� and �diversity� and �Wetru Awet nHafash� is to cheat themselves and to insult the intelligence of their readers.   If they are really concerned about Eritrea, if they are more concerned about Eritrea than they are of their precious political Front, before they look into our website, they should look at themselves and ask, �is this what Eritrea really looks like?�   The truth is that our cyber Eritrea is more reflective of the real Eritrea than their cyber Eritrea.  Actually, our cyber Eritrea is more reflective of the real Eritrea than even the so-called �community centers� and �cultural centers.�  This may be unpleasant, unkind, and politically incorrect but true.  Why?  It certainly is not because we have a pretty-looking website. It is not because we decided to be �neutral�: All Things To All People.    We believe it is because the issues we advocate---reconciliation, free press, democracy, rule of law, due process, justice�the same issues that the PFDJ supporters mock and consider  �untimely�, resonate with a more diverse group of Eritreans than the agenda of secrecy, exclusion, intolerance, paternalism and ever-increasing list of enemies advocated by the PFDJ and its supporters.  

Some of our readers indicated their reservations that our vote seemed as if it was a reaction to what the PFDJ did during the last few months and that we didn�t put the violations of the PFDJ since Independence Day and before. Well, we were not chronicling the violations of the PFDJ in that write-up because all we have been doing over the last year or so was chronicling the violations of the PFDJ. It is not practical to write all the violations of the PFDJ in every paper that one writes. If so, then it becomes as empty and meaningless as repeating �Awet nHafash� on every occasion when you are imprisoning and dividing Hafash.  We don�t want to do that.

A New Accusation

The Reformers are corrupt crybabies who, when it mattered most, showed no resolve, were defeatists, Woyane-accomodationist who asked for the President to resign and the UN and the US to be called.  You�ve heard that.  

Here�s the latest:  the Reformers conspired with the Siye Group (the Woyane �Hardliners�) and each one, unbeknown to Meles and Isaias, pushed for war and involved their countries in a savage war.  Didn�t hear that one before?  It is the latest trial balloon being floated by a looney who, thanks to his tendency of writing in breathless way about things so detailed only those in the know or those with hyperactive imaginations would �know�, is being taken seriously by some.  An article in the opposition website, Meskerem, even claims that the person is Yemane Gebreab writing with a pen name.   

See what we mean by the PFDJ culture?  Everyone has become paranoid.  The looney we mentioned is famous for ever creative ways of raining tirades of insults on people.  Secondly, the theory runs in the face of the PFDJ Party Line: when it comes to Eritrea, there is no difference between the Woyane �hardliners� and the �moderates� and all of them are Eritrea�s �Blood Enemies.�  Thirdly, how is it that the same people now in jail for not showing the necessary resolve to fight a war now are also being accused for fanning it?

It makes no sense: it is a classic appeal to the dream of Tigrai/Tigrigni uttered by the guy who called on Mesfun Hagos to repent because he is, after all, from �Maekel.�   We only mention it because, as evidenced by the mail we get, the ones who describe themselves as strong supporters of the PFDJ, the ones who try so hard to be noticed, eventually display a racist (Agame! Agame! Edaga Arbi!) or regionalistic or plain idiotic (who needs EU? Who needs America?) tendencies.  From their youngest to their oldest �aya�, they cannot write a single paragraph that doesn�t insult someone or say something utterly nutty.  Even the �friends of Eritrea� who are pro-PFDJ, as exemplified by the breathtakingly ignorant Thomas Mountain, have picked up this nuttiness.  Which begs the question: what is the PFDJ doing to attract all these people who continue to embarrass Eritrea?  The PFDJ aligned with the Woyane to kill its Eritrean brothers in the 80s and now, in the new millennium, it is aligning with the most hateful, ignorant and free-lance ignoramus to defame its own citizens.  Isn�t it time to pull the leashes on its attack dogs?

A Long Overdue Appreciation

Now that the PFDJ has its own website, we hope they know how much money is required to run a website: it just requires a server, a host and a team of volunteers dedicated to a cause and patience for �Internet for Dummies�, and dedicated volunteers.  Our website runs because of a tireless labor of love and dedication for what we believe in.  

When we redesigned the homepage of Awate back in May 24^th, Independence Day, someone wrote us saying that we were well-funded to be able to redesign our pages. We didn�t want to spoil his fun, or that of the many who believe we are swimming in cash courtesy of Woyane-CIA-Jihad.   So we just pretended that he had discovered a secret and did not even thank a dedicated volunteer---a young Eritrean-- who did the design free of charge.   To some, Awate.com is radioactive and we were concerned that he might face a barrage of attacks from the then relatively strong haters of awate.com.   With the rabid fans of G-1 shrinking to a minority, now it is time to thank the man who was behind the redesign of awate.com on Independence Day of 2001. Dear readers, we are highly indebted to the young and energetic Semon Gebreyesus who did all the redesign. We have also to admit that we have messed up a lot of the initial design that he presented to us. Thank you Semon and we know you understand the delay.  You may now want to change your e-mail address.