With a second Mekhete weekend that was held last Saturday, Eritreans in Seattle have yet witnessed another new PFDJ scam script that can be rated as one of the best political comedies the regime has ever written. Two junior embassy personnel with no distinct portfolios, Fitsum and Dawit, chaired the meeting so as to redress the failure the last mekhete, which Sophia Tesfamariam presided over, sustained.

The Death of the Mekhete

This mekhete was organized with the intention of resuscitating the last one which failed miserably and sent chills to the regime’s spine. In an attempt to both spin and boost morale, in his last interview,  President Issias lamented that his morale hits high when he watches Diaspora Eritreans on TV-Eri grabbing microphones one after the other and praising his government.

However, this one has died in Seattle instead and it seems that what is remaining is carrying out postmortem. Both the officials and their supporters have admitted this in figures, facts and frustrations. Their own report indicated that only 106 people paid the $ 500.00 cap which the government required each expatriate to pay in what can be said no less than a decree. “Raising only fifty-three thousand dollars in this metropolis which is estimated to be a home for 7000 Eritrean immigrants is a total failure, not a success I would pride myself with,” a frustrated PFDJ supporter told the junior embassy officials who chaired the mekhete. The chairperson of the meeting, in turn, said that he would not reply to it but take it as mere comment.

In what is presented as a 2006-2007 financial report of the PFDJ controlled Community Center, its administrators reported that the Center is four thousands of dollars in the hole. All this is after hosting the 2006 Northwest regional festival--which the regime reported on its TV as being successful with big fanfare.

The people who showed up for this meeting were between 150 to 180 and looked like the carbon copy of the last one except the new faces are those who were hoodwinked and duped by PFDJ cadres and came to see the end of Keshi Tekeste. With a view to presumably keeping the opposition off guard from demonstrating, the cadres spread rumors that the meeting is regarding denouncing Keshi Tekeste. Keshi Tekeste is a notorious priest who is believed to be one of the factors behind the animosity which Eritreans in Seattle are infamously known for. Now he is drifting away from PFDJ’s control as he is fiercely competing with cadres for the highest influence over church members. As much as PFDJ does, he believes that his church members are his cows who only he should control.

This aside, let us assume that 105 of the 180 who showed up for this mekhete have already paid and if around 20 of the new faces came to see the demise of the Priest, the rest of the money that will be raised after will not be enough for the mekhete’s own funeral. Virtually, Mkhete is dead here in Seattle.

More than the death of the mekhete, however, the presentation of the junior embassy official showed how the ever-ailing regime is getting more and more confused and grasping anything that could help it cling to life. 

More solution phrases, the same problem

Fistum declared that as far as Eritrea is concerned the border problem is resolved and is now closed only to contradict himself in his next sentence. He went on to say that Eritrea’s sovereignty is still violated and Ethiopia is in occupation of the former's territory. The regime, like Fitsum parroted, says that the border is resolved only to tell us that there is still incursion and dispute that remains to be resolved. The argument to win this latest dispute is to tell the disputing party that the border problem is solved and closed. What PFDJ seems to forget is that it will continue to repeat “the border is now solved and closed” phrase as much as it did the “final and binding,” as long as Ethiopia keeps asking for a fair copy.  Time alone will tell how soon it will forget the border issue as “resolved and closed” and go to development endeavors without repeating this phrase again and again.

Erirea: The blackballed kid

In the face of possible fear of ending up in the terror-sponsoring list, as well scared by the ever-close establishment of African Command, the possible danger of being captured and tried in the Hague as a war criminal, the regime seems to be toning down the US-bashing rhetoric quickly with less worry about losing face. Fitsum, who according to some sources is an American citizen, used the old language that the US is one monster exploiter which always bullies countries around the world to give it 90% of the deal and expressed how Eritrea proudly refused to submit to the demand. He lamented that the US has always been blackballing Eritrea during the era of the struggle for independence and again sided with Ethiopia in the recent border war. According to him, the UN virtually belongs to the US and UNMEE’s recent movement to relocate for possible withdrawal is an American conspiracy. Not knowing that he is contradicting himself, Fitsum reiterated that the fuel issue that the regime and UNMEE spared over is now a technical issue. This is despite President Issias’s letter to the Secretary-General that implicitlyy demanded the force’s withdrawal by stating that its stay is tantamount to occupation – retreat a la PFDJ style.

Somalia? Someone must be regretting for saying loud that Eritrea will stand with the guys the US hates most to the last drop of its blood. Such matter is so sensitive that even a US citizenship may not be a shield. In fact, Fitsum said that Ethiopia has already lost more than half of its force in Somalia. Ethiopian opposition forces are also marching to Addis Ababa through Gondar and they may occupy the capital city before UNMEE completely withdraws from Eritrea. Refined PFDJ strategy at its best, thanks to PIA’s working paper Massawa has ever hosted.

The Big Gold pancake Asmara is sitting on: A curse to the City?

Fitsum shocked even the gullible supporters when he spoke about the economy. According to him Eritrea has a bumper crop with so huge surplus this year that individual farmers have started to sell produces at a much less price by knocking at the doors of city dwellers. According to him, the economy, however, is bleeding to the extent of threatening the nation’s life and, hence, the Diaspora has to boost their contribution-- begging a la PFDJ.

Most importantly, however, he said that the government is facing a big dilemma whether to preserve Asmara or lose it in its entirety since it was geologically learnt that it was sitting in a huge pancake of gold bigger than the city’s circumference. Besides, mine exploration conducted in the past years has indicated the existence of all types of elements including diamond and uranium and a prospecting is about to start after securing loan from China. Therefore, expect a bond rush to own shares in the next few months.  

Corrupting the heroes

Fitsum, who has never been a tegadalay himself, said that independent fighters behaved and acted honestly before 1995 as they came to the cities with great influence of zero-corruption culture that they cultivated during the periods of the armed struggle. According to his analysis, the population swallowed them after 1995 and then many corruption cases surfaces up to 2000. In short, the people taught tegadelty how to steal and, thus, they are the culprits. He went on to elaborate that, with the view to curbing the trend, the Government detained the corrupt individuals so aggressively that the measure resulted in great improvement. “After a brief period,” he admitted, “the people are complaining about the fact that corruption is ruining their life and as a result the government is finalizing preparation to take measures.” He warned the people that once the government starts detaining “corrupt individuals” then the people should not complain about it.

If Fitsum told us that Issias Afewrki, Generals Wuchu, Flipos, Haile Samuel China, and Wedi Habteselasie, who are the few most corrupt high-level officials, will be detained soon, wouldn’t Hollywood show interest to buy the script?

Sometimes, I feel that we will be missing the comic side of PFDJ if the war that Fitsum said is inevitable in 2008 starts. But that is if Issias is, of course, courageous enough worth his words and threats. We will see how the “Lion of Nakfa” will fare.