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PICKING UP WHERE DIA LEFT OFF:
Renewing Bond With The People
To Eritreans, the lessons of history are to choose between two extremes. Eritreans built a strong regimented EPLF, which, after liberation, turned into PFDJ: the engineer of a police state. But Eritreans also built a loose organization, ELF, which for the most part caused its own demise through fragmentation. The two experiences have left an indelible imprint in the collective psyche of Eritreans: we abhor suffocation but we fear disarray. What a choice Eritreans face: to live with a system they hate, the PFDJ; or to take a chance on system they fear, the ELF fragments. We would consider it progress if either the PFDJ or the ELF/Alliance faced up to their weaknesses and addressed them. But not for poor Eritrea, it is not meant to be; its political actors peddle nothing but denial. According to the PFDJ, there are no political prisoners in Eritrea; the elderly are criminals; the journalists are agents of sedition; the PFDJ reformists are treasonous; the university students are dupes; everyone who was rounded up was a draft dodger; every critic is a naive fool or a weyane agent. According to them, every Eritrean can express himself or herself freely in public without fear of reprisal. Every social, every economic, every political challenge Eritrea faces is not the responsibility of the government but that of Eritreas internal and external enemies. Every internal enemy is a weyane agent and every external enemy is an actor in a vast conspiracy that includes the European Union, the CIA, the Vatican, the jihad nerve centers and the Western media complex. The PFDJ is as pure as the driven snow. In the world according to the ELF-RC and the Alliance, Eritreans are just clamoring all over themselves to embrace them. Their charter is so appealing to everybody because it says everything to everybody: a commitment-free relationship, a place where political partnerships are as easy as marriage and divorce certificates in Las Vegas. To hear them tell it, the opposition makes no mistakes; they just suffer injustices. Injustice at the hands of PFDJ, injustice at the hands of Ethiopia; injustice at the hands of the world but mostly injustice in the hands of each other. The two experiences should have been enough incentives to choose the middle ground: on one hand, an organization strong enough to ensure stability but not too strong that it tramples upon the rights of its members and doesnt kill individualism. We want an organization that accomodates Eritrea's diversity; but not too loose that it dilutes Eritreans' sense of hard-won identity. At a subconscious level, the monstrosity of PFDJ must have taught us that BIG means BAD: this is why every time the opposition wants to grow it sabotages itself and goes about executing its core competence: fragmenting into tinier and tinier pieces. The will to get organized in a formidable and strong organization is there. Every Eritrean standing on the side of the peoples causes understands this fact. But weak organizations cannot survive, let alone achieve some lofty goals that involves a whole nation. It is time to think in terms of convergence. It is time to get out of the petty politics. It is time to get organized. It is time to be financially strong. It is time to have full time advocacy, organizational and civil-society leaders. Such a task of paramount importance cannot be handled on a part time basis. Along with that, a system is needed to broaden and strengthen the long awaited Eritrean political body. YES DIA IS HORRIBLE BUT The view from the world power-brokers is similar to the views expressed by many Eritreans: yes, Isaias is horrible but what is the alternative? At think tanks, policy centers, the State Department, the intelligence gathering units of the world, the assessment is the same: Isaias is a menace, an unredeemable dictator who should go. But what is the replacement? What assurances are there that whoever and whatever will replace him not only espouses democratic values but also will have the acceptance of the Eritrean people? You may not like the answer the PFDJ has given; but at least it is a coherent one. The PFDJ has told Europe, the Middle East and America the following: have you heard of any of these groups prior to 1998? No you havent. The reason you did not is because they are all the creation of Weyane, which is waging a political, economic and psychological warfare against us. The opposition is a tiny collection of misfits: terrorists, Weyane Ethiopian collaborators, opportunists, defeatists and remnants from the 1960s. We are beloved by the people and all the things that you cherish we will deliver in due time. Just give us some breathing space. We said this is a coherent argument, not a truthful one. It is an argument based on an impressive array of lies and falsehoods. And the opposition (and by that we mean the traditional opposition, the civil society groups, independent media, concerned individuals) has done a fairly good job at exposing the lies of PFDJ to Western media and Western politicans. In our assessment, the opposition (we included) have not done as well in persuading the Eritrean people that we have a workable plan to rid them of Isaias. We believe that wecollectivelyneed to have (1) a common and acceptable manifesto that we will implement immediately after the post-Isaias Era and (2) set the ground rules in defining political parties and organizations. The people of Eritrea will not welcome change unless they believe that the change will come about with the least amount of bloodshed and strife and that the change will be for the better. We believe the following two documents are a good beginning for the opposition to enter into a bond with the Eritrean people: a bond that Isaias and his clique has broken: 1. An Acceptable Constitution When we engage in national politics, we ought to have a nationally accepted agreement that binds us. Different groups have different programs. The ENA has a Charter. The civil societies have their own charters and mission statements. However, there is nothing at the national level, something that we all abide by be it with the ruling party or the opposition. One document that comes to mind is the Eritrean Constitution, (EC).
Yes, we understand that there are several articles in the EC that are an outright insult to the intelligence of Eritreans: the presidential job description that invites an absolutist dictator is just one example; then there is the land law that impoverishes the citizens by striping them of any title to their ancestral land and leaves them at the mercy of the government; there is the stumbling block of official languages that reinforces the PFDJs social re-engineering project which in itself is a violation of the peoples rights to maintain their cultural and traditional values; there is the negation of symbols. But able scholars could find compromises and solutions to all of these shortcomings. Meanwhile, the Eritrean constitution should be seriously considered as a stepping-stone in the path towards true constitutionalism.
We dont need to be emotional in this regard; we need to be practical and cautious. We need to weigh the risks associated with the absence of a constitution. We also need to weigh the diplomatic benefit of adapting this view. Thanks to the PFDJ, the world doesnt even trust our politicians with their own lives let alone with the lives of our people. The whole world is treating us just like we would treat our children by keeping them away of matchboxes for example. The post-Isaias risky power vacuum and a replacement of the evil in Eritrea is not ready, arguments explain this assertion. Our leaders need to show the world that they are responsible and mature enough and that they are not blinded with hate to the extent that they would demolish any institution built by the PFDJ. They should show our people that they will reform and build on the achievements of our peoples resources and not right them off indiscriminately. No one in the opposition is going to write our liberation off simply because Isaias and his henchmen were part of it. Similarly, we should also not write off major achievements simply because we find Isaias fingerprints all over it. His finger prints should be erased from the constitution by sanitizing it and re-tailoring it to the size of the people and not to the size of the totalitarian group. How about a positive start? 2. Defining Political Parties
The second important roadmap we need is a party formation law. Until now, any number of people can group and declare themselves a political party. Many don't even feel the need to disclose who they are, how big their membership is or why they should be taken seriously by the Eritrean people. We understand that in any democratic environment, political parties are formed to contend for power and apply their programs across the nation. But there should be a criteria for accepting a political party as worthy of the peoples support. Is it logical for three persons to form a group, call it a party and contend in politics on behalf of the people? Would they fully represent national interests? How do we define a political party? Many questions are around and we need to find proper answers.
The absence of such definitions is the cause for the utter confusion that we find ourselves in. We believe that if a group is not able to fulfill the requirements to form a party, then it should look around and converge with others to be able to fulfill the criteria agreed-upon by the people. This task is unattended and we believe it would clear the way for the opposition as well as the government to engage in transparent and prudent politics. Right now, we are living the dilemma of the small fish in a big bowl and big fish in small bowl.
The big fishes in small bowls are comfortable with the prestige they have. They would avoid joining others so that they do not become small fishes in big bowls. It is also the fear of the unknown and the comfort one gets from childhood friends, acquaintances and other identity similarities. This fear should be shattered; and it can only be shattered in the presence of a solid, clear and just agreement. That is why we opt for debating of the Draft law on political parties. We believe that sub-national issues should be elevated to national level whereby, for example, a non-Kunama would relate and sympathize with Kunama issues and non-Afar would relate to Afar issues thus creating a strong bond among citizens and establish a strong mode of co-existence.
Two years ago, a group of politicians under the leadership of Mahmoud Sheriffo presented a Draft Law on formation of Political Parties & Organizations, which was released to the public without the consent of Isaias. Sheriffo was jailed because he violated Isaias covenant: not moving a stone without his blessing. The fact that Isaias doesnt like the draft law says a lot. But regardless of that, it is a draft ready for discussion. We believe all Eritreans should debate it seriously and the opposition should take it as a discussion paper and improve on it. Then, and only then can we have credible organizations applying to any sort of political arrangement. Otherwise, our method of struggle looks like that of the traditional UQUB, a neighborhood cooperative club. Developing the document could go a long way towards ensuring that Eritrea will transit to multi-party politics smoothly. The fear that there will be a power vacuum upon the demise of the dictatorship would also be ruled out. Also, we would avoid the risk that any Eritrean politician would be left out in exile in case of transfer of power to a new system. This we consider contingencies to a peaceful transition to constitutionalism and a multi-party democracy. All opposition parties should treat these documents as working papers for debate, discussion and, where necessary, improvement. They have the added advantage of being very familiar documents to the majority of the Eritrean people in Eritrea. They could be the basis of greater convergence among truly representative political parties who will then speak to the Eritrean people using documents that have some meaning. What better message can the opposition send to the people that is more effective than: Isaias has abandoned you and has broken his promises to you; but we will succeed where he has failed and earn your trust by keeping our promise to you.
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