(Certain individuals from within the Eritrean opposition are, unfortunately, once more indulging into expressing negative views against what they wish to call “the others”. This harmful PFDJ-kind of “don’t attend their meeting” attitude should not be allowed to re-visit the opposition. It is to be recalled that Mr. Amanuel Eyasu of the Assenna Foundation sent personal messages to several people, including EPDP members, asking them to attend a preliminary zoom discussion on what can be done to create a common platform in the struggle against the regime in Eritrea. For the benefit of anyone interested on the matter, below is an English translation of the full text of a clarification statement issued by EPDP Chairman, Mr. Tesfai Woldemichael (Degiga), on 25 April 2021. Good reading.)

***

EPDP Chairman’s Clarification Statement

It is an open secret that members of the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) have been attending all kinds of meetings and initiatives calling for a common struggle against the dictatorship in Eritrea. Examples of such meetings at which EPDP members actively attended and expressed their views included various Yiakl/Enough meetings, women’s initiatives, Snit panels, government in exile discussions and what have you. Therefore, those EPDP members who attended the 14 April meeting called by the Assenna Foundation did so for the same aims, and of course had no hidden agenda to promote. The invitations were sent on individual basis and not for representation of parties; nor were the attendees at the meeting assigned by their leaderships. Furthermore, it must be clear that EPDP members have the right and the liberty of attending any Eritrean meeting to which they are invited, and sometimes to attend meeting to which they are not invited in person.  

Per the EPDP Constitution, any party member has the right to be a member of a civil society or a popular movement of his/her choice. But no EPDP member can be a member of another political organization. That is why the EPDP side at the Assenna Foundation head-on asked if the meeting was intending to create a new organization. [To be fair], the response by the Assenna Foundation was that their initiative was simply to coordinate forces willing to work together and that their move was in no way opposed to other opposition forces.   

To be clear enough [for those who did not know], EPDP is the Eritrean party that has actually and repeatedly shown its steadfast position in defending its independent political decision. For that, it has been paying dearly. These truths have been very well recorded in the archives of the Eritrean opposition camp.

At the present, the EPDP is devoting all its potential and resources to promote the creation of an all-inclusive national umbrella that can bring together the political organizations, popular movements and civil societies. For the EPDP, this is the top priority and it has no ulterior agenda [as insinuated by certain quarters]. 

Regarding the war in Tigray, the EPDP is guided by the Political Statement issued at the extraordinary meeting of its Central Council on 21 November 2020 which partly reads as follows: 

1. The EPDP condemns in the strongest terms possible this Abiy-isaias on the people and the regional government of Tigray. We know causes of the war to be political and constitutional in nature and we call upon both sides to stop the armed hostilities and find an appropriate political solution.
2. The EPDP supports the calls by international and regional organizations, governments, religious and human rights bodies for ending the war, and we in particular urge warring parties to accept the initiative of the African Union for peace mediation. In the meantime, we call upon the international community to give serious attention to the plight of all refugees and internally displaced persons in the region.
3. Justifiable fears of Eritreans are that one of the objectives of this war is to damage and compromise the hard-won sovereignty of the Eritrean people. We thus renew the call on the Eritrean armed forces and people to redouble their efforts to remove the treacherous dictatorship of Isaias Afeworki before it gets too late.
4. The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Eritrea is already endangered by Dictator Isaias Afeworki’s decision to turn Eritrea into a military base for Ethiopian land, air and naval forces. That is why we say it high time for the entire Eritrean nation to rise up against the one-man dictatorship and in the meantime ask for the most immediate withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from Eritrean land.
5. The treacherous one-man dictatorship in Eritrea did not only allow the entry of foreign armed forces to Eritrea, but it also reportedly forced Eritrean army units to be exposed to the risks of the war in Tigray forgetting that their sole responsibility isf being the guardians of Eritrean sovereignty and the safety of its people.This emergency meeting of the Central Council therefore calls on the Eritrean armed forces to abandon their unjustified involvement in the war that does not concern them. We reiterate our urge to our own people to help in finding ways for safe return of its sons and daughters forced to join this war.
6. Likewise, our Party calls for an end of the ongoing ethnic killings in Ethiopia and condemns the massive attacks of the Ethiopian Government in Tigray region.
7. We forcefully reject any abuses on civilians and theft of their properties. As such, the reported seizure of people’s property under the cover of war is a criminal act not to be condoned, whoever the actor; it must also be clear to all that such illegal seizures will have consequences.
8. The world is well aware that many Eritreans have long been forced to live in exile due to the 30-year liberation war and, since 1991, because of the intolerable situation under the one-man dictatorship. Ethiopia and the Sudan have been among the generous benefactors supporting our exiled people. To this day, Ethiopia hosts a large number of Eritrean refugees, many of them in camps in the Tigray region. Because of this, the total membership in our party and many Eritreans are deeply concerned about the precarious situation of Eritrean refugees in the war zone.
9. The EPDP Central Council therefore wishes to draw the attention of all concerned bodies including the international community to provide the necessary protection and support the tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees in the region.

This self-evident statement tells all about the EPDP position on the matter. Likewise, the party’s relations in cooperation with all forces that support our struggle against the dictatorship in Eritrea have been clear for a very long time. We once more underline that the EPDP shall never be stopped from promoting principled relations with:

• Forces that respect Eritrean sovereignty;
• Forces that shall desist from violating our independent political decision;
• Forces that accept relations on the basis of mutual respect;
• Forces willing to refrain from interference in one’s internal affairs; and
• Forces willing to promote peace and common interests.

On Eritrean-Ethiopian relations, the Party’s Third and Unity Congress [of 2019] has adopted the EPDP’s position on relations guaranteed by institutional instruments and not to be based on the whims of individual leaders. The relations with Ethiopia must be based on non-interference on each other’s internal affairs, and aim to promote peace and basic interests of the two countries/peoples. 

We in the EPDP thus reiterate [to all concerned] that we shall continue to struggle on the bases of our declared objectives and that the attendance of some party members at the meeting called by Assenna Foundation was not a new occurrence. Therefore, even though there cannot be any wild distortion that can win over the truth, we anyway felt to alert the public against certain quarters of ill-will bent at repeating the un-wanted and mutually harmful history of negative campaigns with falsehoods against the EPDP.   

Let’s Unify Our Ranks to Protect Eritrean Sovereignty!!

Office of the EPDP Chairman

25 April, 2021

ኣባላት ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰ.ዲ.ህ.ኤ) ንሓባራዊ ጸረ ምልካዊ ቃልሲ ኣብ ዝጽውዑ ተበግሶታት ክሳተፉን ርእይቶታቶም ክልግሱን ከም ዝጸንሑ ሕቡእ ኣይኰነን። ነዚ ብዝምልከት ብንቕሎ ኣዴታት፡ ብምንቅስቓስ ይኣክል፡ ብትካል ስኒትን መንግስቲ ኣብ ስደትን ኣብ ዝተጸውዑ ኣኼባታት ክሳተፉ ምጽንሖም ዝዝከር ኢዩ። እቶም ኣብ’ዚ ብኣሰና ፋውንደሽን እተጸውዐ ኣኼባ እተሳተፉ ኣባላት ሰ.ዲ.ህ.ኤ፡ ካብ’ዚ መንቀሊ’ዚ ተበጊሶም ደኣ’ምበር ካልእ ንምዕዋቱ ዝተበገስሉ ሕቡእ ኣጀንዳ ኣይነበሮምን። ከምኡ’ውን፡ በብውልቆም ንዝተገብረሎም ዕድመ ኣኺቢሮም ደኣ’ምበር ንውድቦም ወኪሎም ወይ ብመሪሕነቶም ተመዚዞም ዝተሳተፍዎ ኣኼባ ኣይነበረን። ኣብ ርእስ’ዚ፡ ኣባላት ሰ.ዲ.ህ.ኤ ተዓዲሞም ጥራሕ ዘይኰነስ፡ ከይተዓደሙ ብኤርትራውያን ኣብ ዝጽውዑ ኣኼባታት ክሳተፉ መሰሎም ከምዝዀነ ክፍለጥ ይግባእ።

ኣባልነት ብዝምልከት፡ ብመሰረት ቅዋም ሰልፊ፡ ዝዀነ ኣባል ሰ.ዲ.ህ.ኤ ኣብ ሲቪላዊ ምንቅስቓሳት ኣባል ክኸውን መሰል ኣለዎ ኢዩ። ኣባል ክልተ ፖለቲካዊ ውድባት ክኸውን ግን ቅዋም ሰልፊ ኣየፍቅደሉን ኢዩ። ኣብ’ዚ ኣሰና ፋውንደሽን ዝጸውዖ ኣኼባ  ምምስራት ሓድሽ ፖለቲካዊ ውድብ ድዩ ዝድለ ዘሎ  ዝብል ሕቶ  ምቕራቡ ነዚ ንምርግጋጽ ኢዩ ነይሩ። ብሸነኽ ኣሰና ፋውንደሽን ዝተዋህበ መልሲ እውን ሓደ ርእይቶ ንዘለዎም ምጥርናፍ እምበር ሓድሽ ውድብ ምፍጣርን፡ ኣንጻር ውድባት ዘቕንዐን ከም ዘይኰነ እዩ ተሓቢሩ። 

ሰ.ዲ.ህ.ኤ፡ ንናጻ ፖለቲካዊ ውሳኔኡ ኣሕሊፉ ከምዘይህብ ብግብሪ ደጊሙ ደጋጊሙ ዘረጋገጸን ከቢድ ዋጋ ዝኸፈለሉን ውድብ ኢዩ። እዚ ብቓል ዘይኰነስ ሰነዳት ተቓወምቲ ሓይልታት ኤርትራ ከይተረፉ ዘረጋግጽዎ ጭብጢ እውን ኢዩ።  ሕጂ ድማ፡ ንኵሎም ተቓወምቲ ፓለቲካዊ ሓይልታት፡ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓሳትን ሲቪላውያን ማሕበራትን ዝጥርንፍ ዝሰፍሐ ጽላል ንምቛም ቀዳምነት ሂቡን ዝለዓለ ዓቕምታቱ ኣዋፊሩን ንምዕዋቱ ብዕቱብነት ይሰርሓሉ ኣሎ። ካብ’ዚ ዕላማ’ዚ ንላዕሊ ዝጥምቶ ካልእ ዕማም ድማ የብሉን።

ብዛዕባ ኣብ ትግራይ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ውግእ እንተዀይኑ፡ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰ.ዲ.ህ.ኤ ብ21 ሕዳር 2020 ኣብ ዘካየዶ ህጹጽ ኣኼባኡ ከም’ዚ ዝስዕብ ሰፊሩ ዘሎ ትሕዝቶ ዘለዎ ኣዋጅ ኣውጺኡ ምንባሩ ዝፍለጥ ኢዩ።

1. ናይ ዶር. ኣቢዪን ኢሳያስን ሽርክነት ውግእ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝብን መንግስትን ትግራይ ንዅንን። ኣብ ውሽጢ ኢትዮጵያ ተኸሲቱ ዘሎ ውግእ መበገሲኡ ቅዋማውን ፖለቲካውን ስለዝዀነ፡ ፖለቲካዊ ፍታሕ ክግበረሉ ንጽውዕ።

2. ብዝተፈላለዩ ኣህጉራውን ዞባውን ትካላት፡ መንግስታት፡ ሃይማኖታዊ ትካላትን ተጣበቕቲ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ዝዀና ማሕበራትን፡ ነዚ ውግእ ጠጠው ንምባል ዘቕርብዎ ዘለዉ ጻውዒት ሰላም እናደገፍና፣ ብፍላይ ድማ፡ እዚ ሕጂ ውድብ ሓድነት ኣፍሪቃ ወሲዱዎ ዘሎ ናይ ዕርቂ ተበግሶ ኩሎም ወገናት ክቕበሉዎ ነማሕጽን። ኣብ ክሊ’ዚ ምዕባሌታት ውግእ ተፈጢሩ ንዘሎ ኩነታት ስደትን ምዝንባልን፡ ኣህጉራዊ ማሕበረሰብ ዕቱብ ኣቓልቦ ክህበሉ፡ ንኹሎም ስደተኛታት ዝምልከት ሓልዮትን ሰብኣዊ ረድኤትን ድማ ከበርክት ማእከላይ ባይቶ ምሕጽንታኡ የቕርብ።

3. እዚ ሕጂ ተኸሲቱ ዘሎ ውግእ ሓደ ካብ ዕላማታቱ ነቲ ኣሽሓት ህይወት ከፊልና ዘረጋገጽናዮ ልዑላውነት ሃገር ኣሕሊፉ ዝህብ ስለዝዀነን ድሮ እውን ተጋሂሱ ስለ ዘሎን፡ ህዝብን ሰራዊትን ኤርትራ፡ ንምልኪ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ ብዘየዳግም ንምምሓዉ ካብ ካልእ ግዜ ንላዕሊ ሎሚ እዋኑ ስለዝዀነ ክልዓል ንጽውዕ።

4. ብዝሒ ዘለዎ ሰራዊት ኢትዮጵያ ብስርዓት ኢሳያስ ተፈቒዱሉ ብኣየር፡ ብምድርን ብባሕርን ናብ ሃገርና ኣትዩ ንልዑላውነትና ኣብ ሓደጋ ኣእትዩዎ ይርከብ። ስለዝዀነ ድማ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ፡ ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ንሃገርና ናብ ባዕዳውያን ኣሕሊፉ ብምሃቡ ክኹንኖን ኣብ መሬትና ዝርከብ ዝዀነ ይኹን ባዕዳዊ ሓይሊ ብቕልጡፍ ንኽወጽእ ጸቕጥታቱ ከሐይልን ንጽውዕ።

5. ስርዓት ህግደፍ ንባዕዳውያን ሓይልታት ናብ መሬትና ከምዝኣትዉ ምግባሩ ከይኣኽሎ፣ ንሰራዊት ኤርትራ’ውን ብዘይድልየቱን እምነቱን ናብ ትግራይ ልኢኹ ኣብ ዘይምልከቶ ውግእ ኣእትዩ ንኸቢድ ሓደጋ ኣቃሊዕዎ ይርከብ። እዚ ሰራዊት እዚ ነቲ ዝተሰለፈሉ ድሕነት ህዝቡን ልዑላውነት ሃገሩን ኣብ ክንዲ ዝከላኸል፣ ካብ ሃገሩ ወጻኢ መዝሓል ጥይት ኰይኑ ይመውትን ይቘስልን ኣሎ። ስለ’ዚ ማእከላይ ባይቶ ሰዲህኤ፡ ብሓደ ወገን እቲ ሰራዊት ባዕሉ ካብቲ ኣትዩዎ ዘሎ ዘይቅኑዕ ውግእ ነብሱ ከውጽእ ክጽዕር፣ ብኻልእ ወገን ድማ፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ እዞም ኣብ ዘይምልከቶም ውግእ ተኣጒዶም ዘለዉ ደቁ ብዝቐልጠፈ እዋን ናብ ሃገሮም ክምለሱ ብኹሉ ዝከኣሎ መገድታት ክቃለስ ጻውዒትና ነቕርብ።

6. ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ዝካየድ ዘሎ ኵሉ ዓይነት ዓሌታዊ ምቅትታል ደው ክብል ንጽውዕ። ብማእከላይ መንግስቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ትግራይ ብጅምላ ዝፍጸም ዘሎ ጭፍጨፋ ድማ ብትሪ ንዅንን።

7. ሰልፍና ንዝዀነ ይኹን ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ዝግበር ዝምታን ሲቪላዊ ዓመጽን ኣይቅበልን። ስለዝዀነ ከኣ፡ ነዚ ኣብ ትግራይ ዝኸይድ ዘሎ ውግእ ጉልባብ ጌርካ ዝዝመት ንብረት ህዝቢ ምስ ዝህሉ ብገበን ዘሕትትን ውዒሉ ሓዲሩ እቲ ንብረት ናብ ዋንኡ ክምለስ ስለዝግባእን፤ ኣየናይ ሸነኽ ይገብሮ ብዘየገድስ ዝዀነ ሰብ ካብ ናይ ዝምታን ዓመጽን ተግባራት ክቑጠብ ኣጥቢቕና ነተሓሳስብ።

8. ቅድም ክብል ብመግዛእቲ፡ ድሒሩ’ውን ብሰንኪ ምሕደራ ምልካዊ ስርዓት ኢሳያስ፡ ብዝወረዶ ጭቆናን ኣደራዕን ተማሪሩ ብኣሽሓት ዝቑጸር ህዝብና ኣብ ፈቐዶ ዓለም ፋሕ ኢሉ ኣብ ስደት ክነብር ተገዲዱ እዩ። ነዚ ህዝብና ወሪዱዎ ዘሎ ሕሰም ተረዲኦም ዓቕሞም ዝፈቕዶ ሓገዝ ካብ ዝገብሩ ገበርቲ ሰናይ ጐረባብቲ መንግስታት ኢትዮጵያን ሱዳንን ዝጥቀሳ እየን። ብፍላይ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ፣ ብዝሒ ዘለዎም ዜጋታትና ኣብ ዝተፈለየ ከተማታትን ዞባታትን ተበቲኖም ምህላዎም ዝፍለጥ ኰይኑ፡ እቶም ዝበዝሑ ድማ ኣብ ትግራይ ኣብ ዝርከባ ዝተፈላለያ መዓስከራት ኢዮም ዝነብሩ ዘለዉ። ሎሚ ምስ’ዚ ተፈጢሩ ዘሎ ሓድሽ ናይ ውግእ ኩነታት ሃለዋት ዜጋታትና ኣብ ከቢድ ፈተና ከምዝወደቐ ዘጠራጥር ኣይኰነን። እዚ ኵነት’ዚ ኣብ ኣእሙሮ ኣባላትናን ህዝብናን ዓቢ ሻቕሎት ፈጢሩ ከምዘሎ ባይቶ መዚኑ። ኣብ’ዛ ፈታኒት እዋን እዚኣ ነዞም ኣብ ሓደጋ ዝርከቡ ስደተኛታት ዜጋታትና ኣድላዪ ሓገዝን ሓለዋን ክግበረሎም ንኹሎም ብቐረባ ዝምልከቶምን ንኣህጉራዊ ሕብረተሰብ ብሓፈሻን ኣጥቢቕና ንሓትት። ነቶም ካብ ናይ ውግእ ዞባ ወጻኢ፡ ኣብ ካልእ ቦታታት ኢትዮጵያ ዘለዉ ድማ ንድሕነቶም ህጹጽ ኣቓልቦን ደገፍን ክግበረሎም ምሕጽንታና ነቕርብ።

9. ኣብ መወዳእታ፡ ኩሎም ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኤርትራውያን ኣብ’ዛ ሒዝናያ ዘለና ዓመተ 2020 ካብ ዝኾነ ይኹን ግዜ ንላዕሊ ተቐራሪቦም ክሰርሑ ይርኣዩ ብምህላዎም ሓደ ዓቢ ስጉምቲ ንቕድሚት እዩ። ጽምዶ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታትን ምቅርራብ ዝተፈላለዩ ምንቅስቓሳትን ሲቪክ ማሕበራትን ካብ ግዜ ናብ ግዜ እናሓየለ ይኸይድ ኣሎ። ይኹን እምበር ምስ’ቲ ሕጂ ገጢሙና ዘሎ ብድሆታት ዝመጣጠን ኣይኮነን። ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ምስ ኩሎም እቶም ዛጊት ዝተፈላለየ ናይ ሓድነት ጻውዒት ዝገበሩ ይኹን ዘይገበሩ ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ሓይልታት ተቐራሪቡ ክሰርሕ ድልው ምዃኑ እናኣረጋገጸ፥ እቲ መስርሕ ሓባራዊ ስራሕ ብዝለዓለ ናህሪ ክቀላጠፍ ጻውዒቱ የቕርብ።

እዉጅ መርገጽ ሰዲህኤ ከም’ዚ ኣብ ላዕሊ በሪሁ ዘሎ ነፍሰ ገላጺ ስለ ዝዀነ፡ ካብኡ ንላዕሊ ምስፋሕ ዘድሊ ኣይመስለናን። ብዛዕባ ዝምድናና ምስ ኩሎም ኣንጻር ምልኪ እነካይዶ ቃልሲ ዝደጋገፉና ሓይልታትን ዘሎና ምትሕብባር እውን ካብ ነዊሕ ግዜ ንጹር እዩ።  ሰዲህኤ፡ ምስቶም ንልዑላውነትና  ዘኽብሩ፡ ንናጽነት ፖሊቲካዊ ውሳኔና ዘይግህሱ፡ ኣብ ሓድሕድ ምክብባር ዝምርኰስ፡ ኣብ ውሽጣዊ ጉዳያት ኢደ ጣልቃነት ዘየፍቅድ፡ ንሓባራዊ ረብሓን ሰላምን ዘገልግል ዝምድና ክፈጥርን ከዕኩኹን ድሕር ከም ዘይብል ንገልጽ። ንዝምድና ኤርትራን ኢትዮጵያን ኣመልኪቱ ሳልሳይን ሓድነታውን ጉባኤ ሰዲህኤ፣ መሰረታዊ ረብሓን ሰላምን ኣብ ግምት ዘእተወ ብድሌት ውልቀ መራሕቲ ዘይኰነ ብትካላዊ ኣሰራርሓ ዝተዋሕሰ፣ ኣብ ናይ ሓድሕድ ጉዳይ ኢድ ጣልቃ ዘይምትእትታው ዝስረት ዝምድና፡ ከህሉ  ውሲኑ እዩ።

ኣብ ተበግሶ ኣሰና ፋውንደሽን፡ ናይ ኣባላት ሰዲህኤ ምስታፍ፡ ደጊምና ሓድሽ ከም ዘይኰነ እናገልጽና፡ ሰዲህኤ ኣብ ክሊዚ ኣዉጅ መርገጻቱ ከም ዝዋሳእ ንሕብር።

እቲ ሓቅታት እዚ ክነሱ፥ ኣብ ልዕሊ ሰዲህኤ ካብ ገለ ክልታት ዝፍኖ መጥቃዕታዊ ወፈራ፡ ኣሰካፊ እዩ’ሞ፡ ዋላኳ ንሓቂ ዝስዕር እንተዘይኰነ፡ ታሪኽ ነቲ ኣሉታዊ ጐድኑ ይደግሞ ክይህሉ ህዝብና ከስተብህለሉ ንጽውዕ።

ልዑላውነት ኤርትራ ንምኽባር፡ ኵሉ ዓቕምታትና ነሕብር!

ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣቦ መንበር ሰዲህኤ

25 ሚያዝያ 2021