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EPDP Editorial

Part I

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.

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

EPDP 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.