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New EPDP Chairman Tesfai Degiga pledges to work hard to promote unity of the opposition camp.

Mr. Tesfai Woldemichael (Degiga), the newly elected chairman of the unified Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), expresses his deep thankfulness to all compatriots and friends who, through phone calls and various other communication channels, wished him success in the challenging post of leading one of the mainstream Eritrean opposition organizations.

In addition to the solidarity messages and warm wishes expressed by numerous delegates of sister Eritrean organizations that attended the 3^rd and unity party congress in Wiesbaden and the Eritrea Festival in Frankfurt, dozens of friends sent messages of good wishes.

The New Chairman of unified EPDP flanked by outgoing Chairmen, M. Asmerom and K. G/Medhin

Among the well wishers on the election of Tesfai Degiga to lead the party as well as for the success of the EPDP unity and third congress were prominent compatriots like Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, senior party member in Port Sudan; Mr. Mohammed Nur Ahmed, an old friend in Australia; Dr. Yusuf Berhanu (Holland); Dr. Angesom Atsbaha (USA); Mr. Abdurahman a-Said (Bohashem, UK); Mr. Kubrom Dafla (Holland); Ismael Ali (Holland); Ms Ghenet Tewelde (Switzerland); Mr. Negash Osman (Sweden); Mr. Semere Habtemariam (USA); Mr. Seyoum Tesfaye (USA); Mr. Solomon Assefaw (One Nation, USA); Mr. Hailemariam Tesfai (USA) and many, many other friends of the new chairman and his party.

Veteran and patriotic leader Ibrahim Mohammed Ali told the new chairman on the phone, “Keep high the banner of our struggle for democracy and I know you will succeed!”

Reproduced Below, find excerpts from a sample of the well-wishing messages, some in  English and some in Tigrigna:

Ismail Ali Ahmed, an email via Harnnet.org: My heartfelt words of congratulation to brother Tesfai Woldemichael for assuming the well-deserved chairmanship of the EPDP. This is a man who possesses stature, experience and character to shoulder such high level responsibility at the top of an organization that aspires to play functional role in the affairs of a nation passing through critical travail to survive decades of subjugation under ruthless tyranny.

In picture: Adiam Teferra; Asghedet Mehreteab; Tesfai Degiga; M. Asmerom; AmanuelBT, W. Ammar, F. Hagos.

Abdurahman Sayed (Bohashem – on FB): Tesfai Degiga is  a veteran of the liberation struggle and one of the leaders of the on-going pro-democracy movement in Eritrean diaspora. He has a wealth of experience accumulated over five decades, and resilience manifested in his steadfastness through thick and thin that the pro-democracy movement has been going through in the last three decades. I met him on several occasions in the last ten years and found him to be humble, as is the case with his predecessors and comrades, and dedicated to the struggle for Eritrean salvation alongside his wife, who equally enjoys the same qualities of patriotic resilience. Many congratulations to Comrade Tesfai Degiga on his election as Chairman of the EPDP. I wish him and his comrades every success in their endeavours to realize civic democracy in our most beloved and precious State of Eritrea.

Seyoum Tesfaye, USA, on FB: Congratulations on your new responsibility! Allow me to wish you a very productive term. Your extensive experience and grasp of the present Eritrean reality will help all of us struggling to help our people remove the tyrannical system and usher in a new era of justice and freedom. Congratulation.

Miriam September, on FB: …. I respect EPDP and Mr. Tesfai Degiga because of their undeterred vision of peaceful resistance and change from inside Eritrea. Mr. Tesfai Degiga has a brilliant understanding of the immense benefits and power of non-violent resistance, which I was able to witness during a great presentation he gave. EPDP had a difficult stand in the opposition for believing in this vision, but stayed loyal to it and today, with the U-turns in Ethiopian politics and the revolution in the Sudan, this hugely important political strategy has finally become mainstream.

Berhane Welde-Ghebriel, UK, an email: ዘሕጉስ ምዕባለ ዘግሃደ መልኽቲ! ደሞክራሲያዊ ጠባያት (ብሰላም፡ በቢእዋኑ ምርጫታት መሪሕነት) ብዘትኣማምን ኣገባብ ክቕጽል ከምዘለዎ ብተግባር ንካልኦት ኣርኣያ ስለዝኾንኩም፡ ዮሃና!  ሓውና ተስፋይ ወ/ሚካኤል እንኳዕ ኣመጎሰካ።   ንዕማም  'ሓቢርካ ምስራሕ'  ፍሉይ ቆላሕታ ሂብኩም፤  ከተዔውትዎ  ምሉእ ተስፋ ኣለኒ።

Solomon Ghebreyesus Assefaw (One Nation, on FB): … ሰልፊ ዲሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ (ሰድህኤ) ኣብዘን ዝሓለፋ መዓልታት ክልተ ዋሃ ዘብሉ ፍጻሜታት ሰኒዱ ይርከብ። እዞም ቀንዲ ፍጻሜታት ሰድህኤ ምስ ሃድኤ ሕድሪ ስምረት ክገብር እንከሎ፤ ንተጋዳላይ ተስፋይ ወልደሚካኤል (ደጊጋ) ድማ ንብጻዩ ተጋዳላይ መንግስተአብ ኣስመሮም ተኪኡ ከም ኣቦ መንበር ሰልፊ ኮይኑ ክመርሕ መሪጽዎ ኣሎ። ኩሎም ተጋደልቲ ተ.ሓ.ኤ ብህዝቢ ምንም ዝግብኦም ክብረት ከይረኸቡ በንጻሩ ክንደይ ዘለፋን ውርደትን ተጻዊሮም ነዚ ቃልሲ ናብ ቀጻሊ ወለዶ ምሕላፎም ክምስገኑ ይግባእ። ሓደ ኣብነት ናይዚ ተጋዳላይ ተስፋይ ደጊጋ እዩ። ተስፋይ ኣብ ንኡስ ዕድሚኡ ካብ ሕቑፎ ስድርኡ ናጽነት ከምጽእ ናብ ሜዳ ኤርትራ ምስ ወፈረ ስጋብ እዛ እዋን ዳግማይ ሓመድ ዓዱ ንኽስዕም ደምበ ዓዱ ክርእይ ዝተሓረሞ ሓርበኛ እዩ። ኤርትራ ብህዝባዊ ሰራዊት ማለት ህዝባዊ ግንባር ሓራ ምስ ወጸት ደጊጋን ብጾቱን ንዕርቅን ሰላምን ዳግመ ህንጻ ሃገርን እጃሞም ከበርክቱ ድልዋት እኳ እንተነብሩ ዓማጺ መሪሕነት ህዝባዊ ግንባር ግና ማዕጾ ሰላም ረጊጡ ናብታ ንእስነቶም ዝመጠውላ ሃገሮም ከይምለሱ እዩ ዝገበረ። እንሆ ድማ ድሕሪ ናጽነት ን 28 ዓመታት ደጊጋን ብጾቱን ንስለ ፍትሕን ደሞክራስን ይቃለሱ። ደጊጋ ኣብ እዋን መስዋእቲ ተጋዳላይ መሓመድ ናስር ዝነበሮም ውድባዊ ፍልልይ ብዘየገድስ ነቲ ታሪኻዊ ኣወንታዊ ብጻይነት ጸቒጡ ዝገበሮ ታሪኻዊ መደረ ንእንታይነት ተስፋይ ደጊጋ ዝገልጽ እዩ። ተስፋይ ካብ ቂምታ ንዕርቂ ካብ ንኽመርሕ ንኽምራሕ ዘቐድም ገዲምን ምኩርን ተቓላሳይ እዩ። ተስፋይ ደጊጋ ካብቶም ብግድምና ዘይኮነስ ብንቕሓትን ርድኢትን ንነገራት ዘመዛዝኑ ተቓላሳይ ኢለ ክገልጾ ይኽእል። ተስፋይ ካብቶም ኣብ ሞንጎ ጀብሃን ሻዕብያን ዝነበረ ቅርሕንቲ ኣኽቲሙ ከም ኣሕዋት ደቂ ሃገር ክሰርሑ ሓድሽ ምዕራፍ ዝኸፈቱ ገስገስቲ መራሕቲ እንተተባህለ ዝተጋነነ ኣይኮነን። ተስፋይን ብጾቱን ነቲ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ዘርአይዎ ብልጫን ድኻምን ኣብ ግምት ኣእትዮም ናይ ስምረት ስጉምቲ ምውሳዶም ክምስገኑ ይግባእ። ከምቲ ተስፋይ ኣብ ቦኽሪ ናይ ኣቦ መንበር መደርኡ ዝአተዎ መብጽዓ ምስቶም ካልአይ ክፋል ሰድህኤ ክላዘቡን ሽግራቶም ክፈትሑን ልቦም ክኸፍቱ እዮም ዝብል ግምት ኣለኒ። ነቲ ኣብ እዋን ንእስነተይ ናብ ቃልሲ ንዲሞክራስን ፍትሕን ምስ ተጸምበርኩ ካብ ዝጋጠሙኒ ኣዝዮም ውሑዳት ሸንኮለል ዘይፈትው ናይ ቃልሲ መምህራን ኣያና ተስፋይ ደጊጋ፤ ነዚ ጉዳይ ስምረት ልዝብን ምፍታሕ ግርጭትን ምስ ተመሳሰልቲ ራእይ ዝውንኑ ሃገራውያን ሰልፍታት ብትብዓትን ብርእሰ ተአማንነትን ክቕጽሎ ለበዋይ ከሕልፍ ይፈትው። ርግጸኛ እየ ሰድህኤ ንዝግብኦን ብቑዕን መራሒ እዩ መሪጹ ዘሎ እሞ ዓወትን ኣሳልጦን። ከምቲ ናይ ቅድሚ ሎሚ ንመጻኢ እውን ሓቢርና ምስ ደጊጋን ብጾቱ ክንሰርሕ ወትሩ ሕጉሳትን ድሉዋትን ምዃንና ብስመይን ብስም ናይ ቃልሲ ብጾተይን ናብ ኣቦ መንበር ስድህኤ መልእኽተይ ይሰድድ።