A question that begs answer is: Why do the Tigrayan rulers of Ethiopia sponsor and support anti-Tigrigna rhetoric echoed by insignificant Eritrean elements?...They seem to be trying to convince Eritrean Tigrigna nationalists that they are surrounded by hostile ethnic and religious communities and that their best option is to accept the status of a “junior” partner to Tigray...We believe the current Tigrayan Elite’s strategy and approach to Eritrean politics is as wrong as that of the PFDJ policy towards Tigray and Ethiopia at large.

 *******************************************

Eritrea between PFDJ’s Hammer and EDA’s Anvil:

Can there be a third Choice?

Edmund Burke, the 18th century British philosopher, once said, “All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world, is for enough good people to do nothing.”

Sadly to say, on this 19^th anniversary of its national Independence, the economic, social and political future of Eritrea remains shrouded in uncertainty. The PFDJ leadership continue to direct the nation toward complete social disarray and political paralysis. The government lacks any creative vision for the country’s future that may lead to peace and stability in the nation. It appears they have finally advanced the nation to an economic meltdown, social breakdown and total political failure. There is no vision of change of political direction, remorse of guilt for their crimes or even suggestion of partnership with the people.

On the other hand, the genuinely weak Eritrean opposition has been unable to achieve substantive political gains for the people worth mentioning in the last 20 years. The EDA in particular has been quagmired with artificial internal disputes and self promotions that distracted its mission of dislodging the dictatorial regime in Eritrea. Its main business has become meetings and conferences that result in nothing but empty talks, conspiracies and counter-conspiracies against each other. Worse off is that the current EDA leadership have been engaged in spearheading a cyber campaign against some opposition groups as well as conferences and meetings organised by independent Eritrean activists and their partners.  

In their effort to attract public attention and confuse Eritreans further, the same EDA leaders are currently seen promoting an Ethiopian-sponsored conference branded as “National Dialogue for Democratic Change”. Every step taken towards this event, including the date set for the event (30^th July 2010) suggests that the conference has nothing to do with “dialogue” or “democracy”, and the Eritrean players selected for the task have been busy in their campaign against specific civic and political groups and individuals who questioned the process or displayed their independent thinking and vision for their country.  

The EDA players and their cyber-supporters have also been busy demonising Eritrea’s Tigrigna ethno-linguistic group. This demonization campaign has been taking place at a time when the Tigrigna and non-Tigrigna Eritreans have been suffering from the same brutal dictatorial regime in Asmara. One would have assumed that every genuine opposition group would work to unite all Eritreans, who are all victims of the same repressive regime (with varying degrees), to work together to achieve salvation and regain their freedom and independence from the grips of their common oppressor. However, the reality of the EDA leadership and their cyber-drivers has been to work for the opposite result. Instead of unity against a common oppressor, promotion of disunity and distrust has become their motto of struggle.   

A question that begs answer is: Why do the Tigrayan rulers of Ethiopia sponsor and support anti-Tigrigna rhetoric echoed by insignificant Eritrean elements? 

The Tigrayan elite are known for their deep-rooted chauvinism and intolerance to any form of religious or ethnic diversity both within Tigray and in Ethiopia at large. History attests that the pro-Tigray-Tigrigna projects displayed in Eritrean politics since 1940s have always been influenced by Tigrayan chauvinism, and is not of Eritrean origin.  

In Tigray ‘killel’ itself there are Saho (Erob), Kunama, Wolqayet, Jeberti Muslims and other smaller ethnic groups with no rights to their own state (killel) or even to their own political parties to promote and defend their individual communities’ rights within Tigray. To this day Tigrayan Muslims remain deprived of their right to build a single mosque in their home towns such as Axum.  In Ethiopia the so-called “ethnic federalism” has been used to undermine traditional and genuine expression of ethnic rights by Ethiopia’s heterogeneous society. An example of this is the way the centuries old Afar traditional administration is being destroyed to make the “Afar Killel” in Ethiopia a mere name only, while the traditional rulers – Sultans - who withstood successive Abyssinian attacks on their people and land have been chased out of their traditional habitat.  

Given the above brief highlighting of the Tigrayan elite’s reality, their behaviour towards the Eritrean political struggle for human rights and democracy, and their insistence on creating anti-Tigrigna Eritrean ethnic and regional military groups can only be explained as a strategy to weaken Eritrean options for replacing the PFDJ dictatorial regime with a united, strong and patriotic national force in which Eritrean Tigrigna can play a central role. They seem to be trying to convince Eritrean Tigrigna nationalists that they are surrounded by hostile ethnic and religious communities and that their best option is to accept the status of a “junior” partner to Tigray. This strategy will lead to the creation of a weak Eritrean state, still dominated by Eritrean Tigrigna quislings heavily influenced by Tigray, as used to be the case during the Axumite kingdom, especially during the reign of the 19^th Centry Tigrayan “Emperror” Yohannes IV, who ruled and ransacked many parts of today’s Eritrea through his well known general Ras Alula Aba-Nagga.   

We believe the current Tigrayan Elite’s strategy and approach to Eritrean politics is as wrong as that of the PFDJ policy towards Tigray and Ethiopia at large. Neither country can gain from havoc and instability in both Eritrea and Ethiopia. Instead, both sisterly countries should work to improve their domestic and regional policies based on strategies that promote national unity in diversity within each country as well as regional cooperation and integration through promotion of mutual respect for their sovereignties and common interests.    

In conclusion, it is our believe that history is on the side of those few Eritreans who have consistently resisted PFDJ’s repressive dictatorship, and not on the side of those who have chosen to jump on the foreign bandwagon assuming it will deliver them personal power and wealth. We believe the struggle for genuine peace, rule of law and democracy is best served through effective patriotic alternative that pursues peaceful means of struggle, instead of wasting tens more years maintaining the most incoherent umbrella grouping that has proven to be an obstacle to genuine struggle and a lifeline for PFDJ’s dictatorial and illegitimate rule. We believe the Eritrean people deserve a better alternative, and not the replacement of PFDJ by another equally dictatorial and hatemongering grouping directed by Addis Ababa or any other foreign capital.

Happy 19^th Independence Anniversary Eritrea!   

Arkokabay Team

June 2010

_______________

May 2010 Editorial

April 2010 Editorial

Comments (0) >>

Write comment

Name

Email

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment