http://ascenteq.com/project/epdp

እዛ ዓለም ንምንታይ ትጸበኒ፡

ብሰፋሓ’ወ  ትንእሰኒ፡

ብምውቕታ ትቖረኒ፡

ብርኽብታ ንዓይ ዝጠምየኒ።

ኣነ እምበር’የ ናታ፡

ፍጡር ካብ ከርሳ ካብ ባይታ፡

መሰለይ እምበርዩ መሰላታ፡

ንምንታይ ደኣ ሓኒቓ ዓትዒታ።

ወዲ ዓለም እንድ’የ ውሉዳ፡

ዝብጽሓ ናይ ከርሳ ናይ ከብዳ፡

ኣካል’ቲ ኣቑጸልታ ጉንዳ፡

ሰርቢ ጠፈራ፡ ዝናባ በረዳ።

ትብጸሓኒ እምበር ማዕረ፡

ባህገይ ኣብ እምነታ ዝተደረ፡

ርሒብ’ዩ  ንስፍሓታ ዝጾረ፡

ንምንታይ ኣብ ዓደይ ቆሪረ፡

ከይፈቶኹ መብጽዓታት ሰይረ።

ደስ ከይበለነ መረበተይ ገዲፈ፡

ንወላዲተይ ራሕሪሐያ ተጸርጊፈ፡

ዘይፈልጦ ረጊጸ ሃጓፍ ዝጸደፈ፡

ይውዳእ እንተበልኩስ ጉዳም ዝሓለፈ።

መስክሪ ዓለመይ ተስፋይ ተሰሪቑ፡

ጠሊ ሓሪሙዎ ሕልናይ ደሪቑ፡

ሃጽ ኢሉ ቀልበይ ሃውቲቱ ርሒቑ፡

ዓገብ በሉለይ ዓለምይ ጨኒቑ።

እወ! ቀላያት ክሰግር ካብ ዝርኢ ንዑ፡

ምድረበዳ መሪጸ ድምጹ ካብ ምስማዑ፡

በል ቀታል ተስፋይ  ይግፋሓልካ ሽዑ፡

ተካል ፍጥረት ዶኽብል፡ በላዒ ግዛዑ።

እንተ ጠፋእኩሉ ደኾን’ዩ፡ ክገፍሖ?

ካን ዘርኢ ኣበዋተይ ከምዘይነበረ ክምሖ፡

ንተስፋፋታተይ ሸንኪሩሉ መርሖ፡

ቁንቁነ ኮይኑኒ ዘየናሕሲ ፍልሖ።

ዓዱ ዝለቕቐ ንዓለም ኣሚኑ፡

ወዮ ምድረ-በዳ’ውን ዋና’ሎዎ ኾይኑ፡

ክረግጾን ክነብሮን ዓለሙ ዋኒኑ፡

ተስፋኡ ኣንቢሩ ዘውደቐሉ ጎድኑ።

ኣይጥዓመን ኣሕዋት ሂወት ብሓረጣ፡

ሂወት ተቐዪሩ ጠላዕ ከም ገበጣ፡

ንተስፋ ክረትዕ መንብሮይ ክሰልጣ፡

ግን ኩሉ ሓደ ኮይኑ፡ ዓለመይ ጎቢጣ።

ለካ ኢሎም  ኔሮም ሽዑ ንሪአክን፡

ኣይገደፉን ጎራሓት ንሕና ንሕሸክን፡

ካን ገምድ ክቕየረለይ ኣብ ዓዲ እንዳማትክን፡

መለሳ ጎይታ ነየለ ናብዝን ናብትን ኢልክን።

ጎይቶት ኩኑ እንዶ’ሞ ቀልቡ ተስፋና፡

ዓቕሊ ምለሱሉ ኣልዕሉ መድፈና፡

ንዓኹም ክንብል ኣኽሊል ምሰቕልና።

እሱ ካብ ኮነ ጸወታ ዓለምና።

ፈጣሪ ሃገርና ይባርኸልና!

ሃይለ ወልዱ።

EPDP Editorial

On April 18, 2015, a boat carrying as many as 850 refugees sank in the Mediterranean Sea, drowning all the refugees aboard, of whom 350 are reported to be Eritreans, according to the UN Refugee Agency in Geneva. The drowning is the latest story of refugees fleeing from repression and war, and it is believed to be the worst human tragedy ever happened in the high seas. “This is the deadliest incident in the Mediterranean we have ever recorded,” said the UNHCR. The boat that set out its journey from Libya to Europe by human traffickers sank south of the Island of Lampedusa. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), of those 850 aboard only 28 survived and rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. The survivors are believed to be from Eritrea, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia and other sub-Saharan countries, according to the IOM.

For us Eritreans, the latest tragedy is not the first time. Eritreans have been perishing in thousands over the last ten years. One of the high profile tragedies is the death of 360 Eritreans in October 2013 off the Italian island of Lampedusa after the boat they were on capsized in the sea. Whether it is in the Sinai, Libya, Yemen, in the Sahara Desert, or in the Mediterranean Sea, it has been a nonstop death and woe for the Eritrean people.

We grieve; we mourn; we wail. We have to because Eritrea is losing its younger generation by thousands, a generation that is supposed to secure the continuity of the nation for generations to come. This is a nation that took tenths of thousands of Eritrean lives to secure its independence, but also a country that soon after its independence set its trajectory to failure and doom under the PFDJ regime.

Yes, there is anger; yes, we are appalled at the human barbarism and savagery being committed by the PFDJ regime. Yes, there is protest against this human disaster that our country is facing every day. But we need to ask one question, and that is – are we doing something fundamental to reverse this unspeakable, heart wrenching and unparalleled pain befalling our people?

PFDJ

The root cause of all this unending cycle of brutality and inhumanity is the PFDJ regime, which is pushing hundreds and thousands of Eritrean men, women, and children to flee the country. And it is inconceivable to stop the flood of Eritrean refugees without removing the PFDJ from power. The big picture is this: the PFDJ is not only pushing out our young and our old from the country, but also the regime is essentially unmaking the basis of our nationalism, belief, history, values and cultures, and everything that our country is made up of or known for, or what it represents. The scale of such a danger to our core existence as a nation, and which is becoming more and more worse by the day, is one that we need to worry about deeply both as a society and as a country. We know past colonial powers committed horrendous violence against Eritrean people as a means to stifle the latter’s quest for their independence. But the cruelty of the current regime in our country has no parallels and has surpassed all the cruelest colonial powers that ruled Eritrea in the past century. This is a known quantity and is becoming the “new normal” in Eritrea. The PFDJ regime has betrayed Eritrea. What is unknown and more troubling, however, is what the rest of us – “the opposition” and the people - are doing about it. Like the PFDJ regime, has the Eritrean opposition betrayed Eritrea?

Opposition

For the opposition, the hard question is how many young Eritrean deaths does it take for the Eritrean opposition to work together? How many Eritrean women and children should drown and die in the Mediterranean Sea in order for the Eritrean opposition to wake up and do the right thing? How many Eritreans should be smuggled and sold for organ harvesting before the opposition takes its national obligations seriously and comes to its senses? How many Eritrean women and young girls should be victims of sex slavery before the opposition begins to focus on the bigger picture? How much destruction to our country do we need before we say enough is enough?

One, the crisis of the opposition is its own making, and it can change it. The opposition has existed for two decades. Its purpose was and is to change the undemocratic regime of the PFDJ. But so far it proved to be incapable of achieving it. Instead, it devolved into fractured groups and entities, preventing Eritrean people from converting into supporting it or considering it as an alternative to the Isaias regime. The truth is, in the eyes and minds of the majority of Eritrean people, the opposition does not have legitimacy as we have learned it repeatedly over the last two decades. This left unfettered political field for the dictatorial regime to reign freely and continue its destruction of our country. The opposition needs to reverse this.

Two, the opposition needs to pull out from the current political morass it is in by facing its own weaknesses and shortcomings. Two decades after, the opposition must acknowledge that it is time to reverse the status quo, redefine its very existence; reforms itself and begins to refocus on the bigger picture. Only then will the opposition be able to play its national role in removing the PFDJ regime and stopping the mayhem and the cycle of inhumanity and death our people are facing.

Undoubtedly, there have been numerous critical junctures in the past few years, where the Eritrean opposition could have come to its senses and evaluated itself and started working together. In other words, the history of the nearly two decades of tragedies and injustices being meted out on the Eritrean people should have served as the basis for the Eritrean opposition forces to unlock their differences and resistance to change, as well as to design a collective formula to empower Eritreans in the struggle against the PFDJ regime. It did not happen. In reality, putting first what matters most for the democratic struggle has been lost in the midst of all the self-serving differences that exist among the various groups. This seemingly inherent differences embedded within the various groups has become an obstacle to capture the dynamics that drive Eritrean people for a better alternative more than ever before – that is, for change, peace, security, and better future. EPDP says the current critical juncture – the national tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea – should not be a missed opportunity. Let’s use it to build a common massage as well as to set up our core priorities. We encourage the creation of a National Task Force to deal with the Eritrean Refugees issues. Again, EPDP calls upon all Eritrean nationals to make “saving Eritrea” as their number one priority. How much destruction is how much?

In a recent Voice of America’s Press Conference USA program, Ms Bronwyn Bruton, former news correspondent and currently the deputy director of the Africa Center of the Atlantic Council, alleged, inter alia, that the flight of so many Eritreans from the country “is exaggerated” because those tens of thousands claiming to be from Eritrea simply to obtain asylum “are not actually Eritreans”.

This is unjustified and unfair comment because distressed Eritreans have been escaping from the regime in big numbers and those who may use the name “Eritrean” to obtain asylum can only be an insignificant in number, if any. That point should not have deserved a mention by the VOA interviewee. The comment is indeed a travesty of justice and extremely unfair to the victims of the brutal regime in Asmara that did its best to impress the official from the Atlantic Council.

Ms Bruton agreed with the dictator she interviewed that it was only “circumstances” that forced the regime to impose indefinite national service on its people. She also wanted others to believe that the regime demobilized 100,000 soldiers last year although the rest of the world knows the reality: that these were the young people who escaped taking big risks on their way.

The American expert, who also appeared to agree with security advisors who give exclusive concern to their national interests, mentioned Yemen and other chaotic places in the region and wanted to tell Eritreans that a dictator like Isayas is all what they deserve.

Ms Bruton did not want to mention that the regime has refused to implement a constitution it ratified in 1997; instead she said she was happy to hear from the president that a new constitution will be drafted in the future.

Readers know that the targeted and still unimplemented UN sanctions mainly focused on the travel of regime officials and their bank accounts. It is also known that those nominal “sanctions” had no effect on the regime and the life of the people. But the dictator and his clique used them as an excuse for their utter failure in ruling the country for a quarter of a century. And for little known reasons, Ms Bruton wished to accept as truth this and related brazen excuses and propaganda of the regime. It is really puzzling.

True, Ethiopia has failed to honour the border ruling and that is unjustified action both by the Ethiopian government and its US supporters. But that in itself should not have stopped Eritrea from having a constitution and allowing political, economic and other freedoms for its own good. It is for those freedoms that the Eritrean people fought so dearly for 30 long years. Ms Bruton seems to be one of those who won’t care what happens to others.

Regrettably, security and national interests of others are given priority to the extremely disquieting situation of the Eritrean people under the most repressive regime in Africa that one can think of at this moment in time.

ፖለቲካዊ መስርሕ ኣብ ሓደ ኣጋጣሚ ምስ ተጀመረ ኣብቲ ዘለዎ ደሪቑ ውጽኢት ዝጽበ፡ ዘይኮነስ ኣብ ዘየቋርጽ መስርሕ ዝቕጽል ጉዕዞ እዩ። እቲ ጉዕዞ ዘየቋርጽን ማዕባልን ኮይኑ፡ እቲ ማዕባልነቱ ብኣውንታዊ ወይ ብኣሉታዊ ተርኽቦታት ዝተሰነየ፡ ናይ ክብን ለጠቕን ነዊሕ መገሻ እዩ። ኣብዚ መስርሕ እቶም ናይዚ ፖለቲካዊ መስርሕ ተዋሳእቲ ነቲ ኣውንታ ናይ ምዕኳዅን ነቲ ኣሉታ ናይ ምውጋድን ከቢድ ሓላፍነት ኣለዎም። ነቲ ቃልሲ መሪር’ዩ ዘብሎ’ውን እዚ ሓላፍነት እዩ። ኣብዚ መስርሕ ሓንቲ ሓጻር ናይ ግዜ መዕቀንን ንእሽቶ ፋጻመን እውን ነናተን ጽልዋን ኣበርክቶን ኣለወን። እዚ ንኡስ ጽልዋታት ተኣኪቡ ድማ ሓደ ዕሙር ውጽኢት ይኸውን። እዚ መስርሕ ሓደ ክልተ እንዳበለ ብንኡሳን ምዕራፋት ዝስነ ኮይኑ፡ ካብ ሓደ ምዕራፍ ናብ ካልእ ምዕራፍ ዝሳገረሎም ዕላውያን መድረኻት ኣለውዎ። ሓደ ካብቲ መድረኻት ድማ ጉባአ እዩ።

ጉባአብጸቢብ ድሌት ናይቶም ውሱናት ወደብቱን ተጋባእቱን ጥራይ ዝግዛእ ዘይኮነስ ካለኦት ሰፋሕቲ ኣብ ግምት ክኣትዉ ዝግበኦም ጸለውቲ ረቛሕታት እውን ኣለውዎ። እቲ ጉባአ ዝውድብ ሰልፊ ወይ ውድብ፡ ምእንታኡ እየ ዝቃለስ ናይ ዝብሎ ህዝቢ ባህግን ድሌትን፡ ኣብ’ቲ ከባቢ ናይ ዘለዉ ተወዳደርቲ ፖለቲካዊ ውዳበታት፡ ካብኡ ሓሊፉ ከባቢያውን ዓለማውን ምዕብልናታት እውን ንኩለመዳያዊ ኣወዳድባን ውጽኢትን ናይቲ ጉባአ ዝጸልውዎ ባእታታት እዮም። ነዚኦም ረቛሒታት ዕሽሽ ኢልካ ካብ ውሱን ባህግኻ ጥራይ ነቒልካ ዝትግበር ጉባአ እምበኣር ናብ ጸቢብነት ዝወስድ ክኸውን ባህርያዊ እዩ። ኮታ ጉዳያት ከምቲ ትደልዮ ዘይኮነስ ከምቲ ክኾኖ ዝኽእል እዩ ክኽየድ ዝግበኦ።

ብመንጽር እዚ መጻኢ 2ይ ጉባአ ሰልፊ ደሞክራሲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክንውድብ እንከለና፡ ሰልፍና ብዓብይኡ ኮይኑ፡ ህዝብና፡ ሃገርና፡ ተቓወምቲ ውድባትና፡ እቲ ንምውጋዱ ንቃለሶ ዘለና ጉጅለ ህግደፍ፡ ከምኡ እውን ጐረባብትናን ኣብ ናይ ለውጢ ቃልስና ኣብ ጐንና ክስለፉ ወርትግ እንጽወዖም ናይ ርሑቕ ሓይልታትን ኣብ ከመይ ኩነታት ከም ዘለናን ዘለዉን ኣብ ግምት ከነእቱ ናይ ግድነት እዩ። ንዛረበሉ፡ ንውስኖን ንእውጆን ከዓ ነዚ ኣብ ግምት ዘእተወ ክኸውን ግቡእ እዩ።

ከም ኩሉ ጉባአታት፡ መጻኢ ጉባአና ኣብ ኩሉ ዛዕባታት ካብ ሓደ ምዕራፍ ናብ ካልእ ሓድሽ ምዕራፍ ዘሳግረና ክኸውን ናይ ኩልና ትጽቢት እዩ። ትጽቢትና ጥራይ ዘይኮነ ኩነታት ሃገርና፡ ህዝብናን ደንበ ተቓውሞናን ኣውን በቲ ዝነበርናዮ ክንቅጽል ዘይኮነስ ለውጥን ምስግጋርን ዝጥልብ እዩ። ለውጥን ምስግጋር ምጽባይና ሓደ ጉዳይ ኮይኑ፡ ውጽኢት ጉባአና ከም ትጽቢትና ንክኸውን ከዓ ከሎ ጋና ሓላፍነታውን ቀጻልን ኣበርክቶና ኣብ ኩሉ መዳያት ክብርኽ ይግበኦ። እዚ ክንብል እንከለና ንምዝኽኻር ዝኣክል እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ ጉባአ ብኸመይ ምዕዋት ከም ዝከኣል ንኣባላት ሰልፍና ከም ሓድሽ ዝንገር ዘይኮነ ተፈቲኖም ብዘዕግብ ዝሓለፍሉ ተመኩሮ እዩ። ክሳብ ሕጂ ኣብዚ መስርሕ ምድላው 2ይ ጉባአና ዝረአ ዘሎ ናይ ኣባላት ሰልፍና ቅሩብነትን ውፉይነትን እውን ነዚ ዘረድእ እዩ። ኣብ ቀጻልነቱ እውን ኣሰናዳኢት ሽማግለ ስኽፍታ የብሉን።

ጉባአ ንዝሓለፈ ይግምግምን ይመዝንን። ንመጻኢ ድማ ይእምትን የማዕዱን። ኮታ ኣብ ህልዊ ኩነታት ረጊጹ ንዝሓለፈን ንመጻእን ዘራኽብ ድንድል’ዩ ምባሉ ዝቐለለ እዩ። ብመንጽር እዚ 2ይ ጉባአና ካብ ቀዳማይ ጉባአና ክሳብ ድሮ እዚ ንዳለወሉ ዘለና ጉባአ ዝጸንሐ መስርሕ ኣተገባብራ ውሳነታት 1ይ ጉባአ ክመሚ ናይ ግድነት እዩ። ከም ውጽኢት ናይዚ ሚዛን ንኣወንታዊ ውጽኢት ዝያዳ ኣሰሲኑ ኣካል መጻኢ ዕማምና ክገብሮ እዩ። ንኣሉታዊ ውጽኢት ከዓመወከሲ ታሪኽ ንክኸውን ኣብ ዘይንቀሳቐስ ፋይል ክዕቅቦ እዩ። ናይ ዝሓለፈ ጉባአና መሪሕ ኣጀንዳ ምስ ኩሉ ከቢብዎ ዝነበረ ኩነታት፡ ሓድሽ ምዕራፍ ዝኸፈተ ኣብነታዊ ሓድነት፡ በበይኑ ናይ ቃልሲ ተመኩሮ ናይ ዝጸነሖም ውድባት ምንባሩ ዝዝከር እዩ። መጻኢ ጉባአና ከዓ ነቲ ሓድነት መሊሱ ኣትሪሩ፡ ካልእ ናብ ሓድሽ ምዕራፍ ዘሳግር፡ ዝያዳ ኣብ ምሕያል ውሽጣዊ ሰልፋይዊ ዓቕምና ዘድህብ ኣጀንዳ ክህልዎ ትጽቢት ኩልና እዩ።

ከምቲ ልሙድ ቀንዲ ዕማማት ሓደ ጉባአ፡ እቲ ሰልፊ ወይ ውድብ ክሳብ ቀጻሊ ጉባአ ዝምረሓሎም፡ ፖለቲካዊ መደብ ዕዮን ውሽጣዊ ቅዋምን ምጽዳቕ፡ ኣብ ኣገደስትን እዋናውያንን ፖሊሲታት ውሳነታት ምውሳን፡ ከምኡ እውን ነዚ ዝጸደቐ ሰነዳት ዘተግብር መሪሕነት ምምራጽ እዮም። ኣብዞም ጉዳያት እዚኣቶም ዝግበር ጥንቃቐ ውይ ሸለልትነት ናቲ ሰልፊ መጻኢ 3 ወይ 4 ዓመታት ማለት ከከም ሕጊ ናይቲ ሰልፊ ዝውስኑ እዮም። እዞም ዕማማት እዚኣቶም ኣብተን ንጉባአ ዝምደባ ናይ ኣርባዕተ ወይ ሓሙሽተ መዓልታት ጥራይ ዝሳለጥ ዘይኮነስ፡ ኣብቲ ናይ ድሮ ጉባአ ኣዋርሕ ተጻፊፉ ኣብ መድረኽ ጉባአ ወግዒ ዝለብስ እዩ። ቀንዲ ዕማም ኣሰናዳኢት ሽማግለ ከዓ ነዚ ናይ ቅድመ ጉባአ ምድላዋት ምውህሃድ እዩ። ኣባላት ሰደህኤ፡ በቲ ኣሰናዳኢት ሽማግለን መሪሕነት ሰልፍን ዘውጽእዎም መደባት መሰረት፡ ኣብ ንድፊ ናይዚ ኣብ ጉባአ ዝጸድቕ ሰነዳት ክህብዎ ዝጸንሑን ዘለዉን ሃናጺ ኣበርክቶ ኣውንታውን ኣብነታውን እዩ። ካብኡ ሓሊፉ ንጉባአ ዝኸውን ሎጂስቲካውን ፋይናንስያውን ዓቕሚ ንምድላብን ተሳተፍቲ ጉባአ ኣብ ምድላውን ዝገብሮ ዘሎ ኣበርክቶ እውን ከምኡ ዝነኣድን ናይ መወዳእታ መልክዕ ክሳብ ዝሕዝን ብናህሪ ክቕጽል ዝግበኦን እዩ።

ሓደ ጉባአ ምዕዋት ኣብ መስርሕ ቃልሲ ዓቢይ ስጉምቲ ንቕድሚት ምዃኑ ፍሉጥ እዩ። ጉባአና ተዓዊቱ ወይ ኣይተዓወተን ክንብል ድማ መዕቀኒና እቲ ኣብኡ ከነዕውቶ ሒዝናዮ እንኣቱ ዕማም እዩ። እዚ ዕማምዚ ብዝከኣል መጠን ካብቲ ንብህጎ እቲ ክንገብሮ እንኽእል ምስ ዓቕምናን ኩነታትናን ዘሳኒ ተመጢኑ ክኸውን ይግበኦ። ድሌትን ዓቕምን ኣብ ዘይመጣጠነሉ ጸገም ስለ ዝፈጥር። ነቲ ቃልሲ ክሳብ ዓወት ኣንዊሕና ክንርእዮ እንከለና፡ እቲ ዝኸበደ ብደሆ ኣብ ጉባአ ምውሳን ዘይኮነስ ነቲ እትወሰነ ናይ ምትግባር መስርሕ እዩ። ስለዚ ብዛዕባ ምዕዋት ጉባአ ክንሓስብ እንከለና ናብቲ ድሕሪ ጉባአ ዘሎ መስርሕ ኣውን ክንቋመት ይግበኣና። ነቲ ዝወሰንካዮ ውሳነታት ዘተግብር ዓቕሚ ኣብ ዘይወነንካሉ፡ ዘይትግበሩ ምሩጻት ውሳነታትን ኣውጃትን ምቅላሕ ውጽኢት ስለ ዘየብሉ።

ዓወት ን2ይ ጉባአ ሰደህኤ