May 26, 2019 Martin Plaut News

As someone sometime ago put it, “The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people half way.”  In a few months’ time, we will celebrate the 58^th anniversary of the start of our armed struggle for national liberation. This is quite a life- time during which no real compromises and accords were reached between rival Eritrean political groups. But regretting and brooding over lost opportunities will not serve us any useful purpose. Today, what can be helpful is to think of meeting half the way - making compromises in order to rescue our gradually but surely sinking ship.   

During the past week, there appeared yet another well written paper on our sad situation; it also listed recommendations as to what can be done. The paper, dated 22 May 2019 and entitled “Eritrea: State of the Nation,” was signed by 16 of our compatriots, many of them with long and good record in the struggle for liberation and democratic change.

The group is raising issues that deserve consideration and agree without delay so that we as a nation can avert serious problems in the post-PFDJ period. For lack of a better name, we can call the group ‘G-16’.

Useful Replay

It is true that G-16’s analysis of our situation and the recommendations/proposals they make can be seen as part of our never-ending circus of trying to ‘reinvent the wheel,’ which in fact is a grave sin that all of us have been committing for decades.  

So, let the G-16 paper be re-inventing, regurgitating of things that we said and wrote before. Still, it is to our national advantage to accept it as if it were a new call for action. No forgetting that we have already accepted the “Enough is Enough” momentum as a new call although that call is as old as our resistance to the Asmara regime.  We need to strike the iron while it is hot. We need to speed up national dialogue and agree on critical issues like a legal document for the transition period.

G-16 are describing our situation as a polarized one, especially in regard to the 1997 constitution which many Eritreans accept as “an excellent legal document”  while  other Eritreans “consider the document flawed in its exclusionary process and content (flag, land, language, unitary state), reflecting only the value system of the EPLF.”  

The paper also states that the zero-sum approaches of our past politicking are not leading us anywhere. Compatriots in G-16 are therefore appealing that: “each side must retreat from its entrenched position and meet the other half way.”

This is one of the key messages addressed by the group of professionals to many Eritreans in the opposition camp who always remained rightly mistrustful of the tyrannical regime that Isaias Afeworki installed after independence. That mistrust of Isaias was extended to the ruling party that he firmly controlled.

We need to admit that that mistrust is not easy to heal, nor did concerned parties take steps to address it. It is because of that unaddressed, unhealed mistrust that we failed to make compromises and reach solutions.

But now, we have no time to address lingering mistrusts. As the outburst of the papers we draft on the state of our nation clearly manifest, Eritrea is emptied of its youth, of its very soul, and we are in extremely critical times challenging the very survival of the independent state we created the hard way.  

What Do We Do?

The G-16 paper expresses deep concerns about the immediate aftermath of PFDJ in Eritrea if we do not have a legal document to start with. They strongly urge for compromises to agree on letting the 1997 constitution fill that vacuum. They say that the still unimplemented constitution “must be only a transitional document” for the transitional period beyond which time Eritreans have “the right to make partial or even wholesale changes to the constitution, and that can only come about in a free and stable environment.”  

What makes the G-16 paper different from most previous pronouncements is that it has come at the right time. It also clearly states what is needed: compromise and agreement regarding a legal document that can serve only for a limited transition period.  

This time round, we should not fail to think that this is an opportunity to be seized without delay. In other words, all concerned parties need to push this G-16 idea one step further and  translate it into a national agreement for that short transition period.

The G-16 paper rightly suggests action to draft legal codes on future constitutional organs like:  (a) Rules of Parliament, (b) Judiciary, (c) Offices of Attorney General, (d) Auditor General, (e) National bank, (f) Election Commission, (g) Election law, (h) Civil Service Commission, (i) Press law and others.

Yet, nothing is as important as their points for compromise about the 1997 constitution.

EPDP and the 1997 Constitution

When the Eritrean People’s Democratic Party (EPPD) was formed as merger on mid-night of 31 December 2009, it was resolved as follows:

 “the unimplemented constitution in Eritrea, which has been collecting dust since its ratification in 1997, can only find suitable ground for contemplation after the fall of the PFDJ regime. At that time, the question of replacing it by another document or amending it can be decided by a national referendum or become the responsibility of a democratically elected national parliament.”

This was a sensible compromise reached by the co-founders of the EPDP ten years ago. The subsequent congresses of the party confirmed that commitment regarding the  1997 constitution. In other words, the suggestions made in the G-16 paper about the  1997 constitution appear to be not that different from what the EPDP foresaw a decade ago.

It is everyone’s hope that the insistent calls for national dialogue by religious leaders, political organizations, civil society activists and national figures like those who took part in the recent London conference on Democracy Building in Eritrea will materialize soon into the holding of a National Conference for Unity and Reconciliation so that useful ideas for compromise and agreement like those suggested by this new G-16 can be considered.

ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ፡ ሰዲህኤ

ዲክታተር ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ከምቲ ልሙድ ኣብ  ጽንብል መበል 28 ዓመት ናጽነት ኤርትራ መደረ ኣስሚዑ። መራሕቲ ሃገራት ኣብ ከም ኣጋጣሚ 24 ጉንበት ዘስምዕዎ መደረ መጻኢ መደባቶምን ዕድል ናይታ ሃገርን ህዝባን ዘመላኽት ስለ ዝኾነ ትጽቢት ይግበረሉ እዩ። ዋላ’ኳ ህዝብና ሓድሽ ክጽበ ኢሳይያስ ከኣ ኣብ ዝኣረገ ዛዕባ ከኹድድ ተረባሪቦም እንተኾኑ፡ ዝተወሰኑ ኤርትራውያን “ምናልባት ደኾነ ኣብ መበል 28 ዓመት ዝኽሪ ናጽነት ሓድሽ የምጽእ ይኸውን?” ዝብል ትጽቢት ዘሕደሩ ነይሮም። ሓድሽ ከምጽእ ይኽእል እዩ ኢሎም ክግምቱ ዝድረኾም ከኣ ነቲ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ከካይዶ ዝጸንሐ ክሳብ ሕጂ መዕለቢኡ ዘይተፈልጠን፡ ንድሕሪት ናይ ምምላስ ሓደጋ ኣንጸላልይዎ ዘሎን ምቅርራብ ርእዮም፡ ኣብ ዘቤታዊ ኤርትራዊ ጉዳይውን ይቕጽሎ ይኸውን ዝብል ግምት ስለ ዘሕደሩ እዩ። እዚ ግምትዚ ኣብ ኤርትራውያን ጥራይ ዘይኮኑ ኣብ ገለ ናይ ግዳም ተዓዘብቲ’ውን ቦታ ረኺቡ ነይሩ እዩ።

መብዛሕትኡ ህዝብና ግና ኢሳይያስ ካብ ኣብያን ኣብ ኣረጊት ኣጀንዳ ምኹዳድን ሓሊፉ፡ ሓድሽ ሓሳብ ዘመንጩ ኣተሓሳስባ ከም ዘየብሉን፡ እቲ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዘካየዶ ዘብለጭልጭ መሬት ዘይሓዘ ዝምድና ካብ ልባዊ ናይ ሰላም ድሌቱ ዝመጸ ዘይኮነስ፡ ናይ ጐይተቱ ቃል ንዘይምዕባርን ገለ ግነዖት ንምርካብን ምንባሩ ስለ ዝርድኡ፡ ህግዲፍ ልቡ ኣረስሪሱ ኣብ ኤርትራዊ ዘቤታዊ ዛዕባ ሓድሽ ነገር ከምጽእ’ዩ ዝብል ግምት ኣይነበሮምን። እቲ ቀንዲ “እዚ ሰብኣይ ሓድሽ ጉዳይ ኣየምጽእን’ዩ” ዘብሎም ከኣ፡ ኢሳይያስ ኣብዛ ዘለዋ መንበር ንምቕጻል ዘዋጽኦ፡ ኣብቲ ዓጽይዎ ዘሎ ባብ ምቕጻል እምበር፡ ቁሩብ ጩራ እንተፈጢሩ ደሓር መምለሲ ከምዘይረክብ ስለ ዝርዳእ’ዩ።

ኢሳይያስ ኣብ መደርኡ ብዘይካቲ ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝውድስ ዝመስል መዳህለልን መቐሸሽን ቃላቱ፡ ኣብቲ ባዕሉ እውን “ሓደስቲ ኣይኮነን” ዝበሎ ንጸዓት፡ መንገዲ ምድርን ኣየርን፡ ምምዕባል ወደባት፡ ህንጸት ማይ፡ ትምህርትን ሕክምናን፡ ኢንዱስትርን ኣባይትን ዝምልከቱ ጸገማት ኣኳማሲዑ። ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ “ነቲ ሕሩስ ክሓርስ” ዝሰምዑ ወገናት ሓድሽ ጉዳይ ብዘይምምጻኡ እንዳሓዘኑ ንመደረኡ “ሓድሽ ነገር የብሉን” ይብልዎ ኣለዎ። እዚ ማለት ግና ናብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዘመሓላልፎ መልእኽቲ የብሉን ማለት ኣይኮነን። ኢሳይያስ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ካብዚ ኣጋጣሚ እንታይ ይጽበ ከም ዝነበረ ኣጸቢቑ ይፈልጥ እዩ። ካብ ትጽቢታት ህዝብና ዋላ ሓንቲ ዘይምትንካፉ ከኣ፡ “ቀደም፡ ሎሚ ኮነ ጽባሕ ኣነ እየ ብዛዕባ ኤርትራ ዝሓስብን ዝፈልጥን ህዝቢ ዝተጸበየ ይጸበ በቲ ዝመረጽኩዎ መገዲ እየ ኣጠርሚመ ዝኸይድ” ዝሕመረቱ፡ ነቲ ኣብ ልዕሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዝጸንሐ ንዕቀትን ብደዐን መሊሱ ዘሕደሰ መልእኽቲ እዩ ኣመሓላሊፉ።

ኢሳይያስ ኣብዚ መደርኡ ዘኮማሰዖም ካልእ ዛዕባ ትዕግስቲ ከምዘድሊ እዩ። ትርጉም ትዕግስቲ ብቋንቋ  መደረ ኢሳይያስ “ኣብ ገዛእ ዋኒንኩም ስቕ ኢልኩም ስምዑንን ርኣዩንን” እዩ። ትርጉም ጽንዓት ከኣ   ስንኹም ነኺስኩም ንነዊሕ ዕድመ ስልጣን ጸልዩለይ እዩ። ብመሰረቱ ናይ ኤርትራ ጸገም ናይዞም ኢሳይያስ ኣብ መደርኡ ዝጠቐሶም ኣብ ላዕሊ ዝዘርዘርናዮም ጽላታት ድሕረት ጥራይ ኣይኮነን። እዚ ኢሳይያስ ዝዘርዘሮ ሳዕቤን ኮይኑ እቲ ቀንዲ ጠንቂ ምሕንጋድ ኢሳይያስ ኣብ ምትካል ሕገመንግስታውን ህዝቢ ዝማእከሉ ዲሞክራስያውን ስርዓት እዩ። ኣብዚ ዝፈሸለ ሰብኣይ፡ ነዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ቁጠባውን ማሕበራውን ጽላታት ከዕሪ ማለት ከኣ ፈጺሙ ዘይከኣል እዩ። ንሱ ኣብዞም ጽላታት ዘሎ ጸገም ዝጠቕሰ፡ ካብቲ ቀንዲ ህዝቢ ዝጠልቦ ዘሎ መሰረታዊ ጉዳያት ንምህዳም እዩ። እንተ ጸገም ምዝርዛር ኮይኑ፡ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ገገዝኡ ስለ ዘሎ ካብ ኢሳይያስ ዝጽበዮ ኣይኮነን። ኢሳይያስ ናይ ብሓቂ “መራሒ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ” እንተዝኸውን፡ ካብኡ ትጽቢት ዝግበረሉ ጸገማት ምቑላል ዘይኮነ፡ ነቶም ጸገማት ንምፍታሕ ህዝቢ ዘሳትፍ ትካላዊ ስርዓት ምዝርጋሕ እዩ ነይሩ። እንተኾነ ህግዲፍ ኣይበቐዖን። ንመጻኢ እውን ኢሳይያስ ኣብቲ ብሓይሊ ተወጢሕዎ ዘሎ በሪኽ ቦታ ክሳብ ዘሎ ኣይክረጋገጽ እዩ።

ህዝቢ ኤርትራ በዚ “ኣቦይን ኣደይን በበይኑ ጸሎቶም” ዝዓይነቱ፡ ናይ ኢሳይያስ ጠባርን ኣሽካዕላልን መደረ ክትክዝን ክሕርቅምን ዘይኮነ ንክቕይሮ እዩ ክትንስእ ዝግበኦ። በካይዳ ኢሳይያስ ርእሱ ከድንን ዘይኮነስ ክሕርን እዩ ዝግበኦ። እቶም ውሑዳት ኢሳይያስ ከም መራሕ ሃገር ዘየሎ ክነሱ፡ ከም ዘሎ ኣምሲሎም “ኣሎ እምበር” ዝብሉን ነብሶም ዘዕሽዉን ወገናትና ከኣ “ሕጂ እውን ደንጉዩ እምበር ኣይመሰየን’ሞ ናብ ልብኹም ተመለሱ” ካብ ምባል ሓሊፍና እንብሎም የብልናን።

ኣብ መደረ ኢሳይያስ ካልእ ኣዛራቢ ጉዳይ፡ ብዛዕባቲ ክንደይ ወልደፍደፍ ዝበለሉ ዝምድና ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ዋላ ሓንቲ ቃል ከይጠቐሰ ጓስይዎ ምሕላፉ እዩ። እዚ ብዘይምግናን እቲ ዝምድና ቀምሲሉ ከምዘሎ ዘመልክት እዩ። እቲ ብዙሓት ወገናት፡ ድሌት ኣብ ባይታ ምስ ዘሎ ኩነታት እንተዘየሳንዩ፡ ናብ ዝድህሰስ ውጽኢት ክበጽሕ ኣይክእልን እዩ፡ ዝብልዎ ከኣ ህያው እንዳኾነ ይመጽእ ዘሎ ይመስል። ህልዊ ኩነታት ክልቴን ሃገራት እንተኣወዳዲርና ከኣ፡ እቲ ሰላምን ጥዑይ ጉርብትናን’ኳ ንደልዮን ዝተቓለስናሉን እንተኾነ፡ እቲ ሸበድበድ ዘይሰማማዕ ከተሰማምዕ ካብ ምፍታን ሓሊፉ ካልእ ትርጉም የብሉን።

ኣብ ኤርትራ ሕገመንግስቲ የለን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ኣሎ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ናይ ፍትሒ ልዕልና የለን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ትካላዊ መስርሕ ፍትሒ ኣሎ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ብዝኾነ ጉዳይ ዝተታሕዙ ዜጋታት ድሕሪ ምትሓዞም ሃለዋቶም ኣይፍለጥን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ዜጋታት ብገበን ምስ ዝጥርጠሩ ኣብ 48 ሰዓታት ናብ ቤት ፍርዲ ቀሪቦም ባዕሎም ይኹን ብጠበቅኦም ነብሶም ናይ ምክልኻል መሰል ኣለዎም። ኣብ ኤርትራ ጉዳይ ሰብኣዊ መሰል ከም ኣጀንዳኳ ኣይለዓልን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ብፓርላማ ዝተመስረቱ፡ ኮሚሽናት ሰብኣዊ መሰልን ናይ ህዝቢ ሓባሲ ንብዓትን ኣለዉ። ኣብ ኤርትራ መሰል ምውዳብን ሓሳብካ ምግላጽን የለን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ሕጋውነት ለቢሰን ዝንቀሳቐሳ ክሳብ 107 ተወዳደርቲ ፖለቲካዊ ውድባት፡ ልዕሊ 20 ናይ ብሕቲ ማዕከናት  ተለቪዝዮን፡ ብዙሓት ብሕታዊ መደበራት ሬድዮን ጋዜጣታትን ኣለዋ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ዋላ ሓንቲ ዩኒቨርስቲ የለን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ናይ ብሕቲ ከይወሰኽካ፡ ልዕሊ 30 መንግስታዊ ዩኒቨርስታት ኣለዋ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ዝሕግግ፡ ዘፈጽምን ዝፈርድን ሓደ ዲክታቶር ሰብኣይ እዩ፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ሓጋጊ፡ ፈጻምን ፈራድን ኣካላት መንግስቲ ኣለዉ። ኣብ ኤርትራ ምርጫ ዝበሃል የለን፡ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ግና ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ 5 ዓመት ፈደራላውን ክልላውን ምርጫታት ይካየዱ። ጉዳይ ኣጠቓቕማ ባንክ፡ ጉዳይ ግደ ብሕታዊ ጽላት ኣብ ወፍሪ፡ ጉዳይ ግዱድ ሃገራዊ ኣገልግሎት ዝኣመሰሉ፡ ዛዕባታት እንተወሲኽናሉ ከኣ ናይቲ ዝየሳኒ ሃለዋት ዝርዝር ኣዝዩ ነዊሕ እዩ። ኣብ ከምዚ ኩነታት ኣብ መንጎ ክልቴን ሃገራት ዝምድና ክትገብር ምፍታን፡ ትምኒት እምበር ግብራዊ ክኸውን ዘለዎ ዕድል ኣዝዩ ጸቢብ እዩ። ኢሳይያስ ናብቲ ኢትዮጵያ ዘላትሉ ኩነታት ንምምጻእ ዕጭ ካብ በለ፡ ንኢትዮጵያ ናብቲ ኤርትራ ዘላትሉ ጽልሙት ኩነታት ምምላሳ ከኣ ዘይሕለም እዩ። እቶም ነዚ ዘሕዝን ኩነታት ሃገሮም ኣቐሚጦም፡ በቲ ኣብ ኢትዮጵያ ዝርአ ናይ ኣተገባብራ ሕጽረታት ክወራዘዩ ዝህቅኑ ኤርትራውያን ከኣ ኣዝዮም የሕዝኑ። እዚ ማለት ግና እቲ ናትካ ኣቐሚጥካ ናብ እንዳማትካ ዳምዳም ምባል እንተዘይኮይኑ፡ ብዛዕባ ናይ ካለኦት ሃገራት ሕጽረትን ተመኩሮን ምዝራብ ነውሪ እዩ ማለት ኣይኮነን። እንተ መደረ ኢሳይያስ “እንተ ፈታሕካዮስ ጥራሕ ቁጻር” እዩ።

May 25, 2019 Martin Plaut News

INTRODUCTION