December 20, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Eight people have been killed in several Sudanese cities during the second day of protests against the rising prices of basic commodities including bread, officials said on Thursday.

Sudanese in the cities of Gadarif in the eastern part of the country, Sennar in the centre and Dongla in northern Sudan took to the street in spontaneous protests and in large numbers on Thursday morning, chanting against the regime to express their discontent over rising food and fuel prices.

In Gadarif, the protesters burnt the premises of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and three government vehicles including a police car. Also, they clashed with anti-riot police.

On Thursday evening, El-Tayeb al-Amin Taha Gadarif Commissioner told Sudania 24 TV that six people were killed and others were wounded.

While the local government decided to impose emergency and curfew in the city.

Eyewitnesses, in addition, said the security agents in plain clothes shot on the protesters, killing two students.

Different sources explained the wave of protest in the provinces, saying that the federal government reduced the quantity of subsidized flour allocated to the states to cover the large deficit in Khartoum state. This decision led to an increase in the price of bread in the other regions.

The Sudanese government spokesperson and information minister, Bushara Juma said the police dealt peacefully with the protesters and granted their constitutional right to demonstrate their anger against the rising prices.

"However, the peaceful demonstrations deviated from their course and turned into a subversive activity targeting public institutions and properties through burning and destruction," Bushra said before to point to statements issued by opposition groups calling to topple down the regime.

In the capital of Northern State Dongola, the demonstrators set fire to the buildings of the Government Secretariat and burned them completely.

In Berber of the River Nile State, the security forces opened fire on the protesters and killed a demonstrator. The state government spokesperson confirmed his death and added that another was killed in the town of Ubaidiyah.

The protest against the soaring prices began in Atbara of the River Nile State on Wednesday as the price of a loaf of bread has increased to 3 Sudanese pounds (the official price is one pound).

Sources from Atbara said the protests continued for the second day on Thursday in spite of the ban imposed yesterday after the imposition of an emergency situation in the town.

In the capital Khartoum state where the situation remained Calm on Wednesday, there were some limited demonstrations in Khartoum city and Omdurman.

(ST)

Source=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66800

ርእሰ-ዓንቀጽ ሰዲህኤ

ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንዲሞክራስን ፍትሕን (ህግደፍ) ነብሱ ክኢሉ ኣብ ቅድሚ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክቐርብ ዘኽእሎ ክብደትን ተቐባልነት ስለ ዘየብሉ፡ ካብዚ ምንጥልጣል ንምድሓን ካብ ዝጥቀመሎም ሜላታት ሓደ ምስ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ምልሓግ እዩ። መራሒ ህግደፍ ዲክታቶር ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ ሓደ እዋን በታ ብሕታዊ ጋዜጣኡ ሓዳስ ኤርትራ ኣብ መንጎ ህግደፍን ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ዝነበረ ዝምድና ከብርህ ምስተሓተተ “ንህዝቢ ኤርትራን ህግደፍን ከ መንዩ ክልተ ኣካላት ገይርዎም?” ብዝብል ቑጠዐን ስንባደን ዝሃቦ መልሲ ናይዚ ኣብነት እዩ። ካብኡ ሓሊፉ “ ንሕና ሃገር ንሕና ህዝቢ” ዝብል ዜማ ህግደፍ ዕላምኡ ንኤርትራን ህዝባን ዓምጺጽካ ንብረት ህግደፍ ንምግባሮም ዝዓለመ ዓመጽ እዩ። እዚ ናይ ህዝቢ ዘይኮንካ ክንስኻ ናይ ህዝቢ መሲልካ ንብዓት ሓርገጽ ምፍሳስ ኣብ ኢሳይያስ ዝድረት ዘይኮነ ናይ ኩሎም ከምኡ ዝኣመሰሉ ወጻዕቲ ናይ “ንዓኣቶም መሲልካ ድራሮም ወድኣሎም” ፖሊሲ ኣብነት እዩ።

ኣብቲ ሓቂ ክንመጽእ እንከለና ኤርትራ ምስ ኩሉ ተፈጥሮኣዊ ኣቀማምጠኣን ሃብታን፡ ታሪኻ፡ ባህላን  ነብሳ ዝኸኣለት ንደቃ ማዕረ እትብጸሖም ብብዙሕነት ዝመልከዐት ልኡልላዊት ሃገር እያ። ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ከኣ ንውሱናት ኣባላቱን ደገፍቱን ጥራይ ዝውክል፡ ካብ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ውሑዳት ዝዋስእሉ ኣዝዩ ጸቢብ መድረኽ እዩ። ነዚ ሰጊርካ ንኹሉ ናትካ ንምግባሩን ኣብ ዘየብልካ ውክልና ክንዲ ህዝቢ ኮይንካ ክትዕንድር ምፍታንን ግና ሓቅነትን ተቐባልነትን ዘይብሉ መርኣያ ወጻዕቲ ጥራይ እዩ። ምናልባት ጉጅለ ህግደፍ ብህዝቢ ዝተመርጸን ህዝቢ ይርሓሰና ብዝበሎ ሕገ-መንግስቲ ዝምራሕን ነይሩ እንተዝኸውን ከምቲ ዝብሎ” ንሱ ንሕና ንሕና ንሱ” እኳ እንተዘይኮነ፡ ምስ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከም ዝቀራረብ እንተ ገለጸ መምሓረሉ። ግና ኣይኮነን። ስለዚ ኢና ከኣ “ኤርትራ ካልእ፡ ህግደፍ ከኣ ካልእ” እንብል።

ኣብዚ እዋንዚ እቲ ግጉይ ኣገላልጻ ዝምድና ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ህግደፍን፡ ካብ ህግደፍ ሓሊፉ ኣብ ካልኦት እውን ክንጸባረቕ ልሙድ ኮይኑ ኣሎ። ህግደፍ ዓይኒ መፍተሉ ጠፊእዎ የዕለብጥ ኣብ ዝሃለወሉ፡ ልኡላውነት ኤርትራ እውን ማዕረ ማዕረኡ ኣብ ሓደጋ ከም ዝወደቐ ኣምሲሎም ዝግምቱ ትዕዘብ ኢኻ። እቲ ህግደፍ ኣብ ምዕልባጥ ምህላዉ ሓቅን ኣብ ባይታ ዝንበብ ዘሎን እዩ። እንተ እቲ ናይ ኤርትራን ህዝባን መጻኢ ዕድል ብህግደፍ ከም ዝውሰን ወሲድካ፡ ልኡላዊት ኤርትራውን ኣኺልዎ፡ ዝዓይነቱ ስምዒት ግና ከምቲ “ነዳይሲ ናይ ልቡ ይሓልም” ዝበሃል ህርፋን እምበር ሓቅነት የብሉን። ናይ ኤርትራን ህዝባን ህልውናን ቀጻልነትን ኣብ ሓቀኛ ታሪኽ ዝተሰረተ፡ ብደምን ኣዕጽምትን ኣእላፍ ጀጋኑኣ ዝተነድቀ፡ መንግስቲ እንተሓለፈ፡ ዘይሓልፍ ነባሪ እዩ። ህግደፍ ግና ብመሰረቱ እውን ሓጺርን ወጻዕን ዕድመ ዘለዎ ሓላፊ ጉጅለ እዩ። ነዚ ሓቂ እዚ ህግደፍ እውን ክለኻኽም ደኣ ይፍትን እምበር፡ ንሱ ክፋኖ እንከሎ ኤርትራ ግና ኣብ ቦታኣ ምዃና ከይፈተወ ዝቕበሎ ሓቂ እዩ። እዚ ክበሃል እንከሎ ግና ክሳብ ዘሎ፡ ክሰብራ ዘይኮነስ ከሰንብራ ከም ዝኽእል ንዕዘቦ ዘለና እዩ።

ኣብዚ ህግደፍ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ፈጢርዎ ዘሎ፡ ካብ ህዝቢ ዝተሓብአ ዓይኒመፍተሉ ዘይፍለጥ ኣዛራቢ ዝምድና ንበሎ ርክብ፡ ብዙሓት ንህግደፍ ዘቃልዑ ተረኽቦታት ይረኣዩ ከም ዘለዉ ንዕዘብ ኣለና። ኣብዚ መስርሕ ብዙሓት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ክዛረበሎም ዝግበኦ ጉዳያት ተዓዚብና። ክንድቲ ዓው ኢሉ ክዛረበሎም ዝግበኦ ግና ኣይተዛረበሎምን። ምኽንያቱ ከኣ እቲ ብመስዋእቲ ደቁ ዝዋገ ዘሎ ዝመስል መስርሕ ባህ ኢልዎ ዘይኮነ፡ ወይ ኣስደሚምዎ ወይ ድማ ዓው ኢሉ ዝዛረበሉ ውሑስ መድረኽ ስለ ዘይረኸበ እዩ። እንተ’ቲ ጽምዋ መሪጽካ ምስ እትኣምኖ ብትሑት ድምጺ ምዝራብ ግና ሎሚ መሊኡ እዩ። እዚ ኣብ ሓጺር ግዜ ናብ ደፋኢ ዓውታ ከም ዝድይብ ከኣ ዘጠራጥር ኣይኮነን።

ሎሚ ብወገን ኢትዮጵያውያን፡ “ኤርትራ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ ተደሚራ፡ ኤርትራ በይና ክትከውን ፈቲና ምዃን ምስ ኣበያ እነሆ ተመሊሳ፡ ኣቶ ኢሳይያስ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ንኢትዮጵያ ኣብየምዋ ሎሚ ግና ክሒሰሙዋ፥ ኤርትራውያን ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ዝምለሱ ዘለዉ ደንጊጾም ዘይኮኑ፡ ናጽነት ማለት ጥምየትን ድኽነትን ምዃኑ ስለ ዝተረድኡ እዮም. . . ወዘተ” ዝብሉ ኤርትራ “ንዓይ ርኢኹም ተቐጽዑ” ትብል ከም ዘላ ዘምስል ኣበሃህላታት እዮም። እዞም ኣበሃህላታት ከከም በሃሊኦም፡ ገሊኦም ብዓሚቕ ጉርሕን ፖለቲካዊ ሕሳብን ዝተኣልሙ ክኾኑ እንከለዉ፡ ገሊኦም ከኣ ብገርሂ ምናልባት እውን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ ትጠቅም ከም ዘለኻ መሲልካ ዝበሃሉ እዮም። ናይዞም ኩሎም መንቀሊ ከኣ ናይ ህግደፍ ዓቕሚ ምስኣንን ተንኮልን ኮይኑ ጥፍኣትን ልምዓትን ኤርትራን ህግደፍን ማዕረ ማዕረ ዝኸይድ እዩ ካብ ዝብል ግጉይ መዛዘሚ ዝነቅል’ዩ።

እቲ ቀንዲ ዘገርም እንተ ብጉርሒ እንተ ብገርሂ እዞም ዝጠቐስናዮም ንልኡላውነት ኤርትራ ብግጉይ ዝገልጹ ሓረጋት ምዝውታሮም እይኮነን። እቲ ዘገርም ብወገን ህግደፍ ነዚ ግጉይ ኣረዳደኣታት ዘቃንዕ ሓሳብ ዘይወሃብ ምህላዉ እዩ። ከምዚ እንዳተባህለ ስቕ ምባል ከኣ እቲ ዝበሃል ሓቂ እዩ ኢልካ ተቐቢልካዮ ኣለኻ ካብ ማለት ምዃኑ ሓሊፉ ካልእ ትርጉም ዝወሃቦ ኣይኮነን። ሓሓሊፉ እዞም ዝተጠቕሱ ኣበሃህላታት ብህግደፍ ከም ዝራጐዱ’ውን ተዓዚብና ኢና። ስለዚ ደገፍቲ ህግደፍ፥ “ህግደፍ ንኤርትራ ናብ ምምላሱ ዘጸግም ሓደጋ ይወስዳ ኣሎ” ንዝብል ስግኣት ግቡእ ኣቓልቦ ይህብዎ እንተዘየልዮም ታሪኻዊ ጌጋ እዮም ዝፍጽሙ ዘለዉ’ሞ፡ ከሎ ጌና ናብ ልቦም ክምለሱ ንምሕጸኖም። ንሕና እውን ካብዚ ታሪኻዊ ተሓታትነት ንምድሓንን ክብሪ ኤርትራ ንምዕቃብን፡ ነቲ ስግኣት ደጋጊምካ ምግላጹ ጥራይ ዘይኮነ፡ ነቲ ስግኣት ንምውጋድ ብግብሪ ክንውፈየሉ ዝግበኣና ግዜ ዘይህብ ሓላፍነትና ምዃኑ ከይንዝንግዕ ሓደራ።

By Abraham T. Zere  December 19, 2018

The lack of information about President Isaias’ plans as Eritrea undergoes a period a change is making many nervous. Credit: Sailing Nomad.

Eritrea’s life-president Isaias Afwerki could hardly have had a busier 2018. This year, he has signed an historic peace deal with Ethiopia. He has built close relations with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. He has re-emerged as a man of paramount importance in regional politics, and he has had UN sanctions lifted on Eritrea.

Who knows what 2019 will bring?

That is not a rhetorical question. Isaias has long overseen a closed political system, but this year, its secrecy has reached new heights. While the president used to maintain close relations with his subordinates as a way of control, he is now making momentous decisions almost single-handedly. He is governing without informing, let alone consulting, his colleagues.

When Isaias made the dramatic announcement on 20 June that Eritrea would send a delegation to Ethiopia to discuss peace after 20 years of hostilities, for example, most ministers were hearing the news for the first time, according to inside sources. The first time the cabinet met to discuss relations with Ethiopia was on 28 September, almost three months after the 9 July peace deal had already been signed.

The president has been similarly tight-lipped with the Eritrean people. It was only on 3 November that Isaias sat down for his first interview on the topic. But in the 80-minute monologue-cum-lecture with state media, he talked only about regional dynamics. It was advertised that he would address domestic issues in a second part, but Eritreans are still waiting for that instalment. In the meantime, Isaias has returned to Ethiopia to meet with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for a seventh time and signed another mysterious deal, this time joined by Somalia’s president.

“A state of uncertainty”

Inside sources in the Eritrean government, who have asked to remain anonymous for their security, describe a situation in which officials and ministers have very little idea of the president’s plans and actions.

“We are all in a state of uncertainty,” said one senior official. “Obviously, a love affair [between Isaias and Abiy], now turning into a romantic series, is being played way above us. Everyone complains. No one knows what to do.”

Another well-placed individual told African Arguments: “Most ministers are avoiding contact even with their staff in fear of being asked to share their opinions that would eventually reveal their ignorance.”

This opacity could explain why ministers have seemed unable to answer questions posed by international journalists. When Information Minister Yemane G. Meskel was asked by Reuters about rumours that indefinite national service was to be abolished, for example, he could neither confirm nor deny it. Minister for Labour and Human Welfare Luul Gebreab was similarly vague and unforthcoming when cornered on the same subject by a Bloomberg journalist.

According to figures in government, Isaias has also marginalised his top military commanders. For the last two decades, the president forged close links with these army leaders, allowing them to engage in reckless corruption to buy their loyalty. But sources suggest that he has side-lined these commanders and now passes orders straight to middle-ranking officers.

Insiders familiar with the situation say that, at the moment, Isaias spends most days in his office in Adi-Halo, on the outskirts of the capital Asmara. There, they say, only four people are permitted to visit him: Yemane Ghebreab, the political affairs head of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ); Osman Saleh, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Yemane G. Meskel, Minister of Information; and Hagos “Kisha” Ghebrehiwet, the PFDJ’s economic affairs head and the president’s confidante.

They are reportedly summoned not for discussions, but to relay messages and oversee the government’s daily operations.

[Eritrea: History aside, what will peace mean for my loved ones?]

Speculation fills the gap

In this vacuum of information, speculation and fear has filled the gap in this tumultuous time of change for Eritrea.

One particular area of concern surrounds the country’s future relations with Ethiopia. Since the start of the speedy rapprochement, certain comments by Isaias, Foreign Minister Osman and others have made some Eritreans nervous. In particular, rhetoric of Ethiopians and Eritreans being “one people”, the rapid warming of relations, and the fact that the border demarcation has been all but been forgotten have led some to fear that some kind of confederation between the two countries is in the offing.

This theory was given further weight in November when the ruling PFDJ distributed a list of “Essential Readings” (ኣገደስቲ ጽሑፋት). Among the compiled articles was one by Dawit W. Giorgis, a former governor under the Derg, the regime that ruled brutally over both Ethiopia and Eritrea before the latter gained independence.

In the piece, Dawit, who turned on the Derg, describes meeting Isaias during the armed struggle. He says he told the then rebel leader to take over all of Ethiopia to which, he claims, Isaias responded: “You can be certain Mr. Dawit, that if and when we get our independence, our priority will be to unite the people under some sort of federal arrangement.”

Another issue that has prompted interpretation is Isaias’ relationship with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a constituent party in Ethiopia’s ruling coalition. The president has a historical personal animosity with the TPLF, , which was the most powerful party in Ethiopia before Abiy became Prime Minister in April 2018, and has framed the party as a threat to the region’s stability. Other Eritrean officials have followed his lead in calling for the old guards from the TPLF to be cleared out.

Isaias even reportedly banned Eritrea’s most famous singer, Helen Meles, from touring and playing shows after she performed in Mekele, the capital of Tigray Region, this November. The president is understood to have been so displeased by her gesture that he thought it right to punish a singer who has long helped praised on him in her songs. Sham Keleab, the head of Asser Band and Meles’ partner, was also reportedly stripped of his leadership role.

Isaias’ vocal targeting of the TPLF has even got to the point that one of the party’s founders, Abay Tsehaye, recently pleaded openly with him to forgive and forget.

“More afraid now”

For many outside Eritrea, President Isaias’ decision to pursue peace with Ethiopia this year has sparked widespread hope. But for those in the country, little has changed. In fact, for some, the fast-paced high-level changes, the even greater centralisation of decision-making in the presidency, and the near-total lack of information have made people more concerned than ever.

According to one man who recently crossed into Ethiopia, people in Eritrea are “more afraid now than they used to be before the peace”.

Source=https://africanarguments.org/2018/12/19/eritrea-senior-government-sources-reveal-nothing-isaias/