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Wednesday, 07 June 2017 20:41

ንዝመጽእ’ምበር ዝሓለፈ ክትልዉጥ ኣይከኣልን’ዩ

Written by ድራር መንታይ

ኣብ ዝኾነ ይኹን ኩርናዕ ዓለም ዝነብር ህዝቢ፡ ኩሉ ግዜ ብኣሉታን እወንታን ከም ዝጸሉን ዝጽለውን ርዱእ እዩ። ከምኡ እውን ኣብ መዓልታዊ ህይወቱ ብዙሕ ዕንቅፋታት ከጋጥሞ ይኽእል። ነቲ ንሱ ዝሓልፎ ሽግርን መከራን ይኹን ራህዋን ቅሳነትን ግን ተመሊሱ ንመጻኢ ህይወቱን ህይወት ካልኦትን ብኣሉታ ዝጸሉ ክኸውን ኣይግበኣን።

ኩሉ ኣተሓሳስባና ምስ ግዜን ኩነታትን ክቕየር ስለዝኽእል፡ ንቕንዕናን ሰናይ ተግባርን ክውዕል ዝኽእል፡ ነቲ ናይ ትምኒታዊ ኣተሓሳስባና ክዕብልል ኣይግበኦን። እዚ ማለት ነቲ ነባር ኣተሓሳስባና ምስቲ ካብ ኩነታት ዝምንጩ ሓዲሽ ሓሳባት ደባሊቕና ካብ ምኻድን ምሕሳብን ነጻ ክንከውን የድሊ። ምኽንያቱ ነባር ወይ ኣረጊት ኣተሓሳስባ ናቱ ኣሉታዊ ግደ ክህልዎ ስለ ዝኽእል ነቲ እንጽበዮ በቲ ቅድም ዝነበረና ኣተሓሳስባ ክንከዶ እንተኾይና ግብራዊ ክኸውን ዘይክእል ስለ ዝኾነ።

ብዛዕባ ናይ ትማሊ ምሕሳብ ንግደፎ ዘይኮነስ፡ ብዛዕባ መጻኢ ከመይን እንታይን ክኸውንን ክልወጥን እዩ ኢልና ምሕሳብ ነቐድም። ምኽንያቱ ንናይ መጻኢ ትልሚ ክትድህስስ ኣዝዩ ዝቐለለ ይኸውንን ናብ ጭቡጥ ዝኾነ ክትበጽሕ ስለ ዘኽእልን። እዚ ነቲ ብሉይ ኣተሓሳስባ ዘስዕቦ ኣሉታታት ኣብ ግምት ብምእታው ንመጻኢ ንምሕሳብ ብክፉት ልቦናን ቀልብን ምስ እንገጥሞ እወንታዊ ዝኾነ ውጽኢት ከስዕብ ይኽእል እዩ።

ኣተሓሳስባና ክምዕብል ኩሉ ግዜ ካብቲ ሕሉፍ ተመኩሮና ክንመሃር ናይ ግድን እዩ። ምኽንያቱ እቲ ኣብ ትማሊ ኰንና ዝተለምናዮ ኣብ ከመይ ዝበለ ኩነታት ክሰርሕ ክኢሉ እዩ ውጽኢት ዘርኣየ ወይ ዝመኸነ ንምርዳእ ስለ ዘኽእለና። ነዚ ከስርሕ ወይ ዘይክሰርሕ ዝገበረ ኩነታትከ ደጋዊ ዲዩ ወይ ውሽጣዊ ሽግራት ምርምርን ፍተሻን ምግባር ስለ ዘድሊ። ስለዚ ነቲ ትማሊ ዝተፈጸመ ኣሉታ ይኹን እወንታ ሓዋዊስና ጥዑይን ምዕቡልን ሓሳብ ክነጥሪ ወይ እውን ንዝርከብ ሽግራት ክንኣሊ ከጸግመና እዩ። እዚ ማለት እቲ እወንታ በቲ ኣሉታ ክዕብለል ዘይኮነስ፡ እቲ ኣሉታ እዩ በቲ እወንታ ክዕብለል ዝግበኦ። ንኣብነት እቲ ኣብ ሰውራ ኤርትራ ዝተፈጸመ ጉድለታት ወይ ጌጋታትዶ ይረዝን ወይ እቲ ምእንትኡ ዝተቓለስናሉ ዝሃቦ ፍረ እዩ? ምምዛኑ የድሊ። እቲ ኣብ ሰውራ ዝተራእየ ጉድለታት ወይ ጌጋታት ነቲ ዝተረኽበ ሃገራዊ ነጻነት ፈጺሙ ክኾልፎ ኣይከኣለን። እቲ ዝተፈጸመ ጉድለታት ዋላ እኳ ሽዑ ክንፍውሶ እንተዘይከኣልና፡ ነቲ ዝገድፎ ስምብራት ክነህስሶ እዩ ዝግበኣና እምበር ለይቲ ምስ መዓልቲ ጸቢብ ስምዒታትና ንምርዋይ ክንጥቀመሉ ኣየድልን።

ስለዚ ሕጂ’ውን ነቲ ሕሉፍ ኣይንዘክሮ ንምባል ዘይኮነ፥ ነቲ ትማሊ ክንጥቀመሉ ዝተለምናዮ ኣብ ምንታይ ተዓዊቱ ኣብ ምንታይከ ፈሺሉ? ስለምንታይከ ከምኡ ኮይኑ? ዝብሉ ሕቶታት ንምምላስ ርጉጽ ሓበረታ ረኺብና ንመጻኢ ዝጠቅም ክንወስድ እዩ እቲ ሕሉፍ ዝሕግዘና። እዚ ማለት እገለ ቀቲሉ፥ ኣሲሩ፥ ወይ ከምዝን ከምትን ገይሩ ኢልና ጭብጥን መርትዖን ዘይብሉ ኣብ “ኢሎሞ” ተመርኰስና ፍርዲ ክንህብ ዘይኮነስ፡ መጽናዕቲ ክካየድን ጭቡጥ ሓበረታ ክእከብን ዝከኣለሉ ጥጡሕ ባይታን ግዜን ምፍጣር የድሊ። እዚ ከኣ ናብቲ ፍርዲ ወይ ሕነ ምፍዳይ ገጽና ክንጎዓዝ ዘይኮነስ ነቲ ትማሊ ዝተጋገናዮ ተመሊስና ኣብ ናይ ጽባሕ ከይንደግሞ ዝሕግዘና ስለ ዝኾነ ኢና ብዛዕባ ሕሉፍ ምጽናዕ ዘገድሰና።

ይኹን እምበር ካብቲ ሕሉፍ ኣሉታዊ ተመኩሮ ተበጊስና ንመጻኢ ክንሓስብ ኣብ እንፍትነሉ እዋን ካብ ጥርጠራን፥ ሕማቕ ዝምባሌታትን ክንድሕን ሚዛናዊ ፍታሕ ክነምጽእ ንኽእል። መጻኢና ትስፍው ክንገብሮ እንኽእል፡ ከምቲ ፈሊጣውያን “ንሕሉፍ ዝቆጻጸር ንመጻኢ እውን ክቆጻጸር ይኽእል” ዝብልዎ፡ ዝሓለፈ ተመኩሮና ከም ታሪኽና ክንመሃረሉ ከምዘሎና ክንርዳእ የድሊ። እዚ ስለዝኾነ ነቲ ሕሉፍ ብግቡእ ክንፈልጦን ምዛናዊነት ሃልዩና ንኣተሓሳስባና ካብ ሕሉፍ ኣውጺእና ልቦና ዝመልኦ ሓሳብ ሒዝና ናበይ ገጽና ኢና ንጎዓዝ? ዝብል ሕቶ መልሊስና ኣብ ናይ ለውጢ ጐደና ክንጐዓዝ የድልየና።

Wednesday, 07 June 2017 14:21

Analysis | Why key Arab countries have cut ties with Qatar — and what Trump had to do with it 10 / 24

Written by Michael Stephens

The Washington Post

Michael Stephens

The decision by five Arab states to sever ties with Qatar marks another chapter in a multiyear saga of turbulent relations between Qatar and its neighbors. A split between Doha and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was brewing for years. At the heart of the problem lies an irreconcilable difference between the Persian Gulf countries about how to interpret the events of the 2011 Arab Spring and, more important, how to react to them.

In contrast to its GCC neighbors, Qatar actively promoted regime change across the Arab world. The Qataris mobilized finances and offered favorable media coverage to many Islamist actors, including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas in Gaza, the Ennahda party in Tunisia and myriad militias in Libya and Syria.

In response, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia worked forcefully to block Qatar’s interests in the region, helping to depose Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, funding rival opposition factions in Syria and supporting the government of Gen. Khalifa Hifter in Libya.

Although the Saudis and Emiratis began to resist Qatar’s regional activities, Qatar’s rulers were no pushover. The emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani, and his cousin, Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani, were seasoned operators on the international stage. For 20 years, they built “Brand Qatar” by forming a crosscutting swathe of alliances across the region, stretching from Mauritania to Afghanistan. And so the decision by Hamad to hand power to his son Tamim in August 2013 presented an opportunity for the Saudis and Emiratis to put pressure on the young monarch to force him into line.

In an environment increasingly hostile to Qatari foreign policy, Tamim lacked the experience of his father and uncle to handle the challenges. Al Jazeera was hemorrhaging viewers regionally, and Qatari foreign policy increasingly struggled in Libya, Syria and Egypt in the face of GCC pressure.

Sensing their opportunity, the Emiratis, Saudis and Bahrainis urged Tamim to scale back Qatar’s regional activities. Following six months of failed negotiations, the three countries pulled their ambassadors from Doha in protest in early 2014.

With the help of Kuwait’s emir, Qatar agreed to acquiesce to each of the three countries in a series of bilateral negotiations, leading to a repair in relations by the GCC summit in December 2014. But it was not until December 2016, when Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz came to Doha, that the rift was publicly mended.

But for all the goodwill that was shown, the core problem that underlay the split had never healed. While the Qataris had toned down Al Jazeera and evicted a few Muslim Brotherhood members from Doha, their ambition to be a regional actor remained, as did their myriad of friendships with a host of political Islamists across the region — friendships that the UAE in particular found hard to accept.

In recent months, Qatar has once again drifted outside the GCC consensus. Particularly galling for the UAE and Saudi Arabia has been Qatar’s interaction with Islamist groups linked closely to the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda. Worse still to them are its business dealings with Iranian regional affiliates. In April, Qatar was involved in communications with the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham organization to guarantee population transfers in the country. Qatar appeared to have brokered the deal by communicating with Iran, which in return managed to secure the release of 26 Qataris royals kidnapped in Iraq in return for a princely sum to be paid to Iranian client militia Kataib Hezbollah.

Qatar also helped Hamas publicly rebrand itself— and the group launched its new policy objectives at a Doha hotel in May. Islamist rebranding has been a favored tactic Qatar uses with Syrian opposition groups, particularly the Islamist Ahrar al Sham, and, unsuccessfully, with the leader of the now defunct al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. This attempt to legitimize Islamist groups is an issue the Emiratis in particular find difficult to accept.

The United States has served as a key actor from which the Saudis can take their lead. As Riyadh has moved closer to the United States in recent days, helped with a promise of purchasing more American arms during President Trump’s visit in May, there is little doubt the Saudis felt emboldened to ratchet up the pressure against the Qataris.

The Emiratis also have found themselves in favor with the new Washington administration, whose strong dislike for both Iran and Sunni Islamists fits well with UAE policy priorities. Accordingly, there is a newfound confidence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that strong measures to force the Qataris back into their box will find support in Washington.

Qatar’s support for Hamas seems to have been a card the gulf states have played effectively to curry favor with U.S. decision-makers amid the warming relations between the gulf and the Israelis. The UAE and Saudi Arabia appear to be preempting U.S. policy by sounding notes that will find favor with pro-Israel, anti-Iran, and anti-Islamist legislators in Congress, albeit for reasons much more applicable to intra-GCC politics than the regional strategic goals of the United States.

Given that diplomatic attempts to isolate Qatar in 2014 seem to have had no long-term effect on Doha’s behavior, it is not surprising that the Saudis have decided to dramatically up the stakes this time around by closing off Qatar’s only land border and— along with the UAE and Egypt— blocking all air travel to the emirate, with Egypt denying Qatar Airways the use of its airspace.

The closure of land borders and the disruption to air traffic will have serious consequences for the Qatari economy and its society that will quickly prove prohibitively expensive, even for a rich state like Qatar. And so, serious concessions will have to be made if relations in the GCC are to normalize to the usual levels of mutually suspicious friendship.

Michael Stephens is a research fellow in the Middle East Department and head of the Qatar operations of the British-based Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.

Source=http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/analysis-why-key-arab-countries-have-cut-ties-with-qatar-%E2%80%94-and-what-trump-had-to-do-with-it/ar-BBCdfog?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

Wednesday, 07 June 2017 12:09

ሰሚናር ኣብ ኣምስተርዳም

Written by ማሕበር ምጥርናፍ ኤርትራውያን ኣምስተርዳምን ከባቢኡን

ማሕበር ምጥርናፍ ኤርትራውያንኣብ ኣምስተርዳምን ከባቢኣን

እቲ ዋና ተልእኾ፥ ማሕበር ምጥርናፍ ኣምስተርዳምን ከባቢኣን፡

“ ሓድነት ህዝቢ ኤርትራን ልዕላውነትን ብምርግጋጽ ፥ እዋናዊ መድረኻዊ ቃልስና፥ ሃገርን ህዝብን ካብዚ ወሪድዎ ዘሎ ስቓይ ንምድሓን ኣብ ዝሰፍሐ ንህዝብና ዝእክብን ዝጥርንፍን ዓውደ መቃለሲ ኣብ ትሕቲ ንጹርን ግሉጽን ሓባራዊ ባይታ ኣንጻር እቲ ጸረ - ፍትሒ ዝዀነ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ከምዝለዓል ምግባር እዩ ። “

ነዚ ንምዕዋት ፥ ናይ ኩሉ ደላይ ፍትሒ ፖለቲካዊ ኣረኣእያኡ ብዘየገድስ ፥ ኣብ ፖለቲካዊ ውድባት ይኹን ስቪካውያን ማሕበራት ዘሎ ወይ’ውን ብውልቁ ፥ ነዚ ዲክታቶርያዊ ስርዓት ዝቃወምን ዝቃለስን ፥ ኣብ ሓደ ጽላል ተጠርኒፉ ሓደ ዓብን ሰፊሕን ምትእኽኻብ ብምምስራት ጥራይ እዩ ኣድማዒ ስራሕ ክሰርሕ ዝኽእል ። ካብዚ ሓቂ’ዚ ብምንቃል እምበኣር እዩ ማሕበር ምጥርናፍ ኤርትራውያን ኣምስተርዳምን ከባቢኡን ብዕለት 28-05-2017 ንኩልና ኤርትራውያን ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ኣብ ሆላንዲ እንነብር፥ ኣብዚ ንኹልና ዝምልከት ጉዳይ ፡ ሓቢርና ክንዛተን ክንላለን፡ ሓብርና ክንሰርሓሉ እንኽእል መደባት ክንሰርዕን ፡ ብዝመደቦ መጸዋዕታ ምኩራትን ፡ ሰብ ሕልናን ደለይቲ ፍትሒ ፥ ነዚ መጸዋዕታ ኣኽቢሮም ካብ ዝተፈላለየ ከተማታት ዝተሳተፍዎ ዕዉት ኣኼባ ኣካይዱ ።

ኣብዚ መዓልቲ’ ዚ ኣቦ መንበር ማሕበር : ንኣኼበኛ እንዃዕ ድሓን መጻእኩም ድሕሪ ምባሉ ፥ ኣኼባ ነቶም ጀጋኑ ስዉኣትና ብምዝካር ብዝክረ-ሰማእታት ተጀሚሩ። መበል 26 ዓመት ጽንብል ነጻነት ሃገርና ኤርትራ ብምዝካር ፥ ነቲ ቅያ ሰርሑ ልዕላውነት ሃገር ዘውሓሰ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ዮሃና ንብሎ። በቲ ሓደ ሸነኽ ከኣ ንፍረ መስዋእቲ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ጨውዩ ፥ ብስርዓት ህግደፍ ህዝብና ይሳቐን ፡ ይእሰርን ይበታተንን ብምህላዉ ዝስመዓና ሓዘን ኣስሚርሉ። ኣስዒቡ ፡ ልዕላውነት ሃገርና ክንዕቅቦ ዘሎና ሕላገት ታሪኽና ምዃኑ ፥ ዘተኮረ መግለጺ ብምውሳኽ ሓሳቡ ደምዲሙ ።

ቀጺሉ ፡ መምህር ኢብራሂም መሓመድ ዘዳለዎ ትምህርታዊ መግለጺ ብዛዕባ ሃገረ ኤርትራን ( ደውላ ኤርትራ )ብድሆታትን ኣመልኪቱ ዝገልጽ ፥ ዕሙቕ ዝበለ መግለጺ ኣቕሪቡ። ንሃገረ ኤርትራ ዘቖማ ኣዕኑድ ብዝርዝር ፥ ኤርትራ ፥ 1. ፍሉጥ ዶባትን ስፍሓትን ዘለዋ ፥ 2. ዝተፈላለየ ቋንቋታትን ፡ እምነታት ዝሓቖፈት ብሓድነት ዝነብር ህዝቢ ዘለዋ ፥ 3. ህዝቢ ብጅግንነቱ ብ1991 ነጻነቱን ልዕላውነቱን ዘውሓሰ ምዃኑ ብሰፊሑ ኣብሪህዎ። 4. እቲ ኣብ ኤርትራ በዂሩ ዘሎ ግን ግዝኣተ-ሕግን ፡ ብዂረት ህዝባዊ ዋንነት ስልጣንን ምዃኑ ኣስሚርሉ።

ብድሕሪ’ ዚ መድረኽ ንኣኼበኛ ተኸፊቱ ። ኣብ ዝተኻየደ ናይ እንካን ሃባን ልዙብ ክትዓት ፡ ብዙሕ ሃናጺ ርእይቶታትን ለበዋታትን ወሪዱ። ኣብዚ መድረኽ’ዚ ፡ ኩሉ ደላይ ፍትሒ ፡ ቀዳማይን ቀንድን ዕላምኡ ኣንጻር ኣቲ ህዝብን ሃገርን ዘጥፍእ ዘሎ መላኺ ስርዓት ከቕንዕ ከወሃህድን ከምዘለዎ ርኢና።

በዚ መላኺ ስርዓት ዝተበደለ ህዝቢ እዩ ዘሎና። ብፍላይ ድማ እቲ ሓድሽ፡ ወራሲ ክኸውን ዘለዎ መንእሰይ ወሎዶ ኣዝዩ ዝተበደለ ምዃኑን፥ ጥርኑፍ ናይ ቃልሲ ታሪኽን ተሞክሮን ንከነውርሶን ፡ካብ ግዳይ ናይ ኣህላኺ ተሞክሮ ምፍልላይን፡ ምቅንጻልን ክድሕን፥ ናይ ምእላዩ ተራ ክንጻወት ከምዘሎና መዚና ።
ኣብዚ እዋን’ዚ ዝተፈላለያ ማሕበራት ወይ ምትእኽኻባት ከምዘለዋን ፥ ብማዕሪኡ ዝርኤ ምጥርጣራትን ከምዘሎን ብጥቃስ ፥ ከምኡ’ውን ዘሰክፍ ምልዕዓላትን ጎስጓሳትን ብምምዛን፥ ነዚ ክዉንነት ፈጢሩ ዘሎ ጠንቅታት ብውሕሉል ኣገባብ ከነጽንዖ ከምዘሎና ርኢና ።
ንፍትሕን ንለውጥን ዝቃለስ ሰብ ፥ መጀመርያ ንነብሱ ሓራ ከውጽኣ ከምዘለዎን

ኣኼበኛ ፥ ነቲ ማሕበር ምጥርናፍ ኤርትራውያን ኣምስተርዳምን ከባቢኣን ሒዝዎ ዘሎ መሰረታዊ ዕላማን ፥ እቲ ካብ ታሕቲ ናብ ላዕሊ ዘቕንዐ ፡ ብከተማ ዝጅምር ፡ ቦታዊ ምጥርናፍን ብልጫታቱን ቅኑዕ ምዃኑ ኣስሚሮሙሉ። ኣብ ካልኦት ከተማታት ብተመሳሳሊ መንገዲ ንክጥርነፋ ዘድሊ ምትሕብባር ክገብሩ ቃል ኣትዮም። እዚ ምስ ዝዕወት ድማ ንኩለን ከተማታት እትጥርንፍ ሓንቲ ኣወሃሃዲት ሽማግለ ምምራጽ ። መደባታ ብምእኩል ኣገባብ ብምስራዕ ፡ ኩሉ’ቲ ዘድሊ ማሕበራውን ፖለቲካውን ስርሓታ ተካይድ። እቲ ተግባራዊ መስርሕ ነዚ ይመስል። ብተውሳኺ ሽማግለ ማሕበር ከይተሓለለት ነዚ ናይ ምጥርናፍ ጎስጓስ ክትቅጽሎ ለበዋ ቀሪቡ ።

ኣብ መድምደምታ ክንብሎ ንደሊ ፥ ግርማ ሓይሊ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኣብ ሓድነቱ ዝተኣማመን፥ ጭዋ ተቓላሳይ ህዝቢ ምዃኑ ዘረጋገጾ ፥ ናይ ትማሊ ቃልሲ ኣንጻር ኩሎም ባዕዳውያን ዘካየዶ ህያው ምስክር ኣሎ። ነዚ ምስ እነለልዮ ኢና ኸኣ ኣብ ሃገርና ሰላምን ቅሳነትን ዝመልኦ ብስርዓተ-ሕጊ ዝመሓደር ሕብረተ ሰብ ክንሃንጽ ንኽእል። ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ዕድሜኡ ዘናውሖ ዘሎ ፥ ድኽመትናን ዘይምጥርናፍና እዩ። እንታይ ክንገብር ኣሎና ? ዝብል ሕቶ ፡ ኩሉ ብሃገሩን ህዝቡን ዝሓምም ኤርትራዊ ክምልሶ ዘለዎ ወዓል ሕደር ዘየድልዮ ጉዳይ እዩ ። ዋናታት ጉዳይና ንሕና ኢና። ናውቲ ሓድነት፡ ግሉጽነትን ፥ ተጻዋርነትን ምውናን ጥራይ እዩ ዘድሊ። ሕድሪ ጀጋኑ ሰማእታት ብሓቂ ህያው ኰይኑ ክነብር ዝኽእል ግቡእና ምስ ንገብር ጥራዩ ።

ሰላምን ራህዋን ንህዝቢ ኤርትራ !!!!

ዘለኣለማዊ ክብርን ዝኽርን ንሰማእታና !!!!

ማሕበር ምጥርናፍ ኤርትራውያን ኣምስተርዳምን ከባቢኡን

31-05-2017

Wednesday, 07 June 2017 11:36

EPDP Proposal for Joint Work of the Eritrean Opposition Camp

Written by Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP)

In the past 26 years of Eritrea's independent existence, our people have faced multiple harmful challenges threatening the very existence of the nation. It is indisputable that the primary culprit and source of Eritrea's tribulations has been the autocratic PFDJ regime, misnamed the 'People's Front for Democracy and Justice'. However, putting all the blame on the regime does not help in making a national soul-searching and addressing one's own shortcomings in a proper manner. It is time to admit that the failure of the Eritrean opposition camp to play an effective role contributed in the suffering and displacement of the Eritrean people; the opposition camp - the camp of change and justice seekers - so far did very little to shorten the days of absolute dictatorship in the country.

Nevertheless, one of the positive aspects not to be sidelined is the fact that the opposition camp was able to continue making efforts, albeit limited, in confronting the multiple abuses of the repressive PFDJ regime. The efforts exerted to resolve existing problems and, in particular, the attempts made towards creating coalitions and mergers were equally positive. In our past attempts to create alliances and strengthen the opposition camp, we did reach common understanding on a number of fundamental principles that bind us all. As such, the four principles listed below appear in various documents of the Eritrean camp of change seekers. Those points of common understanding can be taken now as the basic principles for the joint work proposal being initiated for further deliberations. They are:

1. Protecting Eritrea's territorial sovereignty;

2. Removing the autocratic PFDJ regime with its organs of repression;

3. Installing a democratic multiparty system of participatory governance;

4. Submitting to rule of law and guaranteeing basic liberties and democratic rights.

As noted, although our past experiences had some positive aspects, yet we could not create an inclusive national body or umbrella. A new start will require our commitment to never let our existing organizations or alignments to hinder the creation of a working relationship for more effective common action.

The urgency of the present situation obliges us to come out of our boxes. In simple terms, it is time to create a body/umbrella coalescing all forces currently in or outside existing alliances. Only to stress the evident truth, we are called upon to use learned lessons of the past and build a more effective body able to challenge the abusive regime in Eritrea.

The alignments we created and tried to work with were, till the present time, adversely affected by a spirit of controversy and rivalry. This is because we created an unsustainable situation in which priorities were not put in order.

For now, our most immediate task should be the removal of the autocratic regime. In past, instead of concentrating all efforts on this task, we put ourselves in a vicious circle by mixing up short-term objective with long-term objectives that cannot be attained now. And no wonder that, in a situation of controversy and with un-prioritized objectives, the structures we worked out and the programmes we adopted could not be implemented. If we continue on that path, we will only guarantee long life for the autocratic regime and fail to address the problems of our people.

Therefore, the Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP) finds it timely to call upon all fraternal forces and fellow citizens opposed to the PFDJ regime to join us in trying to come out of the old vicious circle we are in and jointly start a new path that can lead to victory of the people's cause. Based on the understanding that unjustifiable controversies and mixing up of priorities can lead us nowhere, the EPDP is now presenting this proposal for joint work that should include all concerned, and pledges to do its utmost to promote the agreed upon tasks.

Needless to say, the primary agenda for the proposed common body or umbrella is the removal of the autocratic regime. All forces coalescing for this agenda shall be expected to do what they can to carry on the new joint body. The measure and weight of each member in the common umbrella shall be its degree of contribution in implementing the joint tasks.

The existing alliances and parties shall be the building blocks of the common umbrella and shall in no way hinder the proper functioning of joint tasks. Therefore, this is a call for starting a serious dialogue among all fraternal forces, a process that should lead to timely formation of an effective body embracing all stakeholders in the struggle.

The common umbrella or body to be formed shall primarily aspire to achieve the following three major tasks:

1. A Joint Foreign Delegation

Our individual efforts in the diplomatic sphere have not been effective. All parties (governments, organizations, parties) we individually approach have been advising us to meet them as one Eritrean delegation. There is no doubt that a joint/representative Eritrean delegation will make our diplomatic work more effective. Existing Eritrean organizations or parties shall not be obliged to end their ongoing relations in this sphere. But they are expected to strengthen the work of the joint Eritrean opposition delegation. Although details can be worked out in due course of time, the delegation can consist of members from the Eritrean organizations as well as expert diplomats from outside those member organizations. The joint delegation will be able to represent the Eritrean opposition camp at international conferences and speak/write on its behalf in addition to seeking all-round assistance (political, moral and material) for the umbrella. While working under the umbrella leadership, the foreign delegation can be empowered to take various initiatives as it sees them appropriate.

2. A Common Media Centre

Having a centralized information organ representing the opposition camp is an urgent necessity in light of the fact that our fragmented media outlets are not accomplishing the intended objective. The central information organ, which shall not hinder the member organization from continuing to run their own media outlets, can be staffed by members and media experts from outside the working common umbrella.

3. An Organ for Mass Mobilization

This organ shall endeavour to mobilize the people around the opposition camp by reviving the central task of political organizations in educating and organizing participants in the struggle for change. We must acknowledge the fact that mobilization efforts have been initiated at grassroots level in several places by Eritrean activists. However, these commendable initiatives could not be spared from the Eritrean malaise of controversy and negative rivalry. We in the opposition (camp of change and justice seekers) continually resort to unnecessary contention and squabbles instead of cooperating to promote the same national objective. It is appropriate to make self-criticism on this negative attitude, while at the same time bestowing high gratitude and admiration upon those compatriots who are taking initiatives at organizing justice seekers around local councils (baitos) at district and city levels. These efforts must be encouraged at all places around the globe. Eventually, people organized at grassroots level could join their efforts with political and civic organizations and help in drawing clear action plans in removing the repressive regime. The central organ for mass mobilization can be composed by representatives of political organizations and work under the common umbrella. However, it can also closely work in cooperation with the local popular councils/baitos all over the world.

The proposed national umbrella can start with the above listed three objectives but gradually expand its work activities, as needed. Only to reiterate, the EPDP hereby commits itself to start immediate dialogue and work with any Eritrean body accepting this proposal towards forming a joint body/umbrella for joint action. No Alternative to Joint Action to Remove the Autocratic Regime!!

The Eritrean People's Democratic Party (EPDP)

4 June, 2017