Fixation With Election or Fixation With Dictatorship

2015-03-26 07:27:22 Written by  EPDP Information Office Published in EPDP Editorial Read 3387 times

EPDP Editorial

Mr. Yemane Gebreab continues to be the face of lies, betrayal, tyranny and destruction in Eritrea. But history has it all, Mr. Yemane and his boss will soon be relegated to the dustbin of history by the power of Eritrean people. And Mr. Yemane knows it.  

When Yalda Hakim of BBC asked Mr. Yemane Gebreab, Head of Political Affairs of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), on 12 March 2015, as to when elections will be held in Eritrea, he said, "When the time comes we will do it, but this fixation with elections is wrong and I think it's creating problems for Africa.” Mr. Yemane just read that straight from the script of dictators. Mr. Yemane even invoked the presence of peace and development in Eritrea while Yemane and his boss barricaded the country for the past twenty four years and denied any semblance of freedom and rights to the Eritrean people.

The point is fixation on elections is what Eritrean people are struggling to achieve. It is election that brings the power of citizens into being; it is democratic election that brings development, peace, innovation, hope, and happiness to any society. It is democratic election that secures the rule of law and justice. In case Mr. Yemane missed it, fixation on election is a number one agenda of Eritrean people – it means election ensures the sovereign power of the Eritrean citizens to hire and fire their leaders. But portraying ‘fixation with elections’ as a negative phenomenon for a society was what Mr. Yemane attempted to do, meaning democratic elections are antithetical to freedom and peace or dangerous to Eritrea’s unity. Mr. Yemane, there is no benevolent dictatorship if that is what you are trying to tell Eritrean people.

What is dangerous to Eritrea and its people is fixation with dictatorship, and not fixation with elections. It is the fixation on dictatorship that brought Mr. Yemane and his boss to brute power, which subsequently exposed the country and its people to unprecedented crisis and destruction, mass starvation, and mass exodus of its youth to the extent of weakening the socio-cultural fabric of Eritrean society. Eritrea would not have looked like it is now if it had held elections following its ratification of the constitution.

The irony is Mr. Yemane also portrayed election as a problem to Africa when he said, “… fixation with elections is wrong and I think it's creating problems for Africa,” the very area that Mr. Yemane and his boss has failed or refused to address in the past 24 years of their rule in Eritrea. Mr. Yemane invoked the comparison to distort the reality of Eritrea or to justify the unjustifiable, and that is to avoid the fundamental question related to the suspension of elections and constitutional governance in Eritrea. But comparing Eritrea with other countries and directing accusations at outsiders have been the single best campaign of distortion for PFDJ while the very destructive force that is robbing and stifling the destiny of Eritrea is none other than Isaias and his gang of political and military allies. Again, Mr. Yemane’s portrayal of negative light about other African countries has one message: and that is there are countries that have bigger problem than Eritrea; hence we are doing fine – a distorted and baseless comparison to disguise the brutality and violent nature of the regime of Isaias in Eritrea. This is what social psychologists call “downward comparison” – entities experiencing negative affects try to enhance their status through comparison with less fortunate others. Short of finding any inferior government or society to downward compare to, the regime engages in active derogation or defamation of other governments and societies to achieve downward comparison. This kind of downward comparison is aimed at making the Eritrean people’s perception of regime look good by creating a lower reference point to evaluate its activities.

Another question that Yalda Hakim asked Mr. Yemane was about the human rights abuses in Eritrea and the lack of freedom of expression and freedom of speech. Putting aside his gibberish and misleading comments, this is what Mr. Yemane said, “This is a country committed to human rights; we are against torture; our human rights record is a fairly good one; we do not have secret prisons.” This is not the first time Mr. Yemane and his PFDJ riffraff made a mockery of human rights and democracy in Eritrea. We know the gross human rights abuses in Eritrea has drastically affected the ability of the country to democratize and to function as a nation; it deprived Eritrea’s younger population to live in peace and prosperity, and to ensure the sustainability and continuity of the country to future generations; we know Eritrea has become a nest of poverty and terror because of the brutality perpetuated by the repressive regime of Isaias for the past two decades. This picture is not fabricated; it is real in Eritrea, Mr. Yemane.

The human disasters of Eritrea happening in the Lampadusa, in the Sinai desert, in the high seas…etc do not occur in a country that is “committed to human rights.” The faces of those Eritreans vanishing in no man’s land are not stereotypes or images portrayed to vilify Eritrea; they are true reflection of the real massive human rights violation and lack of freedom in Eritrea. Arresting hundreds of thousands of Eritrean citizens and not guaranteeing the right to defend themselves in the court of law does not happen in a country that is “committed to human rights.” This only happens in countries that condone human rights violations, as well as in countries that fail to adhere to democratic governance, and Eritrea is one of them. And the point here is that Eritrean people should understand that they are riding at the back of a dying nation under the PFDJ regime and should take a united and systematic step to reverse it now and put Eritrea in order.

We also remember the 37 Eritreans who were asked to be interviewed by the BBC producers who sneaked out to the street of Asmara without the government minders. All declined to be interviewed saying that “they are scared because the government might be watching them.” This is the typical life in Eritrea, a PFDJ’s control and political siege over the entire population, which is unbearable and forcing Eritrean youth to flee their country in droves. Eritrean people, particularly the younger ones cannot live life under the PFDJ tyranny and terror. This iron siege accompanied by prison, torture, and incessant muzzling of free speech and dissent is what Mr. Yemane misrepresented, denied, and lied to Yalda Hakim, ‘lying through one’s teeth’ as the saying goes. Elites who are fixated with dictatorship are good at it.

In all, Mr. Yemane, the right-hand man of Issais, has been and continues to lead and guide the politics of national destruction by lying and deceiving to the public. Eritrea rose in the first few years of its independence, but rapidly drifted into decadence as a result of the dictatorship of which Mr. Yemane is part of that making, which betrayed the promise and dream of freedom and democracy that Eritrean people had struggled for over half a century. Whether in the Diaspora, at home or in the international arena, Mr. Yemane continues to be the face of lies, betrayal, tyranny and destruction in Eritrea. But history has it all, Mr. Yemane and his boss will soon be relegated to the dustbin of history by the power of Eritrean people. And Mr. Yemane knows it.  

Last modified on Thursday, 26 March 2015 08:30