A Concerted Effort is Imperative to Abrogate PFDJ's Treason Scheme in Eritrea
A Concerted Effort is Imperative
to Abrogate
PFDJ's Treason Scheme in Eritrea
By G. Woldemichael
- from U.S.A.
A Concerted Effort is Imperative to Abrogate PFDJ's Treason Scheme in Eritrea,
By G. Woldemichael, from U.S.A.
Any legitimate government must have the sanction and consent of the governed. The power and authority of the state must be based on the consent of the governed. But Eritrea doesn't have such kind of government elected by the people. For this very reason there is an unscrupulous president at the helm of government for many, many years. By throwing to jail, all those comrades deemed threats to his authority, the president has gradually established a totalitarian regime, as Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union did in the 1920s. To our dismay, the president has been signing treaties with the Prime Minster of Ethiopia that are not yet disclosed to the people and ratified by the Eritrean parliament, which is, for all intents and purposes, dysfunctional. Therefore, something must be done immediately to stop the ongoing, one-man show, madness happening in our country, Eritrea. This is very compelling and it has to be done urgently before it is too late.
The PFDJ regime is undermining the Border Commission decision of April 2002 and it's seemingly backing off from demanding Ethiopia to hand over Badme to Eritrea. The two leaders have been officially declaring that Eritreans and Ethiopians are one people and therefore there is no need of a border between these two countries, as if there has never been more than a half-century political contention over the question of Eritrea's sovereignty. What is more, during the 30-year bitter armed struggle for the Eritrean Independence, the country has lost over 100 thousand lives and many more were left disabled, the Eritrean people quite impoverished and the country completely devastated by the war. For this reason, Eritrean people don't certainly want to go back to square one, thus acting quickly extremely matters.
In many aspects of a human life, the time element is essential. For someone who has a job interview appointment, arriving 5 minutes late at the railway station and missing the train could cost him his dream job. For someone who suffered a stroke or a heart attack, arriving a few minutes late at the hospital where he can get a proper treatment, could mean a life and death matter. In the same manner, indecision for a length of period, is a theft of time and can be a cause for a loss of opportunities that could in all likelihood never come again.
It is a common knowledge that a sovereign country can't lose its sovereignty so fast and so easily in the manner Eritrea was annexed to Ethiopia several decades ago during the Ethio-Eritrean Federation. This time around, if the Eritrean people are vigilant, fully engaged, united and committed in the struggle against the malicious designs of the PFDJ regime's attempted sell out of Eritrea, Ethiopia has no chance at all to annex Eritrea once again. However, complacency and letting Ethiopia free to set foot in Eritrean ports, to lead and taking charge of Eritrean affairs, as President Isaias is authorizing the Ethiopian Prime Minster, Dr. Abiy, is I guess, playing with fire. P/M Dr. Abiy's engagement in bilateral investment negotiations, decisions and agreements with a third country on behalf of Eritrea with respect to our Eritrean ports, highways infra-structure maintenance and development is outrageous and eventually a recipe to diplomatic and legal complications. The same is true, letting Ethiopian citizens investing heavily in Eritrea prior to a proper address of our border issues, the unfortunate existing Ethiopian occupation of a piece of our sovereign land, Badme, not to speak of bilateral business framework agreements, would create later un necessary legal complications and frustrations. Besides, Ethiopians have to unequivocally drop their claim of ownership of our sovereign sea ports and ultimately come to terms with the finality and irrevocableness of the Boundary Commission decision of 13 April 2002, once and for all time. I appeal to all sensible Eritrean and Ethiopian elites to let their voices be heard, try to strike responsive chords with the politicians to settle on a sustainable legal resolution to our border issues. If they do so, and the border issue is eventually resolved, I can perceive the two brotherly peoples living side by side in peace and harmony; economically, socially and defensively complementing and benefiting from each other as appreciative and respectful neighboring countries do.
To be on the safe side, however, we, Eritreans, ought to learn from our past bitter and unfortunate history, in particular, from the years preceding the annexation of Eritrea by Ethiopia. During the United Nations delegation visit to Eritrea in the 40th, when it really mattered, indecisiveness, divisiveness, negligence, sectarianism and total lack of political awareness of Ethiopian intrigues and schemes of that time, most likely, has costed us from gaining our independence at that point in time. And that in turn, has resulted in a very devastating 30-year war, which took the precious lives of over 100 thousand of our citizens. Therefore, irrespective of our conviction that Ethiopia may or may not simply march into Eritrea, we should not be tempted to take chances by letting Ethiopia gradually creeping into our country without having the necessary legal premises in place, which the PFDJ regime is definitely deliberately ignoring it at the moment.
I don't want to be misunderstood for my skepticism with respect to Ethiopia. Don't take me wrong for in my opinion there is nothing wrong about the country and the people in general. After all, I should know better, for I have lived among them for 13 long years. The country is so beautiful, endowed with naturally wealth, and the people are very kind. However, that does not change my perception and perspective about the past and present Ethiopian political elite's disposition in regard to the Eritrean sovereignty. I can't simply ignore and forget, the Emperor's scorched-earth policy in Eritrea, the DERG, with its 'Ethiopia First' slogan, which had sworn and followed a rigorous military operation policy with utter determination to drive the Eritrean 'bandits/rebels' into the Red Sea. The truth must be told, for Ethiopian political elites, Eritrea has always been viewed as the supplier of special consumption goods and services, the get way to the outside world – the sea ports. It has never ever been about the people of Eritrea. Thus, the infamous statement made by the Ethiopian Emperor during his reign says it all, "We need the land not the people". Considering the Eritrean historical bitter experience, the Eritrean people should not be harshly judged for being overcautious and skeptical when it comes to Eritrean sovereignty. Besides, there is a pretty applicable German saying, "Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser", translated in English, "Trust is good, control is better". We have also our own applicable adage, "ተፋቐር ከም ኣሕዋት፡ ተቖጻጸር ከም ጓና".
It is insane to notice P/M Dr. Abiy signing agreements with an un-constitutional government whose leader is not elected by the people and doesn't have popular support of the people. Dr. Abiy fully knows that there is no functioning parliament, no functioning governmental institutes and non-independent private media in Eritrea. He is also aware that the government is holding in jail many politicians, journalist and religious citizens for many years, without giving them the right to due process before court. In spite of all these, the Prime Minster is pursuing his goal with a one-man show dictator; when Ethiopia can, otherwise, legally achieve the port services that it needs by signing rightful bilateral business agreements.
In conclusion, in accordance to many media outlets, Ethiopia is going through considerable regional and ethnical conflicts that have resulted in displacements of millions. With that in hand, Ethiopia has already too much on her plate. In any case, the Eritrean cause didn't bode well with the previous Ethiopian regimes and has definitely contributed in their downfalls, as the Ethiopian adage goes, "የዛፉን አወርዳለሁ ብላ የብብትዋን ጣለች", roughly translated, "In attempting to bring down what is on the tree, she dropped down what was under her armpit". Our Ethiopian brothers, let's do it the right way this time.
Our martyrs have a special place in our hearts!
Long live Sovereign Eritrea!
G. Woldemichael
See also recent Articles by G. Woldemichael (ገ. ወልደሚካኤል):
ህዝቢ ኤርትራ: ቀንዲ ጸላኢኻ ኣለሊ
Eritrea, Peace at Last 1991. Documentary in Tigrina
ኤርትራ - ሰላም ኣብ መወዳእታ! ሰነዳዊት ፊልም ብትግርኛ (1991)።