The Time After Isaias Afeworki Left
By Petros Tesfagiorgis A rumour has spread that Isaias Afewerki has suffered heart attack and he is in Dubai/Abu Dhabi for treatment. Some people were hopeful that it may be his last and the pains and
By Petros Tesfagiorgis
A rumour has spread that Isaias Afewerki has suffered heart attack and he is in Dubai/Abu Dhabi for treatment. Some people were hopeful that it may be his last and the pains and suffering of the population will end. I searched on website to see if is true. But there was none. It could be the boys playing monkeys, trying to win him some sympathy from the public and give him an Independence Day gift. It is wise not to post rumours in social media without any confirmation.
However, we are all mortals and one day Isaias will pass away. The Ghedli generation is ageing and many are dying one by one. The rumour may be false but it represents a timely, serious wake up call.
The critical question is, when dictator Isaias passes away what will happen to Eritrea? Who takes over? Eritrea has no Government structure and no institutions. Isaias runs the country as he likes, with no accountability to the people, not even to his own party; he runs it with the help of few loyal collaborators. If something happens to him there is no vice-president who would take over immediately; no institutions to carry any form of transition. There will be power vacuum, and it can only give rise for generals to compete for power. Such scenario may lead to armed clashes. Imagine armed clash in a country where the regime has forced civilians to take up arms. (1 see photo)
At the same time, the diaspora political and civic organisations will be caught unprepared, as they haven’t so far and will not be able to contribute towards smooth transition of power. But, it doesn’t have to be like that. They can develop a common strategy to deal with the change. A major obstacle to developing a common strategy is that they are not yet united – united in their outlook. It needs unity to reach consensus to adopt a common strategy for transfer of power. Coming with a strategy and popularising can also empower the people not particularly the Diaspora, but our people who are inside too. Empowered they will have a say in the decisions that shapes their destiny. Also, whether we like or not many Foreign Governments will pay more attention; they will be concerned that Eritrea may repeat the Experiences of Libya and other situations of chaos in the absence of a prepared people for change. They will face problem to try to mediate and help to see smooth transition. Who can they talk to? But, if they are united, they will be the first to be consulted in order to get a clear understanding of the situation to help them to offer critical help.
The Diaspora political and civic organisations can play a major role in transition. They are in a comfortable position to contribute to smooth transition. They live in a free society and they can mobilize opinions towards what kind of Government the people want to see. They can organise consultations, conferences, workshops and all sorts of meetings to that end. The contribution of our intellectuals is essential.
Unfortunately most of the diaspora activities are of a re-active nature, they react to what the regime does and says. They are not proactive. To react to events is essential and can be productive but not sufficient. For those justice seekers, reaction has become an end in itself. Planned and coordinated activities to achieve the overall objectives to bring a democratic change is missing.
There are two recent examples of a reaction that is occupying all the time spaces of the opposition. One is peace with Ethiopia – when the new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that he wants to make peace with Eritrea. The other concerns the embargo or UN sanction against Eritrea – to be lifted or to continue. I will deal with them on part 2.
Mothers doing all the farming work including repair of houses in the absence of the father and young to serve in the army or development without pay.
The end
- A phot of mothers repairing their mad houses
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Hidat May 20, 2018
ርሑስ ቅንያት በዓል ናጽነት ኣብ ትሕቲ ኩሉ ዝፈጠረ እግዝኣብሄር/ረቢ ክብርን ዝክርን ነቶም በጃ ዝሓለፉ ስዉኣት።
Tes May 20, 2018
Ahmed Saleh & Simon G.
Greetings,
Please ignore to those rats. they are suffered with some sort of mental degradation. Reply to thier filthy mouth and words like getting down to thier level.
Back to this article yes everyone knows the glaring problem but no one come with practical solution. This gentleman fails to come with feasible solution. He seeks unity in and out of Eritrea which does not exist among Eritreans. Very polarised population coupled uneducated population which is the worst combination for disaster.The few intellectual are confused they don’t even respect free thinking in 21st century. Dr Bereket a distinguished intellectual has every right to come with different approach. That’s what intelactual do. On the other hand few try to solve a proplem by applying the same failed method again and again. This writer come with the same old method which was tried many times and failed. If we were able to unit we should not been in this mess for this long, to be precise for 27 year and counting but we can’t. The solution is to think out side of the box. Those who come with untested solution to our problem, should be encouraged. It doesn’t mean you accept but at least you debate and can lead to other direction acceptable by majority. Eretrea is a nation recognized internationally and any fundamental change in its statues can only happen through referendum. Eritrean peoples can decide their destiny. But denied intellect like dr Bereket to think freely is shear ignorance and stupidity and helps no body. They should be asked and why.Eritrea will stack at its current level for the foreseeable future. Solution should be explored and let able people do there job before jumping and shouting faul.
Lets encourage free thinkers.
!
Danilo May 20, 2018
Tes, i appreciate your idea not to fall to their level but in which comment of Ahmed and Simon. G have used filthy mouth and words against those rats? I my self consider them as free thinkers but they should not cross the the red line thus why we say ዓገብ!!! Besides, the above topic should be discussed properly because it is timely but no room because of them. So, do we consider them as free thinkers? I can consider Dr Bereket as free thinker intellectually. Hence, I call Dr to do more unifying us before his pan -africanism .therefore, pls consider me too as free thinker. Thank you.
Danilo May 20, 2018
Dear brothers Ahmed, Simon and Tes, ዓገብ ምባል ኣይትሕመቁ።otherwise we will be divided for ever.
Tes May 20, 2018
Danilo greetings!
You’re indeed a free thinker. Any idea is acceptable provided it is put forward with civility and respect. We don’t have to agree but listen and tolerate. What I don’t accept is that outright rejection of new idea ruther than asking for more clarification. After its upto you and you have every right to reject or disagree.
AHMED SALEH !!! May 20, 2018
For the beginning my gut feeling told me to feel
suspicious of an idiot who used the name of Tes.
If you remember I told him to stop using participants names in disguise. Now I can see brother Tes the real justice seeker has come in town . Nice to hear from you .
petros tesfagherghis May 20, 2018
Thank you Dear Ahmed and Simon for your valuable comment:
What you are saying makes a lot of sense particularly to think out of the box meaning to come up with workable initiative. However, In any engagement it needs due respect, the use of rats etc is not helpful, particularly to those who rose against injustice.. Your suggestion of debate and exchange of ideas in various forms is the way forward. . Here you are quite right..
Yes Dr Bereket with his depth of wisdom- rich experience and his persistent advice for unity between the fragmented justice seekers is invaluable during the timely and burning issue of peace. . .More about peace in part 2..
The photo of women shows the burden of mothers in the absence of the youth serving the indefinite national service and husbands carrying guns away from their houses.
AHMED SALEH !!! May 20, 2018
Brother Petros
I appreciate your brotherly advice to act in civilized way .
But it is hard to ignore these RIFRAFAT offensive languages
for no apparent reason . Brother Simon , me and others have been pushed to react in such manner which nobody
fells good about it . Since they have a hidden agenda ,
assenna staff should find a way to block any negatives that
harm the reputation of this forum .
HOPE WILL STAY ALIVE UNTIL WE OVERCOME .
WE NEVER KNELT DOWN BEFORE AND WE WON’T
RIGHT NOW . THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE WILL NOT REST .
Asmara Eritrea May 20, 2018
Oh, I happen to believe the death of Isaias would be the beginning of a promising chapter for the Eritrean people – I am not worried in the least!. At the very least it cannot get worse than what it is now.
All we need is frankly for Isaias to die and our problems will be solved overnight. I just hope and indeed pray he will not recover from his illness this time round. If he dies in Dubai, his body should not be allowed to return to Eritrea – bury him at sea if you like, anywhere but Eritrea.
My only concern is that if Isaias dies by an act of God, it would be a travesty of justice. He should face the court of law he denied so many of his victims and then locked up in one of his shipping containers and then the key thrown away to the bottom of the Red Sea.
Eritrea forever, death to dictatorship.
germay yemane May 20, 2018
A trairer is always moriband suffuring mental illness. Petros knows very well how the EPLF works. His article is based on his frustration. Don’t bother about Eritrea, there will never happen your evil prediction. We have thousans of Esseyas.
Miko Haile May 20, 2018
Eritrea next,leader will be a Muslim !This will help Eritrea to permanently join the Arab league..The Arab influence will gradually change Eritrea a Yemen Type of nation!Sharia will be the law of the land ,good bye Arab Eritrea.
Tes May 20, 2018
Dear Petros,
I have great respect and your tirelessly fighting for justice are exemplary. You are blessed with knowledge and wisdom and very long struggle experience. But with due respect I have to disagree with you on the need to unify to sort our problem. For 27 years it was atepmted by different group and individuals including yourself but failed again and again. We are more polurised than ever and get warse year by year. The only way forward is abandoned the old tired way and adopt a new approach to complex problem. Any one come with different solution should be encouraged. I don’t see to judge it as workable initiative or not just at its inception. Ask for more clarification and give your own input to make it workable. After that if succeed then well and fine if not look for another solution. Sticking just to the old song won’t bring solution. In this instance you approach to our problem is already tried and faild one.
Rgds
petros tesfagherghis May 20, 2018
Dear Tes
I am for new initiates/ideas. New Ideas can come from individuals not necessarily from organisations. So let us get on initiating new ideas subject them to analysis, debates to be articulated in workshops and conferences..
Wedi Hagher May 20, 2018
Dear Petros
New ideas are always welcome, but unity is the ultimate goal of any exercise;
There is no alternative to national unity. The latter may come in different forms but it’s not an option, it’s a strategy. Without unity Eritrea will not survive as a nation. And those who reject it or doubt its importance may not have interest of Eritrea at heart. All ideas are worth debating them but make sense only if they are going to serve Eritreans’ national interest as a goal.
Gezae May 20, 2018
It’s very simple to understand current Eritrea politics. It’s a game between two blocks. One is incompetent or ineffectual leadership of PFDJ/PIA and the other is the extremely politically corrupted so called opposition. One thing is for sure. The ruling party have a clear objective: they want to make Eritrea self-reliant. What about oppositions? They are good for nothing. They do not have a clear agenda, plan, strategy, or vision to solve immediate and long-term challenges that the country faces.
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Moreover, the high level leadership of opposition groups are not capable to fight against or challenge Eritrea’s politics. I do not mean that leaders challenge in changing tones and tactics every second day or rely on propaganda. Nor they should give ‘false hope’ and sell dream to people continue to do so even now.
Certainly, the Eritrean people always want change- fresh, new and young. But the long way coming leaders are just the opposite- old, stale and bland. Their relevance in national politics has almost expired; but still they continue to think that the country cannot sustain without them. Equally, if not more, dangerous is the fact that they have become a banyan tree that doesn’t let other plants grow beneath it. Thus, the old leaders have stopped the new generation from taking over the helm of the government as needed.
I have great respect that the PFDJ/PIA government have already contributed to the country to the extent they could. Now they should retire I mean leave open places for the young patriotic nationalists. They should pave way to a new generation of leaders to lead the government and the PFDJ. Only the new set of young leadership can instill energy to the PFDJ that it badly needs. The government has also needed to engaged in extensive organization and mobilization of the popular sectors in an effort to construct participatory and protagonist democracy.
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So young leaders must dare to intervene in the intra-PFDJ affair more forcefully. Icons of peoples’ revolution- must come back to the young leadership. The old leadership must be transferred to the young face. An honest account of the challenges must include both of these aspects. To ignore one or the other is to misrepresent reality and perpetuate false all-or-nothing narratives that blame the challenges, in its entirety without hiccups, delays, and fiery rhetoric.
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On the other hand we learn that the so called oppositions have openly and repeatedly pushed for regime change by any means necessary. But their actions over the past years were/are fostering a politically toxic climate and their refusal to recognize the government. In addition to one of the two bad things have happened to these groups, their youth leaders have indulged themselves in filthy politics or they do not have what it takes to challenge their seniors. Or, they don’t have the ideology and political principles to enthrall people in favor of democracy.
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Distinguishable, while it pains me to write these lines, I see little reason to be optimistic regarding Eritrea’s prospects in the near future. Even though that the PFDJ/PIA government continues to show a lack of will in addressing the currency challenges de facto, there are hopes that the government efforts to implement the constitution to move forward, albeit at a slower pace than the opposition, and a number of foreign governments, including the United States, would like to see.
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However, I perceive, that the Constitution by itself is a recipe for chaos for the so called opposition. So that it is of course difficult to predict what will happen in the coming years. Yet there is little evidence that the government would prove more capable than the oppositions. Yes, the political future I’ve described could be unreal. But it is also a linear extrapolation of several trends on vivid display right now. I guess you get the gist.
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Any way like a game of chess: it is my turn to move. OK I understand the campaign is under way to succeed the president. And lets look at all the alternatives. Comprehensible it’s tough enough for politicians to sway us with their rhetoric even when they have the squeakiest of images. As we detect the Eritrea’s political oppositions and intellectual opposition are failing. None of them are any good and no longer have either intelligible boundaries or enforceable norms. As a result, renegade political behavior pays greedy for power planning to topple the government. So the Eritrea’s opposition groups are irrelevant Or inadmissible; they will not aid those seeking to know why Eritrea is in crisis or challenges and how it might get out of it.
Happy Eritrea’s Independence day!!!!!!
Peace, love, and reconciliation to all Eritreans.
amanuel May 20, 2018
Pfdj or hgdf is a mafia organization not just incompetent. There is big d/c b/n these two. Mafia is a squad that thrives on crime. If we dont call them by their real name who will?
Gezae May 20, 2018
I understand that the PFDJ/PIA government invokes a negative image in some Eritrean people’s minds. However, the PFDJ/PIA government is not different from other. Not so far, just in our regions a lot of governments are rife with graft, corruption, human rights violations, and a blatant disregard for the well-being of their own people. So the debate over the proper role of government in providing for its people’s general So the debate over the proper role of government in providing for its people’s general welfare is still alive and well today every where.
Thus to say and recognize a government is necessary in society, no matter what type of Government is; because we are not going to behave properly if we are not governed even who or what entity rules and how citizens participate in the government. Simply stated, without any process of governing society, it would be virtually impossible for a country to have any trade, commerce, healthcare, social welfare, and educational activities. There is not alternative, we Eritrean are still like toddlers who needs to prodded and guided at this particular time. Maybe time will come we don’t need to be governed by PFDJ/PIA when we democraticaly grown up.
amanuel May 20, 2018
Waw…bzuh halewlew elka gezae. Kibri alena. Zegatat ena. Manm nmanm ab container kiatsu mesel yeblun. Mafia mengisti kikewin aykieln eyu, koinuwin ayfelitin.
Tes May 20, 2018
Dear Gezae
I do agree with most of your comments and analysis. But I don’t buy change to come from PFDJ or the current regime. When you call a goverment to the junta in Asmara, oh man you misplaced its true meaning of government. Government has structure and guide of rulers with solid established institutions. Eritrea has no government but a one man rule who can do whatever he likes without accountable to anyone. He can sell land and declare war, can kill imprison at will. PFDJ is rotten to its core with no hope to mend itself. If you are hoping there will be one day it revive itself you’re kidding yourself mate!
As for regime change by any means, it is a legitimate quest as by it very nature EPLF didn’t or will not resolve conflict by dialogu or accommodating others demand. Look back to its history, how many parished trying to do exactly that. You need to learn from history my friend.
There is one thing I completely in agreement with you. The old generation should give way to the younger generation to own the struggle for justice. The older generation role should be advisory and sharing their experience.
Tes May 20, 2018
Dear Wedi Hageru,
No one is asking for secession or disintegration, at least not yet. The unity we are talking is unified thinking ሐደ ልቢ ሐደ ህዝቢ type! What I am saying is that it is perfectly fine to disagree in our thinkings to come with different approach to solve our problem. If you are going to wait until we unit in one approach then God help there will be nothing left in Eritrea to sulvage.
Yonni May 20, 2018
If this prediction happens lets make a reffrendum and see what the ppl vote. The main thing is not to let any change by hgdef/pfdj appears their time has gone. Implement the constitution and rule of law but the change dynamic can lead us to unknown too.
Danilo May 20, 2018
Tes, thank you for vivayng this forum. and keep up the modem of thinking. And also others. መንደቅ ኣናጹ ብሑሕታ ከምዝፈርስ ብግብሪ ኣረዲእካኒ።in fact, today’s way of thinking suppose to be how to argue on principle that lead commen understanding.but don’t forget ሑሕ-ምባል።I guess it works. Thank you. Again.
Simon G. May 20, 2018
Danilo,
Your creativity is unique! Comic as well, and thank you for that!
I would also like to thank Tes, Petros, Ahmed (as usual) and others and welcome back Tes!
Civilized discussion brings the better of us to the surface. No one should expect all of us to agree on everything but to understand each other.
AHMED SALEH !!! May 20, 2018
I hope he is the same Tes who contribute in other Eritrean
forum . I admire his knowledgeable comments . Indeed he
brighten up this house .
In Arabic ” NEWER AL-BEYT” . Thank you , tes .
Tes May 21, 2018
Greetings Ahmed & Simon,
Yes its me from the old days when original Genet was active contributor. Then was good atmosphere for discussion. Great to learn you both still fighting for justice. Keep up the good work . Cheers
Simon G. May 20, 2018
In my opinion, the reason for this disunity is that we don’t know what the real root cause is/are. We don’t really understand our problem and how can we solve our problem if we don’t know it. Disunity is the result but not the root cause.
I will come up with few points later but let’s hear it ካብዞም ኣርካናት ናይ ኣሰና
1. we are not comfortable telling the reality, as it is.
2.
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Danilo May 20, 2018
Brother Simon. G ,
2, telling reality is self suicide.in politics unless ready for sacrifice. However I don’t think call him self as ኣርካን ኣሰና።however, most welcome your effort.