Fetsum: BAYTO (AWASA) under the surveillance of the Third-Eye

Folks! The clock is ticking and the end of suffering fast approaching at this point in the struggle where the opposition is tuning towards the immediate challenge that determines the future of the society. We are discussing about the unavoidable transitional government of the country in our face. It feels exhausting but promising in a way because we are building the transitional bridge a step at a time through dialogue hoping to synchronize our conceptual fitness with the downfall of the regime into a smooth ride to freedom without unpleasant surprises. Our conceptual alignment through intellectual honesty and knowledge on the matter is the bridge that allows us to scientifically cross the transitional phase to genuine constitutional democracy.

We should not accept anything less than a universally acceptable democracy within our reach. We have to give the best intellectuals and professional the chance to write the transitional constitution for Eritrea. The focus has to be directed to creating an environment where the cream of the society in the field (conceptual force) and the mass movement (YEAKIL et al.) work hand in hand depending on each other. I endorse ERITREA FOCUS as the best point to start with the Civic and Professional societies in the background at equal level of relationship. I will discuss this strategy in the coming articles but for now; BAYTO (Awassa) is my guest and enjoy the engagement with positive energy.

Bayto has been a very important element of the Eritrean political life since its inception in Awassa, Ethiopia somewhere in 2012. It was really a big thing for us Eritreans; it created energy, hope and high anticipation for success but it faced many external and internal problems that complicated its performance to the point of DEWTA (Stagnation). The external cause was Weyane’s reluctance to help the opposition take care of business in Eritrea, the internal cause being improper political misbehavior in Bayto’s leadership which was heavily dominated by the political parties and their affiliates to fall short of neutrally serving the people based on the mandate. It ended up crossing democratic rights and serving their interest at the expense of the people. As a result, we did not see Bayto for a long time but it resurrected from the collective challenges it suffered, elected new leaders and has recently exposed its Structural Rules and CHARTER established in ካልኣይ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ባይቶ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ 16-21 ሚያዝያ.  I congratulate my old SINIT partner Brother Mohammad Bashir for being elected to  Bayto’s leadership and I hope he will serve the society neutrally. Here is my opinion on some of the contents of the Charter.

I found Bayto’s organizational or structural rules (ሕ ገ ህ ን ጻ  ኤ ር ት ራ ዊ ሃ ገ ራ ዊ ባ ይ ቶ ን ዲ ሞ ክ ራ ስ ያ ዊ ለ ው ጢ) a well done and very impressive document that comprises productive clauses as such.

ዓንቀጽ (5). ዝተፈላለዩ  ሃይማኖታትን  ባህልታትን ተኸባቢሮም  ብሓባር ንምንባር፡ ሃይማኖታዊ ክብርታትን፡ ሃናጺ ባህላዊ  ውርሻታት ንምኽባርን ምዕቃብን፡፡

Comment: Beautiful!

ዓንቀጽ (59)፡ ኣብ ሕገ ህንጻ ምምሕያሻትንምግባር ዘድሊ ሓዲሽ ኩነታት ምስ ዝፍጠር፡ ምስ መንፈስ ፖለቲካዊ ቻርተር ብዘይገራጮ ብ 2/3 ድምጺ ኣብ ህጹጽ ኣኼብኡ ምምሕያሻት ከካይድ ይኽእል ።

Comment: I like this clause because it obeys the standard voting procedure on something and the requirement for passing bills or proposals based on the majority voice of the house.

The Charter:

ካልኣይ ሃገራዊ ጉባኤ ኤርትራዊ ሃገራዊ ባይ ንዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ

ቀዳማይ ምዕራፍ፡ – ሓፈሻዊ መትከላት [PRINCIPLES]

4. ብሄራውን፡ ሃይማኖታውን ፡ ባህላውን ብዙሕነት ህዝቢ ኤር ትራ ምእማን ። ኣብ ኣህጉራዊ ቻርተር ናይዝተጠቕሱ ትሕዝቶ መሰረታዊ መሰላት ኣብ ባይታ ብግብሪ ንምትግባር ድማ ፡ ነዚ ብዙሕነት’ዚ ምኽባር ።
5. ኣብ ኣህጉራዊ ቻርተራት ዝተጠቕሱ ኩሎም ሰብኣዊ መሰላት ምእማን። እዚ ኽኣ ከም ሓርነ ታት እምነት፣ ኣምልኾት፣ ራእይ ፣ ሓሳብካ ምግላጽ ፣ ምውዳብ ፣ ምንቅስቓስን ፡ ዋንነትን ፡ ካልእ ኩሉ ሓፈሻ ውን ውልቃውን ሓርነታት ምርግጋጽ ። ነዞም መሰላት እዚ ኣቶም ድ ማ ኣብ ቅዋም ኤርትራ ክሰፍሩ ምግባር

Comment: Bayto accepts the UN Declaration of Human Rights document like any other society without modification. This is normal and welcome.

6. ብሄር ፣ ሃይማኖ ትን ፡ ባህልን ፡ መሰረት መንነት ህዝቢ ኤርትራ‘ዮም። ናይ’ዚ መሰረታዊ ክውንነት መሰላት ምውሓስ ።

Comment: Beautiful! This means we have to respect the foundation of our authentic qualities without contaminating our identity with external impurities.

7. ውድባት ንሰልፍታትን ኤርትራ፡ ብቑዕ ኮይኑ ዝተራኣዮም ፖሎቲካዊ ፕሮግራም ክውንኑን፡ ህዝቢ ኤር ትራን ምዕጋብ ክንቀሳቐሱን፡ ቅዋማዊ ውሕስነት ይህልዎም።

Comment: Crispy and beautiful: ቅ ዋ ማ ዊ ው ሕ ስ ነ ት means the people making the Constitution that guarantees the rights of the political parties to independently organize their programs based on the interest of the society. ቅ ዋ ማ ዊ ው ሕ ስ ነ ት ይህልዎም implies their passive position in relations to the people, that the law from above is that of the people’s. In other words, the political parties must leave the people alone to draft and ratify the laws in return to guaranteed transition of power upon fair election.

8. ህዝቢ ብደሞክራስያውን ፖለቲካውን ቅዋማውን መስርሕ ምንጪ ስልጣን

ምዃኑ ምእማን።

Comment: This is extremely important because the people are the source of leadership through democratic, political and constitutional framework. This makes them the most decisive factors of any political situation in a given society. It also acknowledges their right to draft laws through the Judiciary and implement them through the people’s Assembly or Parliament.

16. ዝኾነ ብሄር በቲ ንሱ ዝደልዮ ስም ክጽዋዕ መሰል ክህልዎን፣ ነቲ ብስርዓት ህግደፍ ዝግበር ግዴታዊ ምጽንባር ምውጋድን።

Comment: I see no problem here as long as we do it realistically but I believe this issue is beyond Bayto’s scope and mandate. It is good as a proposal but no one has the right to amend the 1997 Constitution in this regard except the CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL that will be erected by the upcoming transitional government of Eritrea. What Bayto should do is presenting its request on this matter to the Transitional Assembly that authorizes the Council for evaluation and finalizing it by the law (reject or legalize).

To discuss the matter though, it is possible for our society to have had other ethnic groups unknown to most of us because of ethnic chauvinism. If that is the case, we just have to open the heart and embrace them into the family with their guaranteed rights to identify themselves based on their realities and, of course within the unity of the Eritrean people as a principle. The question is how about if a section of an ethnic group wants a new name different from its ethnic group because of religion? How does this clause for instance, apply to our Geberty’s demand for a different name from within its Tigrigna ethnic group because of religion and the Agazian projection of creating a Christian Tigrigna nation based on religion? When does the State exercise its responsibility and right to interfere and enforce laws associated with the subject?

Yet, the communities in question should be guaranteed the right to talk for themselves instead of few individuals from within for the process to be scientific. The demand should be well studied, organized, democratically decided and legalized by the National Assembly to be effective. I think exclusive referendum may be the best solution in situations as such but what was the motivation for Bayto’s sub-article 16? Bayto should teach this contemplation with concrete examples to help the people understand the benefit of the clause.

While I have no problem with any ethnic group to have the right of identifying itself within the Eritrean nationhood (if we have this situation), I oppose this without related suggestions that secure the unity of the people, their indigenous dignity as a component and their territorial integrity. I further believe this proposal is a LEGAL TERRITORY of the country’s transitional government that Bayto should deal with in the future.

17. ብ ዘይ ፍትሓዊ ኣገባብ ብህግደፍ ዝተመንዘዐ መሬትን ንብረትን ፡ ብሕጋውን ፍትሓውን መንገዲ ናብ ዋናታቱ ምምላስ።

Comment: No argument here! This is the minimum we can do for our people in Eritrea.

ራብዓይ ምዕራፍ፡ መሰጋገሪ  መድረኽ

1. ጊዝያዊ ስልጣን፡ ኣብጽባሕ ውድቀት ገባቲ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ዝኽሰት ባዶነት ስልጣንን ምሽፋን፡ ብሓይልታት ዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጢ ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ዘውደቖ ሓይሊ ዘቑሞ ጊዝያዊ ስልጣን ’ዩ። ዕድመኡ ካብ ሓደ ዓመት ዘይበዝሕ ይኸውን ።

Comment: I think one year is a long time to authorize this type of power without check and balance mechanism. We cannot take a chance here. ንስርዓት ህግደፍ ዘውደቖ ሓይሊ ዘቑ ሞ ጊዝያዊ ስልጣን sounds scary to me without protecting the people through power sharing mechanism like how many societies in this situation including the Sudanese people did. The so said force, of course will have to fill the void but must be with clear understanding to share power within few months into its actuality and with the people’s majority sit in the union.

The force that brings change cannot be allowed to exclusively dictate political terms for a year. We cannot afford to trust anyone any longer. The best alternative in this situation is power sharing  arrangement (the most popular) and the best education for us should be the Sudanese model to democracy. Remember that the Sudanese army was trying its best to dictate power after Bashir but that the people were organized enough to fight back and secure majority sits in the Sovereign Council (6 civilians and 5 from the army). Bayto should consider and clearly indicate this type of arrangement in this situation for us to entertain the proposal with substantial security on the deal.

This clause is, therefore porous, extremely dangerous and unpredictable for the people to accept without proper modification.

2. ዕማት ጊዜያዊ ስልጣን

መ ) ኩሎም ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታትን ምእንቲ ፍትሕን ዲሞክራስያዊ ለውጥን ዝቃለሱ ህዝባዊ ምንቅስቓስን ብዝሳተፍሉ ሃገራዊ ዋዕላ ቴክኖክራታዊ (ዘይሻራዊ) ሃገራዊ ሓድነታዊ መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ  የቕውም።

Comment: I think Bayto can detail this a bit more for clarity but it smells very good to me. Two terminologies signify the value of this sub-article in my opinion ቴክኖክራታዊ (ዘይሻራዊ).

“Technocracy: Technocracy is a proposed system of governance in which decision-makers are selected on the basis of their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. Leadership skills for decision-makers are selected on the basis of specialized knowledge and performance, rather than political affiliations or parliamentary skills.” Further, “In more practical use, technocracy is any portion of a bureaucracy that is run by technologists. A government in which elected officials appoint experts and professionals to administer individual government functions and recommend legislation can be considered technocratic.”

And the term  (ዘይሻራዊ ) makes it even more exciting for it means NEUTRAL; an independent government that does not take sides with any sect of the society including the political parties. Very good indeed but we must make sure the elected government officials to be substantially NEUTRAL to achieve a good technocratic cabinet in the transitional period. We must guarantee 2/3 of the Parliament/Assembly sits for the people at minimum, to implement the clause successfully. That is what happened in tens of societies including Sudan and what must happen in the motherland if we fight very hard for it.

There is no doubt we can achieve a lot following the Sudanese way of transforming a society to democracy. They independently did it using their best intellectuals in the field and were able to control the revolution’s conceptual substance and produce a universally approved scientific Transitional Charter for their people. We need to achieve this type of government with our intellectual resources but the clause sounds good with a lot of room for improvement.

3. ሰፊ ሕ ሃገ ራ ዊ ዋዕላ፥ ኩሎም ወከልቲ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታት፥ ሕብረተ – ሰብኣዊ ክፍልታት፣ መራሕቲ ሃይማኖታት፥ ሙሁራትን ኣገደስቲ ሃገራውያን ውልቀ ሰባትን ዝሳተፍዎ ሰፊሕ ሃገራዊ መድረኽ እ ዩ።
4. ዕማም ሰፊሕ  ሃገራዊ  ዋዕላ፥

 ሀ / ቅዋም መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ ሃገራዊ ሓድነት የጽድቕ።

ለ / መድረኻዊ መሰጋገሪ ባይቶ ( ፓርላማ ) ይ መርጽ።

5. መሰጋገሪ ባይቶ ፡ ኣብ ሰፊሕ ሃገራዊ ዋዕላ ካብ ዝሳተፉ ፖለቲካዊ ሓይልታትን ኣገደስቲ ሃገራውያን ውልቀሰባትን ዝቐውም ሓጋጊ ባይቶ’ ዩ።

 Comment: This sounds good but we must follow the standard procedure in this case to succeed. I think Bayto has to spell this loud to make sure we stay in the same page on the matter. In most transitional governments like in Somalia, this is guaranteed by, at least 67% or 2/3 of the sits as will be apparent from Liberia’s and the Sudanese experiences. All Sudanese opposition forces including the political parties agreed to this democratic procedure and reduced it to practice; and we hope our political parties will comply with this traditional distribution of power for the process to make it without a problem. I believe Bayto can do a great service to the people with clear and assertive language on the matter.

መሰጋገሪ ባይቶ ( ፓርላማ )  [LEGISLATIVE]

6. ዕ ማም መሰጋገሪ ባይ ቶ ፡ ሀ / ካ ብ ሞንጎ ኣ ባላቱ፡ መሰጋገሪ መንግ ስቲ ሃገራዊ ሓ ድ ነት የቕውም ። ለ/ ኣብ ሰፊሕ ዋዕላ ዝጸደቐ መሰጋገሪ ቅዋም መሰረት ብምግባር ፥ መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ ንሃገር ዝመርሓሉ  ሓፈሻ ዊ መምርሒታትን ፖሊሲታትን ይሕንጽ። መ / ኣካይዳ  መሰጋገሪ መ ንግስቲ ይከታተልን  ይቆጻጸርን።            
7. መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ ሃገራዊ ሓድነት፥ [EXECUTIVE BODY]

 ኣ ብ መሰጋገሪ መድረ ኽ ብመሰረት መሰጋገሪ ቅዋምን ፡ ፖሊሲታትን መምርሒታትን መሰጋገሪ ባይቶ፡ ጉዳያት ሃገር ዘመሓድር ፈጻሚ ስልጣን ’ዩ።

 Comment: I like this; it looks like Bayto to a certain extent  has been adapting the Sudanese style of transition to democracy, which is fantastic in my opinion. I wish it gets totally addicted to that scientific model but the መሰጋገሪ  መ ንግስቲ  ሃገራዊ ሓድነት፥ is in my understanding the would be EXECUTIVE BODY of the government. The Sudanese call it Sovereignty Council and Bayto calls it similarly. Well learning from other successful societies is always good for anything and I welcome this proposal as an individual. With this contemplation, we expect to see a neutral executive body coming out of the Transitional Assembly (Parliament) that allows, at least 67% sits for the people’s representatives. This means, the political parties would occupy a portion of the remaining 33% or 1/3 sits in the Parliament/Assembly; the circumstance dictating as to how much of this percentage other elements of the society would share. I believe our experts in the field can verify this but I think it is proper to allocate them 15-25% of the sits in genuine democratic infrastructures and Bayto should not hesitate to write the numbers down to secure the people’ confidence on the matter.

8. ዕማም መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ ሃገራዊ ሓድነት፦

ረ / ኮ ሚሽን ሕጊ ፖለ ቲካዊ ሰ ልፍታት የቕውምን፥ ንጥፈታታ ድማ ይከታተል ን። ሸ / ኮምሽን ሃገራ ዊ ቅዋም የቐውምን፡ ንጥፈታታ ድማ ይከታተልን። ቀ / ናጻ ኮምሽን ሃገራ ዊ ምርጫ የቕውም ። ንንጥፈታ ድማ ይካታተል። ንምዕዋቱካ ኣ ድላይ ደገፍ የ ቕርብ ።  በ / ብድሕሪ ምእዋጅ ውጽኢት ሃገራዊ ምርጫ፡ ስልጣኑ ነቲ ዝተመረጸ ሓድሽ መንግስቲ የረክብ።

9. ዕድመ መሰጋገሪ መ ንግስቲ   ሃገራዊ ሓድነት ፡ ዕድመ መሰጋገሪ መንግስቲ ሃገራዊ ሓድነት ካብ ክልተ ዓመት ዘይሓልፍ ኮይኑ ብሃገራዊ መሰጋገሪ ባይቶ ይውሰን።

Comment: A little more clarification may be necessary here in my opinion: I think the government in general (Executive and Legislative bodies) should interdependently perform the functions proposed in (8). In so saying, Bayto has nicely itemized their responsibilities (which I avoided some here for practical reasons); one of them being creating an independent Election Commission (ና ጻ ኮምሽን ሃገራዊ ምርጫ) for the upcoming national election. Please note that the government bodies must be formed first before the Election Commission comes to reality according to (8) and that it has nothing to do with “regulating the election of the members of Assembly” as the improper SINIT Constitution in this regard proposes. I think all functions of the bodies are properly done and thank you. I believe the final written product of the transitional government (detailed specifications) should be left to our collective experts in the field.

9. ቋንቋታት ኤርትራ ኩላተን ሃገራውያንን ማዕረን እየን ። ካብ ኣተን ድማ ትግ ርኛን ዓረብኛን ዕላውያን ቋንቋታት ኤርት ራእ የን ። ብሄራ ት ኤር ትራ ቋንቋታተን ከማዕብላን ክጥቀማን መሰለን ምርግጋጽ ፡

Comment: Unfortunately, Bayto crosses the border into another illegal territory here. The underlined statement brutally attacks the society in this tragic experience that I consider declaring war on the people. This is the job of the transitional government’s CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL to study and decide, and for the Transitional Assembly to legalize based on the merit. Once more,  the issue of national language is the sole responsibility of the National Constitution that no other element of the society has the right to improperly transform without any conceptual, legal and material grounds. Should the Constitution (1997) be found insufficient in some areas, the society should try to amend it accordingly and the Assembly should decide using its power and exclusive right. Bayto has, thus illegally acted above the law in this situation.

What Bayto should do as an organization is demanding the Assembly to legalize Arabic as a national language. It should then let it decide (to pass or reject) by 2/3 of the vote based on the Council’s investigative report, needless saying Bayto should be consistent on this matter with its own organizational procedure

“ዓንቀጽ (59) ፡  ኣብ ሕገ ህንጻ ምምሕያሻትንምግባር ዘድሊ ሓዲሽ ኩነታት ምስ ዝፍጠር፡ ም ስ መንፈስ ፖለቲካዊ ቻርተር ብዘይገራጮ ብ 2/3 ድምጺ ኣብ ህጹጽ ኣኼብኡ ምምሕያሻት ከካይድ ይኽእል።”.

This proposal has to transcend to the transitional government for important issues as such to be processed in the same fashion at national level of the matter.

Apparently, this is the biggest obstacle we are facing today and I do not understand it at all. If Bayto believes ቋንቋታ ት ኤርትራ ኩላተን ሃገራውያንን ማዕረን እየን, why so much bias towards Arabic, the language of 2% Eritreans and based on 1952 realities that completely differ from the modern Eritrean society? There were valid reasons for our leaders to adopt it in the 1950s but we have no reason to do it now in independent and different Eritrea. Who decides this for the Eritrean people and what is its comparative reference and justification vis-à-vis the other indigenous Eritrean languages? If Bayto cannot live without Arabic, would not it be better for it to suggest any action that the people should take to democratically close this chapter (referendum, democratic procedure, dialogue and debate, etc.) instead of TIM ILKA GUSOMO? Suggesting the idea is acceptable but Bayto has no authority to assertively declare that Arabic was a permanent national language of the country without proper and legal procedure. Whose interest is Bayto serving here and what type of democracy is it going to bring with this type of provocative entanglement? You cannot push it through our throats by force; we cannot be senselessly pressurized as such any longer. It is illegal and abuse of personal perception to override the modern constitution (1997) ratified by our people’s representatives in the National Assembly. Here is the clause on the issue:

“Article 4 [3]: The equality of all Eritrean languages is guaranteed.”

Why cannot Bayto be satisfied with this Article? We are Black Africans not Arabs needless saying we also have multiple indigenous languages we can use for national language. What is the rationality for this obsessed and biased conviction? In this opportunity, I want to inform the people that the very few advocates of Arabic can only represent themselves; the majority of every ethnic groups is offended by the idea all together. I believe over 90% of our population including the RASHAIDAs would not entertain this madness given the opportunity and we must respect the people more than the individuals in this destructive path.

The very few actors of this humiliating drama are from all sects of the society and doing it for personal motives. They are using it for political favors with each other despite the problems they create ahead for generations to come. Arabic has become a commodity for political business of the few selfish and reckless individuals that care less for the people than their material and psychological comfort. AHLIFELEI KEHLIFELCA is what is going on here!

Unfortunately, one of the victims of this insanity is our peaceful Geberty community that some unjust people blindly blame for the crisis. Please stay aware that very few conformist and rigid Eritreans from other ethnic backgrounds are also part of it and the high majority of our Geberty community rejects it without a second thought. They are dismayed and resent the negative attitude coming from other sects of the people as a result. It is a self-denial fabrication only based on the narrowest scope of religion; unique to all Moslems on planet earth that proudly use their languages for national language and Arabic for their religious practices. This is a false self-identification with the Arabs at the expense of the Eritrean people’s dignity and African originality (only because of religion (Islam)). It is an insult to the black race in general.

Yet, nothing exists without its dual pair! We have a group called Agrarians on the other side of the coin that identify only with Tigrigna Coptic Christianity and trying to create a unique nation at the expense of the rest of us and our Moslems at large. The two extremist sides cannot survive without each other for each is the other’s means of survival. These are negative energies that fuel each other within the peaceful Eritrean society. In my opinion, this dictatorial, irrational, biased and savage idea violates our authenticity and dignity as the oldest human beings with the oldest languages on planet earth. It is a recipe for civil and regional war because it sandwiches the society between two complementary radical ideas.

 My message should be clear: This Arabic thing can only plant the seeds of mistrust, division and resentment on the society and our people cannot afford to humiliate themselves and risk the out of control Agazians for the sake of Arabic. This reckless and unreasonable pressure cannot be entertained without justifying the pressure excreted on our society from radical groups such as the Agazians. This problem will end up endangering our decent and peaceful Moslems for it would be impossible for the people to challenge Agazian extremism while simultaneously forced to practice this extremism as a principle. Bayto cannot justify this clause without validating the Agazian lunacy for there is no cake here to have and eat as well. The equation is balanced here in view of fairness and democracy: Accepting Arabic superiority because of religion necessitates justifying the Agazian movement because of religion. I cannot be a hypocrite allowing one insanity and denying another in this situation my dear Eritreans! At the bottom line, if we have to undemocratically enforce Arabic on the society because of Islam, we will have to automatically allow the Agazian movement of destruction because of Christianity. We cannot justify one without justifying the other. The equation is balanced here in view of democracy: I cannot be a hypocrite allowing one insanity and denying another in this situation my dear Eritreans!

We should, thus reject this senseless cosmetic identity and degrading injustice to preserve our roots, national dignity and protect our society from any form of war and radicalism.

15. መሰል ርእሰ – ውሳነ ብሀራት ዲሞክራስያዊ መሰል ብምዃኑ፡ ኣብ ትሕቲ ልዑላዊትን ስምርትን ሃገረ ኤርትራ ኣብ ዝመጽእ ቅዋም ብፍሉይ ዝረአ ይኸውን።

Comment: this is an excellent principle that resonates with our people’s reality (Kunama, Afar, etc.). Our minorities cannot live with us unless we practice democracy substantially. They cannot do it without ethnic and religious equality, with religious politics and Arabic dictatorship at the expense of their originality similar to the rest of the Eritrean people as a unit. The Eritrean unity is directly proportional to how much respect the society has to its minorities and to itself at large. We need to understand that our minorities are today directly threatened by the divisive and chauvinistic Agazian insanity and the contentious and ridiculous Arabic Syndrome. Bayto is, thus in contradiction here because it cannot undermine the minorities and protect their rights at the same time. The solution is going for Secular Democracy; a system that respects the people’s religious practices, beliefs and traditions without discrimination.

In conclusion, things are clearing themselves out and I think we have reached the final stage where we should collectively organize our strategy to peacefully enjoy the beautiful country forever. I am optimistic about Bayto’s partial adaptation of the scientific Sudanese style of political transformation but I advise it to never insist as the sole remedy of the Eritrean people because it is not and we want to utilize our best intellectuals and professions in this sensitive  opportunity. I also believe a lot more can be achieved between Bayto and other groups such as ERITREA FOCUS in crystallizing the transitional charter by the universal book and we want to see their engagement as soon as possible. Further, Bayto should only concentrate on the transitional phase to democracy and leave the constitution to the right authorities in the upcoming Neutral Transitional Government of Eritrea. It should adapt the 1997 Constitution on the equality of our languages rather than faking it; not only to attract and reconcile with the people in this aspect but also that it is legitimate, popular and scientifically done with full participation of the people in independent Eritrea. Don’t illegally touch the constitution without mandate but utilize your right to amend it through the proper and legal procedures in the transitional stage of the society.

All said, we cannot accept the extremely humiliating Arabic nostalgia at the cost of our cultures, traditions and indigenous languages to gratify the very few dysfunctional elements of the society. We did not fight for independence to adapt artificial identification. Bayto’s unhealthy attachment to Arabic is a result of PARTY POLITICS, fear, opportunism, inferiority complex, SIKIFTA, lack of confidence and political business. They are playing political cards on the destiny of the society, negotiating their personal interests at the expense of the dignified Eritrean people. Its position on Arabic clearly testifies that its power structure is dominated by the political parties as usual, which is fine as long as they play their game in their political turf. But our people should never empower politicians to dictate national terms based on their personal interests. We should asserts our rights by snatching the political podium and forcing them to succumb to the rule of law. This virus should be resisted by any means necessary. As for Bayto, advocating Arabic topology in Eritrea will haunt it forever. That unfortunate injustice will end up being the suicide pill for Bayto vis a-vis the Eritrean people as a unit. In the meantime, we should continue organizing and learning to firmly tackle any obstacle that may stand on the way of our people’s peaceful coexistence in the beautiful motherland! Peace.