Fetsum: EDA’s defining moment has arrived

Information: The best Bicyclists on planet earth are competing in the prestigious Grand Tour event in Spain called the Vuelta since August 23 and an African team called Team MTN-Qhubeka is in the event for the first time with two Eritreans in the roster that comprises six African riders and three Europeans. The youngest cyclist in the race Merhawi Kudus (20) and Africa’s best athlete of 2013 Daniel Teklehaimanot (25) (the leader of the team) are in the team. In the mean time the African Cycling Champion Europcar’s Natnael Berhane (23) is also in the event with his team as the third Eritrean professional cyclist in the event.

Merhawi Kudus: “I am really happy to be here at the Vuelta, before I think of any results the most important thing for me is that I am just here at the start. For my country, Eritrea, it is an important time in our history too. The bicycle is really famous back home, and now we have 3 Eritrean’s in this race. Whenever I look at Eritrean media they are always talking about us and the Vuelta, this shows me it is a good opportunity for us but also a difficult one. We have got lots of encouragement though so I look forward to trying to finish this race now that I am here.”

Daniel Teklehaimanot: “I did my first grand tour with GreenEdge but now I am doing it with my home team from Africa so I’m really excited and happy to be here. The first time I was here I was very stressed and I think that is normal, but now that I have a little experience and I am with my home team I am definitely more motivated than the last time.”

They have done nine stages so far with a lot more to take place until towards the end of September. I wish them the best and thank them for creating an exciting moment for us all, Eritreans. END

We Eritreans have been reduced to the fifth poorest nation on earth with all our resources and human potential while Ethiopia today is the fastest growing Economy according to 2014 African Economic Report. Yet, some leaders of the resistance are doing their best to further take us to medieval ages via religious politics, but only if we allow them.

I still; have few opposition groups to discuss before I present a general analysis about the EDA but I cannot do it effectively without addressing peoples’ opinions in the forums. This situation is bound to make my articles boring in some ways and so I ask you to be patient in this regard. The EDA is, however, today challenged by the resistance stronger than it ever did in the past and change is imminent soon either for the better (everyone working under EDA with minimum common condition) or for the worse (forming another alliance that challenges it by any means necessary). I am closely watching the situation closely working with dependable sources of information and I shall share the development with you as freely as I can. For what it seems like, entertain my take that something qualitatively different will come out of the situation in the next few months from the events. There are three important requests for EDA to fulfill by the groups (6) confronting it in the current political platform with one of them being mandatory for working together: That no religious politics in the alliance. I will discuss this issue in relatively better detail when the time comes but we will see how the EDA responds to this crucial request in the near future.

From the forum

selamawit2: “You compare those who criticize you and those who follow your opinions with „The shallow and the deep“?Come on, I (instivtivley) thinks this kind of cheap wipe away of criticsm doesn’t fit you!!!And if you are honest with this statement (in spite the possible question mark between the lines) you would then say, all the individuals in your forum who were aplauding and misusing your article to insult eritreans (especially muslim eritreans) are „deep“ while all the others are „shallow“???You than would keep up all the applauses from the wrong side (hgdfs, rivals of eritrean sovereignity…) You can not mean that, OR?

Answer: I certainly don’t mean that my dear selamawit2. Those that misuse the article to insult Eritrean Moslems are part of the problem and I don’t see them as deep but rather as shallow. Shallow are those who stereotypically attack society based on their observation of few spoilers in a community; those that only concentrate on the regime ignoring what is cooking for them after it goes to hell. Deep are those who neutrally deal with the Eritrean question of survival from the periphery of their ethnicity and religion; those that concentrate on both (the regime and the opposition forces) to make sure we don’t repeat the consequence of not challenging the leaders (us Vs. the regime in the past). It is only by challenging the opposition leaders right now before it gets too late that we can secure a relatively healthy political system if not democracy. We cannot have peace within our society, with our neighbors and the west without making sure that the resistance completely stays out of religious and ethnic politics. This should be our first critical homework before thinking about democracy.

We are in a situation where we should accept that Eritrean democracy is a little far away from where we expected it to have been in the past. We have a bug in the way between us (the people) and our goal (relatively decent political environment) within the resistance that we cannot advance without challenging it by any means necessary. I think we have done enough effort to motivate our scholars into the resistance with insignificant success. We cannot help this except suffering the consequence and moving on. But we can do something about the EDA politicians based on their ambition to lead us in the future. It appears that we now need to take one step backward to make two steps forward. We have extremists and radicals in our politics that will condemn our society to extreme suffering upon success unless stopped right now by genuine public interference. I see this task as equally important to removing the regime but as the most immediate priority of the resistance to avoid a civil war before or immediately after the fall of the Afwerki regime.

Michael: “You talk of “”leaders…”‘ who are they in the Eritrean context and can you mention at least some names? I am of the opinion that there have never been established leaders in Eritrea for Eritreans and by Eritreans, given “”Eritrea”” is the strip of land chiseled in the Horn of Africa by Italian colonialism. If there is another definition for Eritrea, it would rather sound utopian and that is irrelevant and unrealistic. The issue at hand is the Eritrea that was created by the EPLF with the blessing of the TPLF and the collaboration of the USA and other world powers which gained UN membership in 1993.And that tiny land has never ever seen any election to have leaders but is steered by a brutal dictator towards abysmal destruction, whether you like it or not. You say, “”… I am struggling…””, in my view it would be appropriate if you could say”””I am confusing…””. Sorry for being blunt but I don’t your contribution here except your mention of the Eritrean Islamist party in mild forms which I am not afraid to term it worse than any brutal dictator and people are ready to face it with all sorts of opposition. Islamism has no place in Eritrea or any part of our region for that matter. Full stop and FUll stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Comment: First accept that Eritrea is very young and passing through its first experience under a home breaded political system. All countries liberated by the same means of struggle went through this process, thus nothing is new in our situation. Did not it take “3000 years of freedom” for Ethiopians to ever experience a controversially elected government?

It does not matter how Eritrea was created and whether its leaders were elected or not in dealing with the question of leadership. The Eritrean regime is the current political leader of the country, nevertheless. It manages the society’s internal and external matters in view of us and the world. In so saying the succeeding leaders of the country may be the current leaders in the opposition camp. You don’t become a leader without first declaring of having a party that represents the people like the EPLF in the era of the struggle, and the opposition leaders have done that already and one of them may hold power in future Eritrea as a possibility. Therefore, I am not confusing people here only making them aware of what they may have to live with, in the future unless they fight back right now to isolate or embrace the political parties in the EDA based on their projection (programs and capacity) to lead the Eritrean society. I believe I am individually struggling to clean up the mess, at least doing my part ahead of time whether the people take it or leave it! That is all I can do as a writer. Further, Islamism may not have a place in Eritrea but only if you control it today with concrete action. Otherwise, the power of the gun can make it possible for it to acquire a decisive place in Eritrea similar to how the dictator made it this far.

Sarah Ogbay: “well said! A timely article. ‘Post DIA) is a topic that needs some serious talk. WE do not need any surprises after the fall of PFDJ. WE need to have some solid common understanding on what and how of post DIA. WE have to have a clear picture on our future Eritrea. Without that we could face more confusing and surprises. We have to acknowledge that there is much more hard work to do then. Making sure that things do not go worst for our people is not going to be easy at all. That is why I believe that we should organize Eritreans to create professional networks. Our politicians should be working on issues of religion and region that could be of any danger to our people. And we all should rally behind our unity in diversity. WE Eritreans are colorful and that is what should our beauty and strength.”

Comment: Well, as you know, our professionals and intellectuals are still napping when all this is going on. I don’t know if they are willing to organize and who may organize them. Really; there no motion in this area except starting something and quitting just like every project carried on by the regime. I am about to be convinced that they don’t care about the situation beyond lip service. To make it worse, our politicians are too ineffective to deal with the situation because of political correctness and wasting time distancing themselves from the main issues concerning the country in respect of the taboos. They are attacking the problem superficially without dealing with its depth. Every activist is working individually and we don’t appreciate groupthink enough to contact each other for a defined objective that we may agree upon. The failure of organized move is killing us alive, forcing us miss many opportunities to impact the situation. We are scratching the regime individually instead of delivering a united punch at this weakest point of its actuality. We could neither effectively fight the regime nor can we directly interfere in the EDA politics that may define the future of our country as a unit. We are so passive on the future Eritrean situation that I am sorry to tell you that I am beginning to forecast the possibility of a civil war the way it is going. What you suggested sounds good dear Sara but I am not optimistic based on my experience in this resistance; I don’t think I will ever waste time on this any more

Moke: Putting the cart before the horse will derail the substance and leave the theme not achieved. We as a veteran fighters have experienced a lot of mishandling and wrongs during the liberation struggle and our response was “tray natsinet tirekeb” lets have or develop patience till the realization of the national liberty and for sure, we did it. Even, now, the same tendency is being assessed to tolerate the Islamic tendencies and want to teach us “tray siraatmo iweged, dahray nihasbellu.” We did know and understand how much we are suffering now by letting the regime to go by the erroneous path and if we are ready to repeat the same mistake, then, Eritrea will be a religious volcano and its magma will swallow up us all. So, be brave to tell your readers to understand that differentiating a government and political religion is the minimum point of consensus with those religious (both Islamic and Christian fundamentalists) forces to be in one political umbrella. This is the minimum point of compromise. If they fail to accept and try to omit any and single alphabet from that phrase, then, the would be alliance will remain for the religious forces alone and hope you understand me.”

Response: Bravery has no place here and you should do what you want me to do yourself if you may! Write articles dealing with the situation as it is if you are for real. But not only do I understand you; I also totally agree with you. “tray natsinet tirekeb” or “tray siraatmo iweged, dahray nihasbellu” got us here and certainly will get us in chaotic Eritrea in the near future should we believe in it. We cannot repeat the same mistake that got us here but rather do something about the EDA crisis right now before it gets out of hand like it did with the Afwerki regime in the past. We will harvest what we plant and if we sow the notion “tray natsinet tirekeb” or “tray siraatmo iweged, dahray nihasbellu”, we will end up harvesting the same problem we suffered for the last 23 years.Prevention is the best remedy for the potential danger in Eritrea for doing it after they consolidate power will either destroy the nation or take the society decades to reverse the situation. The best example is the Afwerki regime and our situation under. Negligence in this area should at minimum produce civil war immediately after the regime dies if not before. There is notomorrow without today and there is no relatively decent government without firmly getting ready for it right now. We have to weed out the EDA now to get a reasonable result after Afwerki or else we should get ready to repeat the current situation in future Eritrea. Moke’s high-lightened statement should be mandatory minimum (religion totally out of the Eritrean politics) for any political group to be accepted by the people or be dealt with by any means necessary; for this is about the Eritrean survival that must be secured at any cost. The resistance cannot harbor fanatic political groups that threaten the Eritrean survival..PERIOD!! Unfortunately, this is where we are with the EDA 15 years after its birth.

Habibi: “For laymen like myself, who do not pay attention to the essence of the countless parties around the Eritrean politics,mainly due to their chauvinistic natures, subtle games and hidden agendas , make articles of this nature very much needed now more than ever as they are all out educational and awakening. We just can’t let our naiivity in politics be exploited by any other foreign and religious influences that are sneaking into our lives under the disguise of the struggle for democracy. Political parties based on religion should actually be banned before they ever started as they are meant to serve the religious interests of a group of fanatic individuals and not the interest of Eritrea and not at all the interests of Eritrean muslims. I hope the constitution will take care of them if we will ever have one some day.
The struggle for democracy looks like a football game where one has to look right and left before trying to go forward. Right now, while we are discussing this point of the Islamic parties, the apostles of Andenet with Ethiopia are starting to emerge from another side striving to exploit this situation and pave their way towards the Eritrean politics. This is what they call ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’. A unity that has long failed its purpose and costed us so many lives can in no way be taken as an option for fighting against foreign influences. This is a foreign influence of its own. As sad as it may seem, with all these bits and pieces of obstacles and scattered political parties, it doesn’t surprise me anymore why Eritrea doesn’t have a strong and competent opposition party.

Comment: I agree with you in that we need to look around and check and balance the EDA closely to effectively correct its mistakes by isolating the politicians that want to lead us according to their personal feelings instead of based on our common interest. I agree with you in that any group with religious politics in mind must be banned from the resistance and this situation should take place right now; as late as we already are.

If you ignore doing this today, you will dearly pay the price tomorrow! The unity drive is failing time and again because we are not concentrating on the groups that divide us within the EDA and beyond. We cannot have a competent and reliable political party if we let the fanatics continue dictating the EDA politics according to their feelings. We need to dig and filter out the Alliance to adopt the minimum (Absolutely No religion in politics) while simultaneously focusing on changing the government. The leaders of the religious parties must know right now through collective voice that they don’t represent any one of us, the Eritreans and that we will fight back by any means possible to keep them away from our national politics. They better change their policies and accommodate all of us to have a chance of running our country only based on the Constitution. For them to understand this, we have to act via demonstrations, websites, witting, meetings, events etc., yet reserving the right of progressive opposition forces violently challenging them should peaceful means of normalizing the issue fail and this be the only solution to the problem. They decide this and we have no choice except encouraging them to come to their senses before it is too late. I am saying what I think will take place in Eritrea as an individual unless the problem is corrected now.

Abraham Haile: “The Extremists on both sides are on a mission to influence the people of Eritrea especially those who are in diaspora to satisfy their religious and Higdefawy egos. I were inside Eritrea with Christians and Moslems and never heard any religious or regional diferences at all. I have witnessed the intermarriage of both sides thinking of moderation vastly exercised by the people though the regime is extremely against it at this time as it could lead the people towards unity unlike the experience in the revolution period. We need to ask why all this religion difference are appearing on the background? Could it be Money interest driven behind the curtain? If that is the case, then these derivatives should be from outside not from the poor people inside Eritrea. Please leave Eritrea alone for the rule of law to the democrats and reject the opportunist. Let religion, race and regional influence remains indoors and democratic rule of law outdoors. Eritrea will not be the breed of those cronies (Moslems and Christian Extremists), PERIOD!!!!!!!!

Response: Our people have nothing to do with the agendas of the fanatics in the EDA pool therefore we have the natural mandate to oppose or accept them based on the merit. The fanatics will bring chaos and civil war in the country that will equally hurt the people all inclusive. Therefore they are by default the enemies of the people that must be rejected without hesitation. The time to do this is now and the way to do it is not only by talking but by actively focusing on the problem and acting in accordance. We need to prioritize the future of the nation to the taboos that the infidels hide to destroy our society in order to boost the morale of the genuine active and old political parties in EDA currently confronting them from within and otherwise. Ideas won’t get us anywhere without action against the regime and the destructive elements in the EDA. As it goes, we are only working against the government without concentrating on filtering out the resistance needless to say that we are doing it ineffectively minus a united front. I can only wish the people good luck on this disorganized method of fighting and lack of focus. The minimum consequence of failing to understand this priority will, however, most likely be civil war in Eritrea between the people and the religious political parties.

Please stay tuned for more information on the EDA ahead. Things seem to be happening fast for the Alliance to continue as dull as it has been or to breakup into progressive and regressive groups. The situation has boiled down to this reality 15 years after its ridiculous existence. EDA is now desperately dealing with the situation through gallant resistance of some brothers and sisters in the struggle. It is currently conducting meetings after meetings to figure out an exit from its self made disaster. Keen observers say that the opposition groups responsible for the tragedy are visibly nervous today about the inevitable (formation of a challenger alliance against the EDA based on the result of its upcoming “grand coalition meeting” that may decide its future once and for all). They are waiting for the outcome of the grand meeting with concrete position in mind (that EDA accepts the minimum common denominator (no religion in politics) or else whatever. The alliance as it stands today is composed of about eleven political groups with three breakaway groups and two other independent groups and the EPDP carefully watching the show from outside. The six vigilant groups are not united yet but individuals close to the situation say that they have a solid relationship that can translate into a united front one way or another still depending on the outcome of the EDA meeting. Further, there are few other groups within the EDA that are tired of it and getting ready to break up; says my most dependable source of information. We need to maximize pressure for the EDA to change in favor of justice and for the resisting groups to continue their struggle with or without it. We will keep you informed as the events unfold and enjoy your moment!