by Fetsum Abraham

It so seems like something exciting comes out of the Eritrean experience even at sad conditions of the society; one only wonders what they could do in peaceful and democratic environment. It was at the height of confusion and uncertainty in 2004, when our country was staggering for healing from the disastrous war that Zersenay Tadese, the current men’s half marathon world record holder came out of nowhere to surprise us all with his bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The universe saw him waving his country’s flag on the podium side by side the Ethiopian gold medalist Kenenissa Bekele. Do you know that Eritrea stood the best in achievement/per capita in that Olympics?

It was at that historical Olympics that Meb Kiflezghi, the national cross country running champion (2001, 2002 and 2009) and the winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon raised to the top standing on the same podium with a silver medal in the men’s marathon in the name of the USA.

Ladies and gentlemen, something extraordinary took place this time by the exceptional athlete that placed our country on the top of the list in the entire all rounded African athletic experience.

Africa Top Sports Awards picked Daniel Teklehaimanot, the fastest African cyclist (3 years in a row) as the best African Athlete in 2012. In 2012, he became the first Blackman from Eritrea to ride in (La Vuelta); one of the 3 grand tours and currently holds the record for the leading cyclist of the continent. He finished sixth overall in the Tour de l’Avenir in 2009. In 2010 he won the African Championships in the road race, individual time trial and team time trial, at both senior and under-23 levels. On the 2010–2011 UCI

Daniel had completely dominated cycling in Africa. Aside his achievements since the earlier years, in 2012 alone, Danny stood 1st at the Eritrea National Road Race Championships, at the Eritrea National Time Trial Championships, at the African Cycling Championships Time Trial and at the African Cycling Championships Team Time Trial. He also won the Tour of Rwanda and the Kwita Izina Cycling Tour as well.

Further, “The undaunted African cycling kingpin, Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot won the Individual Time Trial (ITT) title of the 2012 African Continental Cycling Championship in Burkina Faso.” The Eritrean Cycling Federation has also been elected as the best African Sports Federation of the year. I congratulate Daniel and the federation for this outstanding achievement and wish Danny good luck in his future international competitions ahead.

REMINDER

Quote of the moment:  The Eritrean government missed the opportunity of using the society’s intellectual power and touched-down on the current situation. The resistance is suffering from achieving its goals because of the same mistake. It cannot afford vandalizing the intellectual cream of the society in the face of the uneducated generation without navigating the future of Eritrea into chaos.

From the forum

Ghenet: We should organize ourselves by our professions (economists, educators psychologists/psychiatrists, social workers, investors, religious leader etc.) and work and

look forward to post-dictator responsibilities. Priority and professional networking and discussions on how to handle the mess the ‘BDHREY SAERY AITBKOLA’ will leave behind. This is how we can also embolden the people in Eritrea and gain their trust. It will also give PFDJ the last blow. We have to campaign so that educated, elite and experts come forward and together and give back to the Eritrean people. Everybody should be encouraged to contribute in their expertise (no matter how small) something to create a practical vision about how things will be. But as it is, we are stuck now in this cyber war with some lunatics and sadists and what not. You and Fitsum and me can start now!!!!”

Me: This is exactly what should be done but the organized youth should initiate the motion by inviting intellectuals for debate because I do not think this effort can be accomplished by individuals alone. Aside the opposition parties, none of the youth groups or the opposition web sites appears to be interested in this: I have no idea what is

going on! I am talking about division of labor here with clear understanding that the youth organizations, while doing okay, are not doing their homework in this regard. They are good at agitating the Diaspora to demonstrate against the government universally and this shows that they can easily organize intellectual public debate, but in vain.

We cannot keep on writing until natural death interferes and chaos takes place. I do believe the May 24 activities everywhere should initiate this process as a priority to expedite the fall of dictatorship in our country.

I modestly appeal this to the activists who earned the confidence of the youth and specially brother Seyoum Tesfai to do something in this regard as soon as our independence day.

As for Geni’s suggestion to start it right now, I think we can build close relationship with each other (people in the same camp) and you are welcome to contact me through FETSUMRAHAM@Yahoo.com.

Adhanom:  “We have discussed so many times about the deterioration of PFDJ leadership in Eritrea since the Front has lost all basic legitimacy. Nevertheless, the leadership exists because a true and effective opposition cannot exist. For more than a decade the battle has not been totally directed against tyranny, rather the battle is orchestrated inside the opposition blocks which ends up the struggle for democratization fragile elongated the life span of dictatorship in Eritrea.” What stops us to establish a unified struggle for justice? “HGDEF infiltrators” or “our personal ego” or “our personal failure” or “our compromises about out national interest?

Me: The regime is doing its job of destructing the movement through infiltrators excellently. This is normal with all dictators therefore the role of the infiltrators is not the main problem here since they are part of the package that the resistance should tackle as a matter of reality. Ego, attention and power struggle is the problem in my opinion. I believe the anti-intellectual position of the regime is somewhat being practiced by the youth organizations and even by the websites (Asmarino, Awate and Assenna) as well, sorry if I missed the point. I just do not know to what extent. They are competing for something: with all the power they have to initiate intellectual debate, they have so far chosen to ignore it and the aging intellectual community is fast losing the opportunity to contribute in the resistance. This is not how Ethiopians and Somalians did it my dear people: They used their intellectuals for a guideline and changed their situation, because nothing can be done without.

In our case, the youth groups appear to be busy agitating for demonstrations all over the place on independence day (May 24) but no motion so far as to initiating the most important agenda of the resistance (intellectual debate all over). What is expected from the demonstrations alone with empty substance? What do we gain shouting at useless individuals of the likes of Wedi Gerahtu, though we should continue doing this at secondary level of the priority? At this point in the journey, the resistance has taught the universe about the situation of the people through demonstrations and it is time to move on.

CATCH: Now, we cannot dwell on this tactic that already achieved its objective. We need to upgrade the approach and at least accomplish the following two objectives to suffocate the dictator and his servants (the generals and the officials) into one way or another leaving the society alone.

a)     We need to direct our unified voice against the cash flow of the regime (the gold mining companies in our country) and this must be done by internationally organized demonstrations and direct contact with the companies through a well-organized intellectual group. The companies need to know that their stake in Eritrea will be compromised after Afwerki unless they stop their activities there immediately. We can officially make their cooperation a condition for securing their stake in Eritrea out right on the face without contemplation. For them to take us seriously is our business to look after.

b)    We need to manage our issues by upgrading our capacity to the extent of directly addressing them with high government officials of different governments universally. You, however, got to talk to them with the language they respect and understand not through emotional discharge and nationalism alone. The condition by which they will help depends on our image in view of them. If sister Elsa Chirum alone can manage to meet politicians like the Chancellor of Germany on individual effort, can you imagine what we can do in unison if we do it right?

c)     We need to take advantage of the different government funds available from the western governments related to our situation. The money is waiting for us to get it professionally but we need to convince them that we have a prototype that can produce democracy in Eritrea. They cannot give us anything unless they have confidence on what we are doing.

THE BOTTOMLINE: All of the above cannot be achieved without INTELLECTUAL INPUT. Academic civility and discipline are the only means of achieving success in (a-c).

Petros: “While a common objectives were clearly addressed by Fistum on the first phase, but the question of the political groups having an army of their own, and these groups are hoping with the help of their army to influence matters is highly likely … Given this reality, Don’t you think it is appropriate to disarm all the armed groups in order for the phase one to work?”

Response: Historical patterns show that no organization that comes to power through violence ever produces democracy. Therefore, any individual party that wants to free the society from this dictatorship is looking for political power by default logic. I think we should encourage the parties to integrate their armies under the united front command rather than disarming them because violence is an option to solve the problem in the absence of peaceful resolution. We should, however, reject any organization trying to fight out the regime individually.

Petros: “Although it is natural for the various groups to have the upper hand in negotiating their position, and some visible differences may appear, even on the first phase, such as, their vision of a federally based constitution, which for some groups, it can be a matter of principle that can not be put for another day … How would you find a middle ground to such sensitive issues as such?”

Response: I think this is a very important question that must be clarified to everyone in the resistance. I personally have no problem in a federally based constitution that treats every ethnic group in the society equally by providing them the chance to develop their communities with some sort of autonomy from the central government. All this stuff is, however, premature in this first phase of the struggle for democracy. The road to democracy through TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT cannot procedurally amend our constitution in this respect because it is not a full-fledged democratic government, though legitimate. This topic is due after the united front defeats the dictatorship in post-Afwerki Eritrea under the transitional government. The procedure by which democracy can come to Eritrea in its current situation cannot accommodate the ethnic and religious principles of individual parties without contradiction and compromising the cause. This is not about compassion or a favor but the only guideline of the subject matter in discussion. I do not see a middle ground here and there should never be a reason for one. What ever the principles of the individual parties may be, the united front that is in the process of forming has nothing to accommodate and the parties should keep their principles to themselves until the struggle succeeds. The constitution of the united front is not the Eritrean constitution and should not be. It is a constitution by which people are united under a common platform (transitional Government). This constitution should of course be rendered irrelevant in post-Afwerki Eritrea in favor of the Amendable Eritrean constitution.