In Search of a Victory Strategy

In an editorial comment entitled: ‘Our objective should be to set in motion the frozen sea’, the ELF-RC Information and Cultural Office spoke out that the only sure path to change and democracy in Eritrea today is through winning the hearts and minds of the vast majority of Eritreans who at the present time do not give their support neither to the regime that victimized them, nor, frankly speaking, to the opposition that has not yet presented itself as a much better alternative force.

Why did we, in the Eritrean political opposition, so far fail to win the full support of the vast majority of our people?

According to the above mentioned editorial posted on this website on 8 February 2005, part of the key reasons for our failure can be summarized in these points:

We, organizations and individuals in the opposition, have been claiming to be democratic and tolerant in nature but we have not shown to be just that in practice. People have been watching us.
Our people have rejected the PFDJ/Isayas regime because the regime failed to deliver peace, freedom, justice, equality and prosperity. On the other hand, our people have not yet trusted and embraced the opposition because they are not comfortable with it and did not see reassuring signs that the multiple forces in the opposition will be able to deliver peace, national unity, freedom and the rest of the package of values the people look for.

The editorial then went on to prescribe a solution. That solution – rather, victory strategy - would commence by activating ‘the frozen sea’ of the Eritrean people so that a massive popular support inside the homeland and abroad could be won by the opposition which then, and only then, can decide on the means (armed or not) for dislodging the dictatorial PFDJ regime in Eritrea. The prescription is:

The opposition must come with a widely acceptable Programme of Change – call it a minimum programme - that can be easily embraced by the entire Eritrean people.
The forces in the opposition camp must act honestly, properly, ungrudgingly, and openly to put into real practice their Programme of Change.

What should this Programme of Change include? The editorial did not specify what the contents of that programme should or should not be. It only went on stressing the importance of the issues sub-titled below, and we at Nharnet.com assume these points are part of the Programme of Change implied in the editorial (in addition, according to us at Nharnet.com, to the new charter that would have to befit the requirements of the current stage and to disprove the allegations of the regime against the opposition. By the way, Awate.com’s Gedab news reported that the PFDJ regime is organizing mass meetings in a campaign apparently directed against the Khartoum meetings of the opposition. The regime alleged that the opposition is organizing itself to disintegrate Eritrea on the basis of ethnicity and religion.)

National Unity

No struggle for peace, freedom or democracy ever succeeded in any part of this world without the struggling forces agreeing on what to do in order to win the hearts and minds of the majority of their people. The editorial stressed that the struggle for national unity is an inseparable part of the struggle for creating a democratic Eritrea. It said the ELF-RC struggled for decades at end to bring about the unity of the political organizations as the first step for consolidating national unity of the people and that the establishment of the inclusive Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) is a welcome development in this direction.

Popular Uprising for Change

The opposition forces, now represented in the EDA, are called upon to manifest a democratic nature and mutual respect, and possess the needed readiness to resolve differences through candid and amicable dialogue not lacking the sense of oneness, love and fraternity that reigned during the long years of struggle. If the component parts of EDA continue mired up in squabbles and trivialities of uncalled for ‘competition’ for non-existent excellence, then they will fail to rally the people behind their programme. In different words, continued infighting of the opposition forces will herald the failure of EDA and the failure of the idea of setting in motion ‘the frozen sea’ of our people for an eventual uprising.

World Support for Change in Eritrea

Eritrea in 1991 enjoyed full support of the world that wanted a model for change in Africa. The PFDJ regime aborted that international goodwill to help Eritrea help itself by becoming a good example for democracy and development. Today, the world, including our fraternal neighbourly peoples and governments, are concerned about the future of Eritrea. As many conscious Eritreans shudder to think of it, Eritrea’s neighbours and friends entertain the fear that chaos may reign in the aftermath of the Isayas dictatorship as the case was in many other similar settings (Somalia etc).

The challenge for the new EDA, the editorial went on, is to win the full and continued support of friends abroad while at the same time making big efforts to win the hearts and minds of almost all Eritreans, including the hearts and minds of those serving the dictatorship at this moment in time.

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