Eritrea: Establishing an effective opposition:

06/05/07 - Y. Ligiam (Dr)

We are all saddened and directly or indirectly affected by the economic, political and social deterioration in Eritrea. The PFDJ system has failed and betrayed people’s aspirations, hopes and opportunities. In addition to its political and economic ineptitude, it has dismantled the coexistence element and the social fabric of the country. Neither the women and children nor the elderly have been exempted from the impact and those who can are leaving the country in droves with considerable risk to their lives.

While the situation for the last ten years has been as bad as it can be and it is getting worse; while the opposition camp fails to grow up and meet the challenge it is necessary to draw our attention to the long term impact of PFDJ’s mismanagement of the country which:

·         Has created a mistrust among the various Eritrean communities

·         Destroyed quality of education (the future) and persecuted religion

·         Imprisoned innocent people through kangaroo courts

·         It has betrayed people’s trust and desire for a legitimate parliament.

·         Pushed the country into a permanent emergency status

It is very sad to see in such a critical phase of make or break of a nation; Eritreans particularly those who are outside the country are unable to find a unitary strategy to challenge the regime. Food for thought for all including the silent majority, individuals, civil societies and the fragmented opposition organizations and their followers.

Considering the state of the opposition camp, it is time to explore a strategy on how to make the Eritrean opposition camp more relevant – to the urgency of the situation and to the question of viability of a national entity.

Normally, when a situation in a specific country deteriorates the opposition camp becomes relevant to people, gains strength and establishes an alternative hope. Oddly enough in Eritrea, despite the deterioration of the situation and despite that the PFDJ’s system has been discredited internally and externally the opposition camp has failed to grasp the opportunity. The opposition camp has failed to dent the actions of PFDJ and it also failed to demonstrate that it is a safe alternative to PFDJ’s system both to the people and to international institutions. In a situation of life or death of a nation, the Eritrean opposition’s camp track record has been disappointing and irrelevant.

The handicap of existing alliance:

• Endless fragmentation followed by divergence of the people and of the struggle
• Lack of accountability to the people
• Failure to establish a relevant international politics
• Lack of vision and strategy of building a nation
• Lack of clarity of objectives / roles and responsibilities
• Prioritizing organizational interest to that of the people and the nation
• Dwelling on differences and not in the common national interests
• Failed to build a bigger picture / to provide leadership / to build National consensus
• Failed in providing a strategic plan to construct an effective National opposition
• Failed to provide hope to those who are suffering under the PFDJ system.

The defenders of the status quo in the opposition might say – this is a democratic process and people have the right to differ and to express their views. In principle no one would disagree with this statement. However, a democratic process that doesn’t have a defined objective, a strategy and can not focus to the specific problem in Eritrea becomes irrelevant to stop people’s suffering and to prevent a nation from disintegrating.

Having divided the Eritreans in exile into different factions and not being able to be seen as a viable alternative to PFDJ’s system within Eritrea, are the two detrimental factors of the opposition camp.  At the same time, the opposition camp has become a source of a negative propaganda for PFDJ to terrorize the people.

The recent news that EDA has succeeded to overcome the problem of articles 4 and 5 of their Charter. These articles had become a major source of controversy and waist of time and resources among the opposition groups. It should not be forgotten that the issues of 4 and 5 have been created by the organizations themselves and not by the people. Eritrean people have not given any mandate to any opposition on future governance or political system. This is a mandate of the people, through a Representative Parliament and the Constitution that will be approved in due process. Any other suggestion is undemocratic.

If the Eritrean opposition camp is to be relevant to the situation and if it is to respond in a dignified manner to the urgency of “the cry for help”, there are two fundamental issues to be reviewed:

Definition of the objective:

Eritrean people have many economic, social problems and thanks to the notorious social engineering of PFDJ they will have new challenges and grievances that they will have to deal with. However, the biggest problem Eritreans face is PFDJ’s betrayal and the denial to the people to establish a Legitimate, Representative Parliament where people can exercise their power to deal with existing and upcoming problems.  

Therefore, the main objective of the opposition camp must be to provide people with a legitimate parliament – which is a starting point to resolve ALL other problems of a nation. The objective, strategy and resources of the opposition should therefore, be limited and focused to overthrow the dictatorship and prepare a political platform to establish a Legitimate Parliament.  

Definition of Roles and Responsibility:

It is not the role of an opposition camp to define beforehand the Governance system that should prevail in future Eritrea. The opposition can democratically express its views on future Eritrea but does not have any mandate to decide on behalf of the people. When the opposition camp is divided into Federalists, Jihadists, and Socialists, Pseudo-democrats …etc, it is a distractive and dangerous process that leads nowhere except to further fragmentation and distraction from the real problem.

Therefore, the so called democratic process of the opposition camp is a blind end and will take us nowhere except to become a laughing-stoke of PFDJ and to nurture its oppression on innocent people.

The opposition groups need to reflect that:

·         they do not have the right to decide what the people want

·         they are acting outside their mandate

·         they are putting the cart before the horse

·         they have put the people’s priority in the backburner

·         they have put organizational interest above the people’s suffering

·         they have championed irreconcilable flagships that are irrelevant and untimely

The opposition camp needs to realize it hasn’t got a mandate to resolve the economic and social problems and further less to determine the future governance of Eritrea. Such posture and abuse of circumstances is neither timely nor relevant to the situation in Eritrea and will never gain people’s trust. It is not a democratic process as it is a copy-cut of PFDJ actions “we decide for our people as we know what is good them”.

If the intention is to maintain a single national entity, the fragmented opposition camps have to review their priorities and to re-evaluate their role and more importantly to be accountable to people’s objectives.  They have to do the “impossible” i.e. to come to a single political platform – to overthrow the system - for the sake of those who are suffering and for the sake of the future of the nation.

The strategy:

The only way forward is that all the opposition elements (block I & II, civil societies, individuals) need to come together to a National Covenant and establish a single objective and a single strategy on how to overthrow the oppressive system. They can exercise their organizational “convictions” and “interests” until the cows come home during the transition period.

At present the single priorities are:

• Establish a single voice/strategy of opposition to PFDJ
• Establish a coordinated action plan to overthrow the system
• Provide international credibility/alliance to the opposition
• Coordinate time, energy and resources of the opposition to the single objective
• Plan to manage the transitional period effectively on agreed terms and framework.
• Register the legitimate grievances of the people to be dealt by future Parliament.
• Establish and support opposition elements within and outside Eritrea
• To freeze individual organizational interests and strategies until the transitional period.

Desired outcome from a National Covenant:

• Definition of objective/s (to review and focus on their duty bearing role)
• Definition of roles and responsibility / review of the various positions.
• Election of a National Council in Exile and an Executive
• Election of an executive to lead the Action Plan, accountable to the Council.
• Executive to coordinate and bring together the voices, energies and resources of the opposition camp –
• To promote the national and the common interests of the people.
• Executive to bring efficiency, effectiveness and national & international credibility through active involvement of all Eritreans.
• All organizational grievances to be studied and documented through an elected commission to be forwarded to a future parliament.

Advantages of a National Council and its Executive:

• It brings together energies and resources of the opposition camp
• It becomes one train that carries all Eritreans in one single track towards one specific destination i.e. a legitimate representative parliament.
• A single objective, voice and a single action plan gives national and international credibility
• It is accountable (because of its defined role) and encourages people’s participation
• It gives a defined hope to those who are suffering under a dictatorial system.
• It guarantees a smooth transitional period when/if the PFDJ system implodes where the alternative is chaos and civil war.

Transitional Period:

• Executive to coordinate and manage party formation, introduction of pluralism and the election process i.e. the transition period towards a legitimate Parliament.
• Executive to oversee the transitional economic, political and social administration.
•  Executive to forward popular grievances to the parliament’s attention.
• The executive will provide a political platform for people to exercise their political rights and party allegiances.

Conclusion:

People, if they are given the means and the opportunity of ownership can solve their problems.  This is the basic element for democracy and if the opposition groups believe in democracy they have to practice it.

National, regional, religious, political, social and economic problems are not unique to Eritrean inhabitants. The denial of a Legitimate and Representative Parliament is the biggest betrayal and the source of all problems in Eritrea. It is also the only platform where we can meet the challenges of a viable nation.

The single expectation of people in Eritrea from the opposition camp is to overthrow the oppressive regime. People have not given a mandate to any opposition group the prediction and the definition of what system and governance should prevail in Eritrea, this is a mandate for the people.

Food for thought.