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Elections under PFDJ dictatorship

On Saturday, May 15, 2004, Voice of Eritrea was broadcasting the progress of the general "elections" that will take place in the cities and regions of our country. A recent commentary from PFDJ was, roughly translated from Tigrinia, that "we know democracy and the Eritrean people practiced long time". They have come a long way from saying that our people are not ready for democracy. Election is a good word to hear for Eritreans and their world wide friends. As an opposition organization, we like to hear it too even though we know it is unconstitutional and undemocratic.

Our readers may react negatively to the above sentence and we clearly understand that. If the elections are undemocratic and to top it off unconstitutional, what is there to hear in them? Stay with us and we will get you there by starting with what PFDJ was saying not too long ago. We will analyze what is behind the sudden propaganda serge of elections by the PFDJ media.

Background: In 1991, ELF-RC called for a dialogue with the then provisional government. It publicly announced that it is ready to function from within Eritrea as a competitive party and help in building the country. The news was world wide publicized that a team lead by Ahmad Nasser, an ELF-RC chairman at that time, was ready to go to Asmara. Isayas changed his mind the last minute once he figured out that ELF-RC was not going to be at his service, was capable of challenging him, and had wide acceptance by the people. The meeting never happened. This fact tells us that PFDJ is not serious about establishing a democratic government where there is real political competition in the country. Banning competition is the surest way for it to remain the only party and therefore the only power in town.

The first decree of Isayas was a Tigrinia statement in his speech which sent the message that there is no room for parties/opposition organization in Eritrea. The ban of opposition parties has not been lifted since then. To the contrary , members of opposition are hunted and kidnapped even from neighboring countries. In fact, PFDJ imprisoned 11 high ranking officials in the party and in the government on September 18, 2001 taking advantage the fact that the U.S.A. and the world were preoccupied with the terrorist attack of September 11. They have not been charged formally nor have they been brought to justice in a court of law. They have been charged via the PFDJ media of treason. We leave it to the imagination of our readers through out the world the kind of elections that will take place in a country, where even high ranking officials are jailed for criticizing the government and calling for a meeting to debate the shortfall of the government.

By now, the Eritrean people have come to know what PFDJ is and who its drivers are. It is becoming clearer day by day the world is learning what the Eritrean people have come to understand and what ELF-RC has known and warned of since 1991.

PFDJ response to our call for the implementation of a democratic system for a long time, since the independence of our country in 1991, is presented below in blue ink and is also underlined. Our analysis and comments follow each underlined blue item:

"Eritrean people need bread, not democracy": PFDJ leaders and followers had one very commonly repeated phrase/sentence in regard to democracy and elections. The English version of what they said was "Eritrean people need bread, not democracy". This is the very reason why we told you that we are glad to hear that PFDJ is talking about elections no matter how undemocratic the election is. PFDJ cronies are admitting by their very act that the Eritrean people need democracy. This comes in a desperate PFDJ attempt to improve its tarnished image in the international community. They have come to admit that our people are not a heard of cattle that get satisfied on how full their stomach is. In fact, PFDJ has provided neither food nor peace. Our people are sad, hungry and scared under PFDJ tyranny with out bread or democracy.

Constitution has not been developed and ratified: PFDJ strong line of defense was that Constitution has not been developed and so there cannot be elections. This is a well known PFDJ tactics of buying time to strengthen their grip to power and deeply root their tentacles of dictatorship. Their scheme came to the open when they shelved the constitution after they hyped the public for a false hope and was ratified by its own parliament. The whole scenario was to buy time and get financial aid from the international community which was hoping for implementation of democracy. Now, what will PFDJ tell the world about what kind of election they are going to conduct on May 19? We do not have to state the obvious of the unconstitutionality of the planned elections. It is hard for an election to be constitutional if there is no ratified and implemented constitution to speak of.

There cannot be democratic elections without democratic institutions: This is a very true statement then and now when it is seen in combination with a number of other factors that can be attributed as criteria for a democratic competition. The problem is knowing what democracy needs and doing what democracy requires are two different things. There are no political institutions, democratic or other wise to date except PFDJ and its branches. It is not hard to see the PFDJ insult on our people and the international community specially the democratic world when it tries to tell the world it will conduct democratic elections by making rosy announcements. Torture, kidnapping, and intimidation quarters and tactics are the only things PFDJ was institutionalizing. It is kind of impossible to establish democratic institutions with out the will and intent to do so.

Election rules need to be drafted, developed, and implemented before elections can be held: This again is an important fact. However the fact falls flat on its face when looked at in perspective with the actions of PFDJ. The Isayas illegitimate government was not in the business of drafting election rules and procedures. Instead, it was in the process of widening jail houses, means of torturing of any one who dares to voice any opinion that does not glorify PFDJ bosses. It is rather clear PFDJ will use the election for the blessing of inaugurations of its cronies to positions where they can be used as a rubber stamp of PFDJ. There are no publicized election rules that we know of. There is no constitution that governs the election rules. There is no free press or other monitoring mechanism to verify if it is adhered to. Independent press was instead banned and the journalists jailed where they still remain in prison without any formal charge.

Free Press rules need to be implemented and developed for monitoring free and fair elections: It sounds great. One would think that PFDJ was planning for all the perquisites of free and fair democratic elections. The sadness sinks in when one learns that Eritrea is one of the very few countries in the world where independent press is banned and it is an African nation where it has 17 out of 19 journalists jailed in the continent. We do not have to tell our readers on the importance of the media scrutiny on the legitimacy, fairness and openness of the elections.

ELF-RC Stand: The stand and views of our organization is outlined on the recent Tigrinia Editorial from our News and Cultural Office. ELF-RC categorically rejects the PFDJ ploy being played on our people and the world to improve its shattered dictatorial image. The only time ELF-RC would see the election as legitimate and a step forward is when the following criteria are met:

The ratification and implementation of a democratic constitution
When political organizations with differing programs are legally allowed to function in open and free environment
When Free Press is legal and operational
When competing political organizations/parties have unrestricted access to free press and equal access to governmental media and other campaign outlets.
When independent commission is in charge of monitoring and ensuring free and fair election
When an autonomous court is able to investigate and issue judgments on accusations and complaints in regard to the fairness of the competition and actual elections
When Eritrean civic societies, international governmental and nongovernmental entities will be able to monitor the elections as observers.

Conclusion: Mr. Alamin Mohamad Said, one of the leaders of PFDJ recently told Voice of America, a Tigrinia broadcasting program in the USA, that the recent elections are not based on or associated with the constitution. This says it all, doesn't it?

We understand that our people inside the country do not have any choice but to comply and do as they are told in the elections. There is no independent national press which can represent the true feelings and mood of our people on the so called elections. We call on Eritreans in the Diaspora to open their eyes and act according to what is good for the future generation of Eritrea. They should stand against the announced election which is more or less an insult of our martyrs and the intelligence of our people.

We call on the international community not to be fooled by the old PFDJ tactics. PFDJ is spending huge amount of money by hiring three lobbying firms in the United States despite the hunger and poverty under which our people are suffering. This election exercise is another public relations attempt.

Thank you for reading

The Nharnet Team