NHARNET ARTICLES

TO THE POINT

National Conference as a Process of National Reconciliation:

ELF-RC leadership is holding consultative talks with many entities and personalities to pave the way for productive working relationship as a part of the effort for national reconciliation. To further the harmony and tolerance among the opposition camp, the Executive Committee (EC) of ELF-RC has designated a high level committee. Nharnet has learned that the members of the designated committee are:

Ibrahim M. Ali, RC Speaker,
Mengisteab Asmerom, Head of Information and Cultural Office , and
Mohammad Ali Ibrahim, Head of Field Affairs.

The committee will coordinate with the broad opposition camp including the ENA. Its broad task is to do its best in revitalizing and reinvigorating the opposition in a coordinated and effective approach. National conference could be one agenda that can pick momentum from such high level consultations and meetings.

One of the most burning issues today that are of utmost concern to our people inside the country and abroad are border demarcation and the threat of war that can come at the heed of the failure of its implementation. Another issue that has been one of the most debated in the opposition camp can be safely concluded to be national reconciliation. In the opposition arena, the national conference is the most significant part of the much talked about national reconciliation.

When ELF-RC brought the subject of national conference to the fore front of the discussion of our people specially in the Eritrean opposition arena, people were not clear as to what the objectives are and what it is expected to accomplish. Many supported it in principle but remained confused on the specific mechanisms to be used in actually conducting it. ELF-RC presented a proposal of National Conference to the Alliance and was accepted. It is refreshing to see now days that it has become a broadly accepted political concept in most of the opposition camp.

Even though the opposition has by enlarge endorsed the national conference in principle, a few details remain to be detailed and worked out. The crucial points that the public is focusing can be summarized as follows:

Who hosts the national conference?
Who should be the participants and what are the criteria of their qualifications?
What are the agenda items?
Who sets the agenda?
Where can it be held?
How will the National Conference be financed?

It is understandable that each organization, civic society, movement, party and individual may have slightly differing answers to these questions. Nair Fesseha has relentlessly worked to keep the issue on the front pages of the Eritrean websites and we commend him for that.

Amanuel Habte, RC member of ELF-RC has written extensive useful articles on the subject matter. We plan to organize past articles, statements, and editorials in one folder for the convenience of our readers.

ELF-RC has already announced that it has designated a National Conference Facilitative (Consultative) Committee (NCFC). Few accused the leadership of competing with ENA and the announcement was seen as an attempt to dominate. The simple fact is that it is ELF-RC that originated the idea and proposed to the Alliance to begin with. As far as ELF-RC is considered, it is not competing with any one and believes the crux of the matter is for the conference to be held in a matter that meets the objectives of our people. Now, let us look at how ELF-RC views the National Conference and the mechanism of conducting it. The main factor that a lot of people are debating is the question of who hosts the national conference.

ELF-RC does not believe that there is one entity that is superiorly qualified to host the national conference. There is no one particular entity that owns the hosting nor is there any organization or group mandated to host the national conference. National conference is a public phenomenon and the host should reflect that fact. We do not believe every entity in the opposition has to be represented. However, every one should be included in the consultative meetings or discussions of determining the host. The host should come out from the agreement of such meetings. At the end, the final committee that gets designated with the responsibility of hosting the conference may or may not include members of the traditional opposition organizations. In other words, the composition should not be debated and therefore determined before hand. It should be the outcome of the consultative meetings of all the committees from the organizations, civic societies, and even individuals. If one entity ends up hosting the national conference, there will be suspicion and there fore the organizations, civic societies and individuals who do not trust or do not agree with the principles and policies of the host may not participate. Broad participation is a key factor to the success of the national conference.

Even those who attend may be doubtful about the complete fairness, objectivity, and neutrality of the agenda and the manner it is conducted. A national conference clouded with mistrust and doubt however small may not enable our people harvest the desired fruits.

ELF-RC's commitment is to help facilitate in the preparation of such a productive and meaningful national conference that shows a measurable step towards the hope of our long suffering people. The national conference facilitation committee mandate is to hold discussions with all concerned and come up with acceptable and workable answer to the questions mentioned above. The questions can be answered on an ongoing preparatory dialogue among all the representatives of the broad opposition camp. in our opinion, open mind , frank discussions, and flexibility will be essential to the success of the much awaited national conference as an important part of the national reconciliation process.

Thank you for reading,

The Nharnet Team