Democracy debate in Eritrea

By Fesseha Nair

Democracy is currently the catchphrase for the perils and promises facing the Eritreans in this time. Democracy is generally understood as hinder for those who will dominate and stay in power. It is understood as it does not function in a diverse society like that of Eritrea. The economic development must come before introducing democracy. Those who are against democracy argue that in a nation with diversity the implication of democracy is not possible because it creates conflicts. For the advocates of democracy in Eritrea, democracy is the process of developing the political, economic and social integration of the diversity both horizontally and vertically in a tighter webs of interdependence. They believe that the Eritrean diversity can only live in harmony and unity under a democratic system of governance not under the rule of one dominant and dictatorship. There were no economic developments in the nations of the world under authoritarian system of governance. ( Read: Both micro and macro economic theories of the national and international economics)

The debate on the desirability of democracy and no –democracy is taking place between the regime supporters and the opposition forces. The opposition forces believe that democratization is the guarantee and beneficial for all Eritreans,  while those who support the rule of one man in Eritrea see it as a hinder and obstacle for development.

The debate on democracy has moved beyond the academic arena. As shown by the violent supporters of the ruling regime in Eritrea, anti- democracy forces spearheaded by intellectuals have been galvanized into action on the Eritrean Diaspora by organizing festivals and seminars against democracy not only in Eritrea but also in the whole world. Movements such as Dehai, Alenalki, Meadna and many others are devoted to challenge the freedoms of their resident countries and spreading nonsense propaganda against the western media.

Why are the Eritrean scholars moving beyond their academic arena and be divided in partisan politics before they make their studies on the subject of democratization and development in Eritrea? Eritrea is not different from the other world regarding diversity. Do you know the Composition of some states in Carribean? They are less than Eritrea both in population and size but they are populated by diverse of people. Most states of the world today are populated by diverse of people but live in democracy. Why is democracy not functional in Eritrea? Can the scholars who support the regime in Eritrea show us academically that democracy cannot function in Eritrea? Historically, Eritrea was the first colonial country that adopted democracy during the British administration, it has had the first workers or labour union, parties, rule of law, freedoms of speech and press, freedom of organization and freedom of religion.

There are a mountain of books written on the subject democracy in Eritrea, the struggle of the Eritrean people was not only to liberate the land but to get back the lost rights during the Ethiopian occupation, isn’t  it true? Why are the Eritrean scholars beyond their academic arena by confusing the Eritrean people into confusion and making democracy a contentious issue when involves Eritrea. There is much confusion surrounding definitions and terms, making us difficult to evaluate findings, and as a result the Eritrean scholars supporting the regime are against their academic merits and ethics. A few scholars have tried to synthesise the debate more systematically, but their voices can barely be heard above the regime supporters clamours.

The former Eritrean scholars of the 40^th, 50^th , 60^th and 70^th were more matured on democracy in Eritrea and they have achieved a lot for the future generation. Given the collapse and division of the Eritrean scholars regarding the issue of democratization is the main hinder and obstacle for the Eritrean people not to live in peace and prosperity. The Eritrean scholars are responsible to come together and help manage this process of democratization in Eritrea.

Eritrea as part of the world community is isolating itself from democratization and facing perils because of its wrong policies taken by the whims of one man without consent of the people. While most of the developing countries in the world are doing remarkably well in terms of raising incomes, building institutions and good governance, and creating social peace, the regime in Eritrea and its supporting scholars are advocating for violence and disarray, largely due to a lack of good governance and failure to improve people’s living conditions. Democracy is not new to the Eritrean people. The Eritrean people know very well that economic development never comes under dictatorship as it is evidenced in their saying, “ Let the farmer do his work in the fields and let the trader trade in his trade!”ሕረስ ሓረስታይ ንገድ ነጋዳይ means that they are advocates of free market democracy. Where is then the counter argument that Eritreans does not know their rights advocated by the scholars of the dictatorship economics?

While scholars for democratization in Eritrea see closer link between democracy and economic development and argue that Eritrea’s economy can only develop if Eritrea first adopts democracy and introduce free market. The spread of democracy will improve social welfare, since the created wealth can be distributed in an accountable manner, but under monopolistic and dictatorship there is no accountability and transparency, people will be dependent on the government and the economy never create either human or capital wealth, which is absent today in Eritrea under one man rule. Isn’t that true?

Here one can draw that the scholars supporting the regime in Eritrea have no academic theory and empery but are just outside their academic arena confusing the Eritrean people by propagating against democracy as an obstacle for economic development. However, the Eritrean people’s concern is today the enormous problem of poverty, inequality, crises of governance, and mismanagement of internal and external conflicts due to the hostile policies of the ruling regime. The Eritrean people are plagued by these wrong political policies and need a true and genuine solution based on the Eritrean realities.

The most immediate challenge for the Eritrean scholars is to distinguish clearly the promises of democracy and the perils of dictatorship in Eritrea and formulate the right policies that can yield the optimum results being foundations for peace , democracy and development in Eritrea. The task will be difficult given the incoherence of noisy protests propagated by the supporters of dictatorship but that is no insurmountable today because democracy has been adopted by most countries of the world except a few countries globally.