North America Party Candidates’ Conference

1 June 2008

Indianapolis, Indiana

Party candidates, Members of ELF-RC and leadership, Invited guests,

First, I would like to thank all of the leadership and members of ELF-RC for their commitment to the process of democratic change. The decision to dissolve their front and join the new party in progress has opened a new chapter in the history of Eritrean politics.

This party candidates’ conference for democratic change is taking place at a time when the dictatorial regime continues to push the country to the brink of disintegration. We are holding this conference at a time when the fundamental rights and freedoms of Eritrean people continue to be violated unabated. We are holding this party candidates’ conference at a time when Eritrean people continue to be subjected to a massive torture, death, detentions, murders, and disappearances under a one-man rule. And we are holding this conference at a time when Eritrea’s new generation is fleeing the country in hundreds every day.

The question in front of us all is how do we end the dictatorial regime in our country and replace it by a sustainable democratic system of government. The answer is to introduce a process of democratic change in the politics of Eritrea. How do we do it? What do we need to do as a political party to introduce the process of democratic change in Eritrea? The first step is to develop a democratic political party that would serve as a cornerstone for building democratic society in our country. With this understanding, now let me focus on the following topics:

1.        The state of the Eritrean political  groups

2.        The negative state of Eritrean political groups

3.        The importance of political participation

4.        The importance of democratic cultures and practices

5.        Development of democracy and its challenges

6.        Conclusion

As we are aware, over the last seventeen years, the Eritrean political groups could not administer their own differences democratically and establish one strong opposition force. The absence of one such opposition force gave the repressive government in Eritrea unfettered chance to stifle democracy on one hand, and to push the country to the brink of disintegration on the other. To understand this, it is imperative to briefly discuss and shed some light on the lessons, legacies, and experiences of the armed struggle of our country, and the impact it has on the post independence democratic change.

1. The state of the Eritrean political groups

The organizational, political, institutional, and administrative set up of the present political groups is the product of the armed struggle. As liberators, they were setup to liberate Eritrea from colonial rulers through an armed conflict. To achieve this, all these organizations had to create a unique political, military, and cultural identity (politics, traditions, cultures, values…etc) designed to fit the armed struggle.

Eritrean people took up arms to free themselves from economic, political, and social injustices perpetuated upon them by successive colonial rulers. Soon, our armed struggle drew its force from the masses of Eritrean people, which was an indispensible factor in winning the struggle against the colonial system. However, in conducting and leading the armed struggle, the current political groups, including the regime in Asmara assumed authority over the people, acted as reformers, indoctrinated our society in armed struggle convictions, instilled a military culture in the minds of our society, and created a society scared to demand democratic governance in Eritrea. In general, the mode and specific forms of practices our armed struggle followed throughout the 30 years shaped the present structure of our politics, psyche, relationship to one another, and our attitude towards democratic change in post independence Eritrea. Hence, the present Eritrean political organizations are the creation of this phenomenon.

Certainly, our armed struggle has registered unparalleled histories over the course of the years. And we are proud of it. However, the post independence Eritrea presented a different set of dynamics and challenges. The armed struggle era ended and Eritrean people’s question became nation building, constitutional governance, peace, justice and democracy. Yet, the Eritrean political groups are stuck in the armed struggle mode, and are unable to grasp the realities and challenges of the post independence Eritrea. The culture of intolerance, dominance, unwillingness to compromise and dialogue, lack of accountability and transparency, and betrayal and secrecy dominate the present Eritrean political groups. Such undemocratic culture entrenched in the armed struggle legacies and experiences continue to present major obstacle to peaceful and democratic transition in the present day Eritrea.

2. The negative state of the Eritrean political groups

·         It is not far from the truth to state that the participation of majority of Eritrean people in the opposition is either withdrawn or nonexistent. This explains that the present political groups are far from addressing the people’s primary concern, which is democracy and change.

·         Dwelling in the armed struggle state of practices not only perpetuated the birth of many splinter groups but also became a major obstacle and diluted the resources and capacity of the political groups. This scattered and unorganized state of presence cannot challenge the repressive government in our country. 

·         The structure of the current political groups extends from national up to sub national with the potential threat to the nation of Eritrea. They are unable to recognize that the interest of Eritrean social groups is best served within a strong, united, and democratic Eritrea.

·         Their existence as political groups does not emanate from peoples legitimacy or representation but from a narrow organizational interest. This situation is consistently maintained by exploiting the historic differences that had existed during the armed struggle era.

·         The present set up of the political organizations neither answers the question of democracy by involving the new generation nor realizes the hopes and dreams of Eritrean people. The perpetuation of the armed struggle culture continues to benefit the undemocratic government in Eritrea on one hand, and stifles the process of democratic change on the other.

Therefore, the aim of the new party is to divorce from the negative armed struggle culture and introduce a process of democratic change that must draw its strength from the public participation in general and from the new generation in particular. Of course, our party should be for democratic change. However, the process of democratic change is not easy. First, considering the level of social, political, and economic development of our society in addition to the negative culture we inherited from the liberation era, the process of democratic change in our country will not be instant. Second, democratic change takes time because it necessitates change in our thinking, change in our behaviors, and change in our old practices. Third, change takes from one stage to another; and the result might not be instant, which in turn creates fear and suspicions in peoples mind as well as obstacles to the progress of change itself. Therefore, our party must follow the best possible path of introducing, developing, and expanding the process of democratic change. This means that our programs and policies must reflect the interests, rights, and full participation of Eritrean people in all spheres of the party activity (governance and other national institutions). If we adopt and start to practice such participatory policies, we would be ready to be the driving force for democratic change.

Our party needs to address some specific issues in order develop and to be a driving force for democratic change in our society. One such issue is political participation.

3. The importance of political participation

Political participation takes many forms and interpretations. However, political participation is initially a right that falls under the popular sovereignty, in which citizens participate in the decision-making process of their country to protect their democratic and human rights. Thus, our party should recognize political participation as the sole right of Eritrean people to participate, own, and influence the political process:

·         Our political programs and policies must guarantee full representation of all Eritrean social groups. That our programs must enable Eritrean people to accept it, defend it, and embrace it on their own free will.

·         Recognize that political participation is the right of citizens. Hence, our party must encourage political participation to be established as an institution both at individual and organized/group level.

·         Replace the liberation era political culture such as fear, docility, suspicion, unquestioning, and marginalization by a new participatory and democratic culture.

·         Ensure the political participation of women and youth at institution level.

·         Create a powerful news media to promote and educate Eritrean people on political participation, on democracy, on human rights, on governance, and on equality and justice... etc.

·         Provide access for public and civil society institutions to influence and interact with our party.

                3.1 Participation of women

Eritrean women represent half of Eritrean society. They contributed in liberating Eritrea as much as any Eritrean. In fact, they played a dual role: fighting against the colonial power on one hand and fighting for women’s rights on the other. Still, in post independence Eritrea, Eritrean women find themselves denied of all their democratic and human rights, lowered to second class, excluded from all spheres of governance and decision making process of the country. Similarly, women’s participation in the present political organization is nonexistent.

The denial of Eritrean women’s rights, total exclusion, and marginalization from the political system is rooted in the political and social structure of Eritrean society. What we have in Eritrea is a patriarchal dominant mindset that undermines the women’s role in our society. Overall, women in Eritrea cannot be independent and productive part of society while the political decision making process is controlled by men who believe Eritrea should be built in their own image.

Without full participation and representation of women, we cannot achieve social and economic development or democracy, peace and justice. Again, there is no right to achieve here by marginalizing half part of Eritrean society.  How does our party achieve women’s participation?

·         Establish a mechanism that would allow Eritrean women to hold political office in our party and in future Eritrea.

·         Our party programs and policies must encourage and enable women to raise their awareness on their rights, on democracy, on equality and justice.

·         Recognize in principle that women organize their own institutions for their rights, roles, and responsibilities in the process of democratic change.

·         Change the patriarchal dominant beliefs, traditions, and cultures by introducing a new political culture and education.

                3.2 Civil society institutions

Civil society institutions are diverse group of associations such as labor unions, human rights advocates, and charity groups … etc that serve to empower public participation in democratic governance by promoting accountability and transparency in governments and their institutions. Eritrean civil society organizations are still maturing. However, to introduce democratic change in Eritrea, to have a stable and sustainable government, and to ensure a developed and prosperous society, the presence of strong civil society organizations is not only important, but also it is a democratic and human rights issue.

Thus, our party should play its role in creating a favorable condition for the development and establishment of Eritrean civil society institutions free from the influence and control of others. To make Eritrean civil society organizations’ participation public and productive, our working relationship with them should be based on equality and not on controlling them. Similarly, the roles and responsibilities of Eritrean civil society organizations on democratic change must be both to benefit the people and to defend the country.

4. The importance of Democratic culture and practices

Political parties are one of the institutions in democracy. As important institutions, they play a decisive role in representing the interest of citizens by promoting democracy and participatory decision-making processes. Thus, in order to play its roles and fulfill its responsibilities, our party should achieve accountability and transparency in its internal democratic practices. The focus of introducing internal democracy is to ensure that democratic change provides the perquisites for democratization process in future Eritrea:

                4.1 Internal democratic practices

The aim of internal democracy is to achieve transparency, accountability, broad participation as well as enabling an inclusive decision making processes in the party. However, to achieve internal democracy our party must be first democratic itself. In the absence of internal democratic cultures and practices, it is unlikely our party will participate both in political power and in leading Eritrean people in future Eritrea. Most importantly, the relation between internal democracy and party is a necessary political ingredient for establishing a democratic society in Eritrea. What are some of the internal democratic practices?

·         Protect the democratic values and rights of party members without marginalizing.

·         Build a party not controlled by a few.

·         Allow members to voice their views on building and developing the party.

·         Allow decisions to be made through a democratic decision making processes and seek compliance of those decisions by members from top to bottom.

·         Build a party that does not see its members as a mere financial contributors and decision implementers, but strives to ensure the participation of its members in the process of formulating policies as well as developing and deepening democracy.   

·         Understand  that the role of party internal democratic practices is to mobilize citizens, encourage participation, and consolidate democracy

                4.2 Party organizational structure

Establishing participatory and transparent internal party organizational structure are necessary elements for implementing our party programs and goals on one hand, and developing and deepening democracy in our society on the other:

·         Develop a clear working relationship between various party institutions and branches with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

·         Maintain a coherent party structure that coordinates the practical implementation of decisions.

·         Develop well-organized party structure where decisions, work assignments, and information flow goes easily and timely from the lowest to the highest level.

·         Develop a structure that ensures party leadership accountability to its members on all decisions and works it makes. The party structure must place limits on the power of party leadership with clearly defined duties and responsibilities. 

·         Internal communication among party members needs to be a two way where tasks and issues are addressed efficiently. Accordingly, internal communication should enable party members to present new ideas, messages, views, and questions to the party.

·         On decision making process: our party structure should be transparent and participatory; members must understand and know how the decision making process works

·         Develop a mechanism on how party leadership and party candidates are selected. Similarly, our party should adopt a system to ensure the representation of women, youth and minority.

                4.3. Establishing accountable party

The concept of accountability was known less during the Eritrean armed struggle. If there were any, it would be general reports and statements presented in regular meeting. In addition, accountability was never objectively understood as part of a system to be incorporated to the political and organizational structure. In fact, our armed struggle is known for its secrecy and lack of transparency.

What is our understanding about accountability? It is a system built in contemporary democracies where political, party, and government leaders become accountable on the decisions and actions they take to the people who entrust them with the political power.  Similarly, accountability enables citizens or party members to hold their leaders accountable. Furthermore, accountability is built in the government or party structure that gives citizens the right to participate in the system and evaluate the performance of their leaders. Accountability encourages transparency in addition to enhancing democracy, political participation, and representation. Following are some highlights our party must consider:

·         Party leadership must be accountable and transparent by presenting regular reports and statements.

·         Allow party members a right to participate and evaluate party leadership reports and job performances

·         Ensure that various offices and party administrative institutions are accountable to the party on their work activities and performances

·         To achieve full accountability, our party must have political, administrative, and legal mechanisms in place. In addition, to ensure such mechanisms of accountability are functioning well, our party must create independent institutions as an overseer bodies.

4.4. Training and capacity development

Training and human capacity development is a prerequisite for creating a strong democratic party. Developing the skills of party members on one hand, and introducing democratic change in our society on the other enhances democracy:

·         Raise the awareness and understanding of party members on democracy and human rights protections.

·         Provide seminars and workshops on how multiparty system works.

·         Conduct seminars and workshops on various topics and policies on nation and governance.

·         Provide educational seminars on how a political party operates, develops, and expands.

·         Provide Education on achieving political participation of women, youth, and civil society institutions.

·         Enhance party members’ engagement in dialogue and conflict resolution processes through education.

5. Developing democracy and its challenges

Achieving political party as an institution in countries such as Eritrea is not an easy endeavor. Hence, to achieve democratic development or to begin influencing Eritrean society, the process of democratic change we aim should underline the following challenges:

·         Eritrean society ascribes to different cultures, traditions, and way of thinking.

·         We have weak political and civil society institutions in Eritrea.

·         To recognize the difference between the new and the armed struggle era generation

·         The existence of weak mass political participation in the democratic change. 

·         To recognize the present struggle for democratic change is different from the struggle we waged for liberation of Eritrea.

6. Conclusion

The process of democratic change requires representation and participation, in which the interest of various Eritrean social groups, women, youth, civil society institutions, and above all the new generation is strongly visible. In the absence of such participatory process, our party cannot develop or establish a democratic society in Eritrea. Our party must enable Eritrean society and its institutions to play their roles and fulfill their responsibilities both in the process of democratic change and in developing democracy.

Certainly, the negative culture and old political agendas inherited from the armed struggle is a major obstacle that is crippling the process of democratic change. Our party’s effort must be to change this mindset. To do this, our party must first focus on developing internal democracy; internal democracy aimed at changing the thinking, mindset, and ideas that prevent members from engaging in the democratic change. We must develop party internal democracy that promotes democratic culture and rejects the old political agendas characterized by undemocratic cultures, conflicts, and indecisions. Our party must be transparent and accountable to its members and to the people on its decisions, actions, and policymaking processes.

Our party’s goal is to achieve democratic change in our country. This means changing the mindset formed by armed struggle cultures and experiences, and creating instead democratic minds in our society. In conclusion, the democratic change we introduce must replace the undemocratic regime in our country with a constitutional and democratic government and achieve the basic rights and freedoms of Eritrean people where the rule of law, economic and social justice, development and prosperity, and protection of minority prevails.

This is only option we have. Let us rise up for democratic change in our country.

Thank you,

Laine kahessay