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Eritrea Marks 18 Years of
Independence
Department of Information and Culture
Rritrean People's Party
May 22,2009
The anniversary of Eritrea’s Independence Day is approaching. It falls
on the 24th of this month. This year marks 18 years since the
country gained its independence from Ethiopian occupation.
Eritrean People’s Party pay tribute to the thousands brave Eritrean
women and men who gave their lives for the cause of Eritrean
independence. Eritrean people will always revere them as a permanent
remembrance to Eritrea’s true love of freedom and democracy.
Yes, our independence, fought for 30 years, was supposed to earn us our
basic fundamental rights and freedoms. Our independence, gained through
heavy sacrifices, was supposed to empower Eritrean people. Our
independence, waged with unparalleled resilience and without foreign
assistance, was supposed to grant us a sustainable and democratic
nation. It did not happen. The journey of hope and dream we embarked in
1961 did not lead to a successful outcome. We celebrate when there is
nothing to celebrate in terms of true independence.
The nation slipped into the whim of one-man dictatorship. Now, the
country is persistently on the phase of disintegration.
The magnitude of the problem is unfathomable. Famine and hunger is
rampant. The economy is on the verge of collapse. Human rights
violations are widespread. No day pass by without the regime attacking,
arresting, or terrorizing Eritrean people in their own homes, villages,
and towns. The nation of Eritrea is under siege.
The migration of young Eritreans to the neighboring countries or as far
as to the Western countries continues unabated. The Eritrea youth
population declined faster over the last 18 years than it did in pre
independence era. Overall, Eritrean population has been in rapid decline
in the last ten years: partly due to high number of people leaving the
country and partly due to a declining number of newly born children. The
remaining young and most productive force of our society is stuck in the
trenches or kept incommunicado, denied the right to marry and have
family. All this affects the nation’s existence with grave and perhaps
with irreversible consequences to its social, cultural, religious,
linguistic identity, and diversity, as well as political and economic
wellbeing for future generation
Most specifically, over 250,000 Eritreans, the most able-bodied and
productive segment of our society, are held in trenches for over a
decade now. As a result, we have now households across Eritrea filled
with old and aged women and men who are facing insurmountable challenges
in their households. In short, Eritrean families have now far fewer able
household heads than any time in their entire history. It is obvious in
the streets of our towns; it is obvious in the villages of our
countryside areas. You cannot hide it.
The brutality, arrest, disappearance, and imprisonment without charge
are common in Eritrea. No other government kills, imprisons, and abuses
its own citizens than the regime of Isayas Afeworki on this earth.
Today, Eritrea has nothing but a huge army and a population in decline
that faces constant death and suffering caused by the dictatorial
regime.
Never have so many people have lost their fundamental freedoms and
rights than today’s less than 3.5 million Eritreans. The country is on
the verge of disaster unimagined in size and depth, never seen, or heard
of in its entire history, not during the Italian colony, not during the
British era, and not during the Ethiopian occupation.
Simply framing the Isayas regime as dictatorship obscures the massive
tragedy and true nature of the regime. Putting briefly, the regime is
incessantly working on burying the nation of Eritrea beneath the ground.
This brings us to one of the strategic questions of our day. What and
where is the opposition? What and how is the opposition doing?
Evidently, it is not that the Eritrean opposition organizations do not
possess the potential to mobilize Eritrean people against the regime of
Isayas. Yes, they do. The problem is that the Eritrean opposition
organizations are unable to draw a compelling reason for their existence
and demonstrate how they can defeat the most brutal regime or how they
can be alternative, if you will. The reason: the opposition spends more
time acting as liberation fronts and organizations instead of focusing
on change and democracy.
It is easy to conclude that the Eritrean opposition organizations are
not directing their role collectively and meaningfully in the fight
against the negative experiences of their own liberation culture, which
has always prevented them from engaging in a higher level of recognizing
the bigger picture of the present-day Eritrea. This liberation culture,
mindset, and attitude did not help the opposition in building the
confidence and trust of the Eritrean people. Dispelling the mistrust and
lack of confidence and earning the trust and confidence our people
requires fundamental shift from the era of liberation.
In particular, the opposition continues to face uphill battle to earn
the support and trust of Eritrean younger generation. Their absence is
directly related to the strategic nature of the struggle, which
significantly limits their participation and involvement in the
struggle. The talk of liberation era/Ghedli does not resonate with the
present generation. That is an old experience, irrelevant, and it does
not empower them to face the present struggle.
We know building the resolve of Eritrean youth is crucial. It is within
this spirit that the Eritrean People’s Party established Youth Affairs
Office and offered Eritrean youth to bring their talents, new ideas,
influences, and roles into the opposition politics.
Thus, as we mark the anniversary Independence Day, we should think of
directing our focus to a different level on how to fight the
dictatorship in our country. Eritrean People’s Party believes we cannot
fight the regime using the mindset of liberation era. Using liberation
era politics puts us at par with the violent nature of the regime.
No doubt, we know the underlying weakness of the opposition has not
enabled them to capture the hearts and minds of Eritrean people. Now, it
is time to invest in strategic and deliberative political process that
empowers and strengthens Eritrean people based on peaceful and
democratic path. This approach is inclusive. It is about making our
people recognize their aggregate power. It is more feasible and
sustainable than violent means of struggle in future Eritrea.
Certainly, peaceful and democratic, of course, is no small endeavor. But
it is viable path that can help us build the hope, dream, and enthusiasm
of our people. It eliminates the violent culture we inherited from the
liberation era. It is an investment for future generation. It underlines
a sustainable peace in the country.
In conclusion, we like to highlight the following points. It is now 18
years since the establishment of independent Eritrea. During this time,
Eritrean people lost their freedom, justice, dignity, and everything
they had ever owned. The dictatorial regime continues to operate on the
same principle of total destruction, terror, violation of human rights
of our people, and blaming others for the ever-worsening conditions of
our people. During the same period, the opposition has not been able to
make a significant progress in the fight against the dictatorial regime.
Yes, in recent times, they were able to forge an umbrella organization.
However, there are serious failures and lack of progress. One of the
main causes of the lack of progress is the inability to introduce new
direction and new change in terms of thinking and behaving in the
struggle against the regime. The opposition needs to change. In this
independence anniversary, let us embrace change that encourages vigorous
and significant involvement of both our people and our youth. Unless the
opposition forces change, they will continue to face tremendous
challenges and difficulties in rallying Eritrean people and reassuring
our people that they are the force capable of bringing democracy to
Eritrea. Let us do the right thing, avert the disaster, and claim our
true independence.
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