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“Ato
Isaias Afwerki Elected President. While Haddas Eritra was in
the process of being printed, the National Assembly convened
its first meeting. The Eritrean National Assembly, in its
meeting held yesterday from 7:00 to 8:30, elected Ato Isaias
Afwerki to become the president of the Eritrean Government. In
the secret ballot held at the meeting, Ato Isaias Afwerki came
victorious by winning 99 votes out 104 valid
votes.”
Haddas Ertra (No. 236) - Saturday, May 22,
1993
 The “transitional
Government” that “elected Ato Isaias Afwerki President” owes
its “legitimacy” to Proclamation 37/1993, one of the many
proclamations through which Eritrea is ruled. The
same proclamation limits the life of the so-called
transitional government (and thus the “election” of Isaias) to
four years. In case you stopped counting, Haddas Ertra forgot
to have a follow up article on May 22, 1997, one that would
read, “Ato Isaias Afwerki’s term is expired and he needs to
run for election again….” This government is as good as
the expired milk that I have been throwing away since ten
years.
The same page has a memorable title: The
Strike of Combatants and the Decisions of the Central
Committee. But that is related to what I will get back to
later on.
For 10 years now, the man has
been a self-declared president and since there is no National
Assembly, nor a functioning court, nor a separation of power
of any sort, the message is this: be thankful that I did not
declare myself emperor.
Such is the behavior of Narjes…
Nerjes
A young Greek man came to a pond of
water and knelt down to drink and saw his reflection on the
water. He immediately fell in love with himself. His name is
Narcissus- a word that became an adjective, narcissist,
meaning someone who is so full of himself that the one thing
he loves more than anything is his reflection on a mirror. The
Greek myth also tells us that Narcissus couldn’t bear to leave
his reflection behind so he stayed there looking at himself
until he was wasted. Where he died, a beautiful flower grew
and it carried his name: Narcissus. The Arabs call it Nerjes
and it is a popular female first name. In Tigrigna, it is
Nardos.
We have many people who are so absorbed
with themselves; I am sure you have come across some of them.
They have a not-very-concealed arrogance, they boast a lot and
are always self-praising, absorbed in a never-ending serenade
with utter lack of humility. Such persons would announce to
the world that they are rewarding themselves for being so
good—for being an exemplary student, winning a beauty pageant,
even participating in politics.
Sometime ago I met one such fellow who all
of a sudden developed an interest in the struggle. Instead of
silently entering the arena and struggling like others, he
blamed others for not announcing his entry to the struggle
with bells and whistles. He tried his own whistles and
fireworks, but unfortunately, no one even took notice except
those of us who follow such boring theatrics. The man
explained his late interest in the struggle in a
matter-of-factly way: “all the kids have gone to college and I
have all the time for the struggle; I have nothing else to
do!” Certainly he is looking for a pastime! What happened to
golfing or playing cards? Or even wrapping yourself in a Gabi
and gulping coffee?
When I was a teenager, I knew of a funny
character whose prayers everyone in town knew: he prayed for
money. He was asked what he would do with the money if he got
a million dollars. He didn’t hesitate, “I would build a pipe
from the Mellotti Brewery to my bedside.” Well, back then,
drinking a couple of Mellotti beers instilled the necessary
courage in some - the moment they get tipsy, a magical feeling
of patriotism manifested itself on them. They screamed
“Eritrea! Eritrea! Death to Haile Sellasie!” We
used to joke about that: maybe Signora Emma Mellotti murmured
a spell (‘Eritrea, Eritrea,
Eritrea’) while she brewed her elixir! But now,
the PFDJ is the new Signora Mellotti, the glorified Komarit.
It is strange. Even Mellotti is not doing
the trick anymore. In the past beer had an ingredient that
aroused patriotism; nowadays, it just makes our senior
officials numb and dull, only giving them enough inspiration
to quarrel and flirt with underage girls like a tomcat in
spring. Since the PFDJ confiscated the Mellotti Brewery, the
malt drink is not the same anymore- maybe they are adding chat
extracts in it, or even unknown leaves as it was rumored in
some tipsy circles sometime ago.
If beer is not arousing people’s
patriotism, what will?
For answers, I reread the
interview I conducted a while ago with Am Adem Melekin. I
had asked him about change of regime in Eritrea. This is what he said:
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"Change, should come
from inside Eritrea, even if that requires
imprisonment and death. People should defy and struggle…If one
wants to achieve political gains, then it should be by
targeting the senior heads of the system, from inside
Eritrea and not an all-out military
confrontation from the outside."
But why isn’t
there defiance inside Eritrea?
"Most
of the officers - I have talked to many of them while in
Eritrea- have
spent decades in the struggle and upon the independence of
Eritrea, they arrived penniless and without a
skill. With meager resources, some managed to establish a
home. Now, they have families and children and they are not
willing to spend what is left of their lives on another
struggle. They complain that their lives were wasted and they
have no guarantees for their living. Does the opposition have
guarantees, financial and security guarantees, for these
people so that they can do something?"
All right, when the country is gone those
who depend on the PFDJ oppression machine for their livelihood
are not going to find themselves in better situation either.
Leaving aside the organized opposition (which, though
appallingly slow, is doing what it can), you look to one side
and see the narcissists, pastime-strugglers, and tattooed
certified Mahber Andnet, hurling the brand at others.... and
many incompetent lots. On the other side, you see tipsy
beer-guzzling senior officers and loyal PFDJ public servants.
Now we are supposed to see our future leaders among those
groups!
I don’t see any leader in them but a
clone of the Skunis of the PFDJ. However, if I was forced to
make a bet, I’ll bet on the few clean officers and public
servants (‘injera indiyu koynunna’ type) that Am Adem
Melekin mentioned and not the majority of the rascals with
shiny metal buttons on their shoulders.
In situation like ours, the people
will look about for their muscles- just like Narcissus looked
at his reflection. If that muscle is dependable, the people
would get some hope. Otherwise, we are all doomed. Can the
beer-guzzling, skirt-chasing semi-drunks give it up for a
while and see what is happening to Eritrea? Can
they stop being stool-rats at bars and night clubs and attend
to the most urgent situation? When are they going to awaken
from the life of a militia of the clique that protects the
interest of the tyranny against the interest of their own
people?
If anyone has stashed a few bottles of the
original old Mellotti, the one that aroused patriotism, could
you please give it to the senior officers? Even foxholes known as
Inda Khelbi, Inda Buzzi, Inda beT-beT, etc. had some
positive effects, remember Yemane Baria? He graduated from
those places!
Back then, people will order beer, get
drunk, ask for a song of Atwe Berhan, Shgei Habuni, Fatna
Zahra and almost cry. Now, the PFDJ officers in the
peripheries of the ruling clique will drink themselves to
death on beer; the officer in the nearest circle of the clique
accompany the Queen Bee to crazy Black Label parties in a
private room and instead of a song from the CD collection of
the bar, they can ask for Helen Meles to entertain them in
person. What a life!
Honestly, I don’t have any hope or trust
on 8 out of 10 generals. Even my old friend the jumpy general
Philipos Weldeyohannes is not in the radar. My trust tends to
be in the area between foot-soldiers and captains. The tricky
group is that of the colonels: they seem to be the most
corrupt of the whole officer corps; yet, the most trusted
officers are among the rank of colonels. What do they think of
what is going on in Eritrea? I would love
to interview them all-- maybe in due time!
Many are beholden to their worldly
problems as Am Adem Melekin alluded. They know the situation
they are in (and what is coming) and they hate it; but they
don’t have an alternative at this moment. Well, they don’t
seem to have heard of the art of creating your own situation.
They have the means to solve the problems if they are guided
by and demanded (and guaranteed) justice in Eritrea. After all, no one is expecting an Adei
Brekhti to bring justice by wielding her kitchen utensils at
the PFDJ!
I know one thing: when our senior officers
are having their beer guzzling parties in a misty bar, they
talk about current events; they talk about the grievances
aired by those who talk on behalf of our people who are
condemned not to speak out. Those who don’t read, are too
ignorant to listen to what is being said about their role as
tools of oppression; those who are educated enough to read,
are too brutal and cruel for someone to tell them what is
being said about them, but they know. Others, who are literate
and understand, are struggling with their conscience and are
hurting a lot. They should immediately stop the despicable
beer parties and sleazy bars and do something honorable
instead. They should act and bring salvation to the poor
Eritrean people. This is an urgent matter and should be seen
in that light.
If we don’t see a solution from
those who can bring about a solution, those who are on a
nightly drinking binge have already condemned Eritreans to be
doomed. ERitreans are also doomed if hopes were put on those
who abuse the struggle simply satiate their never-ending
thirst for attention. We are doomed if we wait for those who
are in pursuit of outlets for their boring lives and who
consider the struggle a glorious pastime. Forget the PFDJ; it
is on a death bed; and sooner or later it will move on; but
where is the EPLF that many count on? Are there any EPLF left
anyway? Is there anything left of that or is it fully
swallowed by the PFDJ? If there is any conscience left, it
would have been manifested someway somehow!. If there is any
love for the people left, people need to witness it. What
would be the answer? Everyone is waiting.
Reconciliation
“What happened to your reconciliation cry
of the old times?” A friend asked me a few weeks ago?
I have no power to enforce reconciliation.
I came to the conclusion that oppressors never think of
reconciliation unless they feel threatened. When powerless
people call for reconciliation, oppressors consider it a sign
of weakness and not wisdom of care and caution. Therefore, I
feel the regime should be threatened and weakened until it
accepts the principle of reconciliation. My first call for
reconciliation was full of face-saving intentions for the
oppressing regime; my new belief is no face-saving for an
oppressor but shame and weeding out for good. There is no
benefit to be gained from pleading for reconciliation with a
regime that shuns and mocks noble gestures of reconciliation.
This I learned after crying reconciliation for a long time
with no result. In order to reconcile, the hurdles and
impediments to reconciliation must be eradicated. This is my
stand now in case you haven’t noticed.
My friend nodded candidly. I don’t know if
he was agreeing or disagreeing with me. And we started to
discuss the weather until we parted late that
evening.
Those who can, please pass a copy of this
message to the stinky moist Mellotti joints and bars and to
the civil-servants in Eritrea.
In 1993, the EPLF veterans who might have
sensed where situations were heading, rebelled. They ceased
the Airport and other installations and brought the government
to a stand-still. They held Isaias for hours and forced him to
walk with them to the stadium for a meeting. He promised to
attend to their grievances and manipulated them to set him
free. A few days later, he picked them like ripe fruits one
after another and threw them all in jail. Some are either
still in jail or had totally disappeared since. Others came
out emasculated and are still docile to this day. I am sure
the situation that caused that short-lived rebellion is still
prevalent. Could the fear of similar treatment have caused the
death of the conscience of officers? That is anybody’s
guess.
What is important now is that our country
might become a playground of invading armies and an
unnecessary bloodshed that will bruise our pride for a long
time. In such instances, a serious power vacuum is inevitable.
Are we willing to watch our country destroyed? Are we willing
to witness or national pride bruised and damaged to protect
the ego of a tyrant and his narrow clique? Is it wise to
expose Eritrea to the dangers that are
lurking around? The mold for a regime change is being cast. I
would rather have the mold and cast handled by Eritreans. It
is vital that Eritreans handle it. It is a task that only the
able few can handle. Any takers?
.
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