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From: samuel Igbu (ypfdjbc@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Mar 13 2011 - 14:44:19 EST
The Eritrean Center for Strategic Studies Website (ECSSW) has conducted an
extensive interview with H.E Isaias Afewerki, President of the State of
Eritrea. The interview covers a range of internal, regional and
international issues. In this first part, President Isaias discusses
Eritrea’s post-independence challenges and achievements.
*ECSSW: On 24th May the Eritrean people will celebrate the 20th Anniversary
of independence from Ethiopian rule. What were the most significant
challenges and major achievements in nation building during the two decades
of independence?*
President Isaias: Giving a comprehensive picture of the major achievements
since independence in nation building, as well as the challenges that we
faced and are still facing requires hours of discussion. The process of
nation building has two features - software and hardware -, if I may use
computer language. The most significant challenge in nation building is the
software, that is, the political side. We did not face many problems in this
regard, because we had placed its formative bricks during the liberation
struggle. As such, at the time of independence the political building
practically existed. We possessed strong determination of our people. We
also possessed an adequate balance of the psychological, political, social
and cultural factors necessary for nation building. The major challenge we
faced in the course of nation building was actually the hardware feature.
Building a nation requires having the necessary capacity in infrastructure
such as hospitals, schools, communication, electricity, potable water etc.
All this was virtually nonexistent during independence, and we had to start
from below zero. However, we were able to compliment the material
capabilities and absence of infrastructure with the determination of our
people. In spite of the experience gained during the independence struggle,
institutional capacity was another challenge that we faced. And all these
challenges can be viewed in the light of our achievements during the past
two decades.
When discussing the achievements some questions pose themselves: what are
the criteria for measuring achievements? Can we measure them emotionally? Do
you judge matters at your whim? There are many parameters and criteria. For
instance, one can look into countries in Africa, or, one can look into
advanced countries that were able to overcome many challenges by
establishing the necessary institutions, systems and infrastructure. I can
say, we cannot overestimate our achievements since independence, because
they do not meet the ambitions of the Eritrean people who scarified a lot to
build this nation. Nevertheless, there is no room for comparison with
African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and European standards and experiences. We
were able to attain many achievements with our humble capabilities and
strong determination. The question is what percentage of the ambition of the
Eritrean people were we able to meet? It was just one percent, but we
believe this is a significant achievement compared with other countries.
*ECSSW: How do you assess the experience of the six Eritrean regions and the
role of Eritreans in the process of building the nation?*
President Isaias: Of course, this is a part of the challenge. Building a
nation involves social, cultural, political and economic dimensions and
processes. This should be our first and foremost objective if there is to be
something called politics. In any country, community or nation failure comes
when the actual realities of the community are misrepresented. In our case,
we believe that development programs must be shared equally and that the
state budget must be allocated in such a manner as to give the least
advantaged more than those benefiting from certain circumstances. For
instance, it is necessary to have a development plan to bridge the gap
between the life of citizens in remote rural parts of the country and those
living in the towns. Such a plan should take into account the levels of
cultural, social and economic developments of Eritrean communities.
Any state, government or political system must take into consideration the
marginalized and the deprived members of society due to intentional and
historical circumstances. It must work to minimize the differences, whether
between towns and rural areas or between the beneficiaries and marginalized
people. If one looks at the six Eritrean regions, one can observe that every
region has its peculiar circumstances. In the Central Region, which includes
the capital Asmara, for example, living conditions are relatively easier
compared with other remote areas. In this case, should the government set up
projects to develop Asmara? Or should such projects target the remote
regions? Special attention is required to those deprived of the facilities
that are readily available for people living in Asmara, such as
transportation, schools, health centers, potable water, electricity,
communication, etc. The challenge is not getting the necessary material
capability for development projects. Rather, it is to distribute national
resource in a way which creates equal opportunity for citizens, because
every citizen is entitled to be afforded equal opportunity. To ensure equal
opportunity, there must be special consideration for the actual
circumstances of every citizen, and this should be listed within the
priorities of all regions. Some regions are developed and enjoy the
necessary capacity for development, while others are less developed and lack
the conditions for development. So, if state or government institutions
ignore this reality and direct the development projects to certain areas and
concentrate all resources in specific areas, then development becomes
meaningless. For us, our priorities during the last twenty years have been
distribution of the available resources in such a way as to bridge the gap
and reduce the differences between the different social classes, whether in
regions or within their territorial sub-divisions . If this problem is not
handled properly, there can be no stability and no development can take
place in any part of a country. In fact, I believe these are the basic
challenges that face developing societies in Africa and other parts of the
world.
The creation of equal opportunities of development was among the many
challenges that we faced in the past twenty years. However, thanks to our
accumulated experience and political beliefs, we did not commit mistakes in
this regard. We are moving in the right direction, although we did not
achieve a lot.
*ECSSW: This takes us to Eritrean understanding of the democratic process.
Can you explain to us the major features of that understanding?*
President Isaias: Democracy is a means and not an end in itself. It is a
means to achieve full citizenship. It is not a means to get representatives
through the ballot box. The development stage of societies should be tackled
seriously to ensure effective participation of citizens. There should be
real participation of citizens in matters that concern them - economic,
social or cultural issues - . Opportunities must, therefore, be made
available to ensure such participation. The other dimension is the need for
institutional capacity. There must be institutions that represent every
citizen and ascertain participation. Such participation becomes, in our
view, real democracy when it creates equal opportunities for all citizens.
If opportunities are available only for a certain class in a country to send
their children to school and universities, whereas the majority is not able
to do so because it lacks the capacity, then contending that they can cast
their vote equally cannot be blended democracy. A real democracy is one
that ensures political, social and economic development of society, and is
based on full citizenship and equal opportunities. These are the bases of
democracy and require community effort and participation.
In the case of Eritrea, internal political challenges and external
intervention aimed at creating division among the people hampered our effort
to achieve our objectives. Various schemes were used in the past twenty
years to hinder our political development and prevent us from building our
institutions. When we carefully examine the post-independence era, we
realize that our course has been hindered by many obstacles, including the
border conflict with Ethiopia and other fabricated problems. These obstacles
have negatively affected and interrupted the political development of our
nation. Nonetheless, we succeeded in overcoming them.
We believe that the awareness, commitment and determination of the Eritrean
people along with the accumulated experience, will finally lead to the
creation of a suitable atmosphere for genuine participation, which can be
referred to by some as a democratic process and by others as an effective
participation. This might be achieved by the next generations in some
instances, though the acceleration of the process is no doubt very
important.
Nothing can be achieved right away and smoothly. There are objective
conditions that would prevent the acceleration of the process. But also, and
as I said previously, the past two decades have seen interferences aimed at
weakening the Eritrean people and obstructing its path. This is, has been
and remains to be our major challenge. Yet, there is no doubt that our rich
experience and strong determination will enable us to overcome this
challenge too.
*ECSSW: Sawa is misrepresented as a military training camp while it is in
fact a school for building a citizen who relies on himself so that he
becomes an appendage of humanitarian and revolutionary values. The question
is how do you evaluate this unique Eritrean experience?*
President Isaias: To begin with, the so-called Eritrean experience was not a
new one, nor did we invent a new thing. When we first came up with the idea,
it was only as a continuation of our revolutionary experience and not as a
new innovation. The armed struggle served as a melting pot. Eritreans from
all parts of the country joined it regardless of their differences (class,
age etc), and together experienced many difficulties, some of which were
bitter. For instance, the fighters were able to overcome the regional
conflicts and together liberate their country. Eritrea’s liberation struggle
is different from African or other countries that claim to have liberated
themselves from colonialism.
As I have already pointed out, in Eritrea the struggle was a political
melting pot. Of course, there might have been some variations, but in
general all Eritreans have participated. This experience must be have been
developed by the time the country’s independence was won in 1991. The
question that we faced then was: should the process stall or it should
continue as a cultural, social and political process for nation building?
It was from there that the idea of creating Sawa originated.
As an idea, Sawa did not emerge because we anticipated wars or other
hostilities. On the contrary, it came as a continuation of the political
process on the basis of which Eritrea was built throughout the armed
struggle. In Sawa, Eritrean youth from different parts of the country and
all walks of life come together. One would come from Assab, another one from
Karora, a third from Tessenei, and others from Asmara, Senafi, Adi-Kula…etc,
and all would gather in one place and know each other. These youth were not
from the generation of the armed struggle and had not carried weapons
before, and they did not have prior political, cultural and social
experiences and lived in a climate different from the one that existed
during the period of armed struggle. So, the process would be continuous and
the continuation in any political process would require interaction with the
past. Without this interaction and continuity we could not expect to build a
nation.
Consequently, Sawa, as I said, is not a new invention and, of course, I and
others have passed through the experience of the revolution, we knew each
other in the struggle and worked in unity and sacrificed our lives for the
liberation of this country. In the process we came to realize that we had
become a single body of a nation. This experience must continue. In this
sense, Sawa represents and personalizes the continuation of the nation
building process that commenced during the liberation struggle. Whoever
denies this fact has the right to say whatever he/she wants. But on our
part, Sawa is the reincarnation and continuation of nation building and is
by no means a strange phenomenon in our history.
*ECSSW: A year has passed since the unjust UNSC Resolution 1907 was adopted.
What are the motives and consequences of this Resolution? And how will
Eritrea be dealing with it?*
President Isaias: First of all, this resolution is totally unacceptable,
both on legal and political grounds. We have to look at the Resolution in
the light of the comprehensive developments in the region, the situation in
Somalia, the fabricated border crisis between Eritrea and Djibouti, the
Eritrea-Ethiopia border issue, and the problems in the Sudan. We don’t look
at these crises as separate ones; rather, they are interlocked.
The Resolution has no legal justification. To start with, if the Security
Council had been on the side of the right of its member states and legality,
it should have imposed sanctions against Ethiopia for the latter’s refusal
to enforce the decision of the Boundary Commission. This issue is still
suspended and Eritrea’s sovereign territories are still under Ethiopian
occupation. The Security Council is the responsible body that should have
defended Eritrea’s sovereignty as a member of the United Nations.
The justifications advanced to pass the resolution were uglier than the sin
itself. What are the reasons that motivated the Security Council to adopt
this Resolution? Is this sanction really linked with the prevailing crisis
in Somalia? If so, it means that external interferences which complicated
the Somali problem have contributed to the current state of instability and
have largely become part of the problem, instead of the solution. Then, the
sanction should have been imposed against Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. If,
on the other hand, the Security Council thinks that there is al-Qaeda
involvement and there is a problem of terrorism, then sanction should be
imposed upon the interfering power. However, imposing sanctions upon Eritrea
alleging that Eritrea interferes in Somalia and is supporting certain
parties is not justifiable, because the allegations were fabricated and
never reflected the reality on the ground. There is no evidence to support
these baseless allegations, and no logic that could motivate the Security
Council to impose a sanction upon Eritrea. And, if the issue is related to a
fabricated border crisis between Eritrea and Djibouti, neither the UN
Security Council nor any other body has the right to impose sanctions
without proper investigation of the situation. Is the imposition of
sanctions against Eritrea based on a fabricated crisis legally sustainable?
Isn’t it true that there is no legal justification for such a baseless
accusation?
Now, a year after its adoption, I can safely say that this Resolution was in
fact a hidden agenda intended to prevent Eritrea from playing a
constructive role in solving the crisis in Somalia and creating a stable
atmosphere in the region. The UN Security Council Resolution can be seen as
Washington’s punishment of Eritrea because of Asmara’s positive role in the
region.
There is no justification or motive for the Security Council to be dragged
into this process. If we took the Security Council as an ideal authority
that acts in accordance with rules and standards, and if we believe in that
theoretically, now that the Security Council has deviated from its track,
the Resolution undermines the reputation of the Council. Hence, after a
year and the rip off, of every justification, the Security Council has no
option but to apologize to the people of Eritrea and restore things to the
prior situation. It goes without saying that it should take the necessary
steps to resolve the Eritreo-Ethiopian crisis by pressuring Ethiopia to
withdraw from the occupied Eritrean territories; to leave Somalis to solve
their own problems themselves; to ask the neighboring countries to
discontinue their interference in Somalia’s internal affairs. Regarding the
Eritreo-Djiboutian border issue, the matter has fallen into secure hands and
efforts are now underway for its solution.
Consequently, the Security Council should withdraw its resolution and
rectify its blunder with apologies.
-- Sincerely *YPFDJ British Columbia Chapter* YPFDJ Goal and Purpose- Our goal is to build a strong, conscious and patriotic youth movement.
Our purpose is:
- To raise the awareness and level of organisation of Eritrean youth to serve our nation - To reassert the identity, patriotism and unity of Eritrean youth - To promote the participation of Eritrean Youth in the national reconstruction of Eritrea as well as guarding the sovereignty of Eritrea - To enhance the position and influence of Eritrean Youth in their respective countries of residence.
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