It’s part of Eritrea’s folklore that the Eritrean Parliament of the 1950s committed a horrible mistake when some of its members voted for dissolution of the Federal Act with Ethiopia and opted for annexation. What is less commented on is that another Eritrean Parliament, the Eritrean National Assembly of 2002, committed an egregious mistake that was a trigger for the nearly 20-year decline Eritrea has been experiencing. Thanks to the inimitable Aida Kidane, we now have audio/video of that stain on Eritrean history.
But first, some context of critical developments of the previous 5 years:
May 23, 1997: Eritrea constitution ratified:
May 12, 1998: Eritrea-Ethiopia War Ignited:
May 12, 2000: Ethiopia’s Final Offensive To End The War is waged.
June 18, 2000: Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is signed with Ethiopia occupying large swathes of Eritrea.
September 29 – October 2, 2000: National Assembly meets and decides the following: “…to form committees to make overall review of the 10 year performance of the government, as well as specifically of the third Ethiopian offensive. It also decided to form a military committee to review the organization and performance of the Eritrean Defense Forces and the peace process with Ethiopia, and to advise the president in these areas in the future. It further decided to hold national elections on the basis of the constitution no later than the end of 2001, and to declare the laws governing the formation of political parties. To that effect, a committee charged with drafting laws governing political parties was formed. This committee was instructed to organize public discussions of the party law it drafted, review the views provided by the public, and bring its final draft to the National Council for approval.”
October 1, 2000: G-13 Berlin Manifesto : Eritrean scholars and professionals call on President Isaias Afwerki to reform.
December 12, 2000: Eritrea-Ethiopia “Algiers” Peace Agreement: formally ends the two-year war with Ethiopia
January 2001: Less than a month after the peace treaty with Ethiopia is signed, PFDJ circulates a paper entitled “Weyane’s Third Offensive And the Political Campaign That Followed It” and organizes secret seminars to its loyalists accusing unnamed officials of grave crimes.
May 24, 2001: Senior government and party officials, later identified as G-15 (based on the number of final signatories), issue an “Open Letter To PFDJ Members” also calling for reform.
September 18, 2001: All of the authors of the “Open Letter To PFDJ Members” who were in Eritrea, their supporters, and the free press that provided them a platform to air their views, are arrested. They haven’t been heard of since that day.
This takes us to that shameful day of February 2, 2002, the last day of the 14th session of the National Assembly. But first, a little intro to the National Assembly.
About The National Assembly
The National Assembly was made up of 150 individuals: 75 of whom were the entirety of PFDJ’s Central Committee; and the other 75 were their fans: “civilians”, which is to say former members of the EPLF’s “Mass Organizations.” The National Assembly (Hagherawi Bayto) was the legislative arm of the government, ratifying Proclamations issued by the executive (Land, Macro-economy, National Service, Press, etc.) As is customary for EPLF and later PFDJ, they had no specific timetable for their meetings: they met when the Chairman of the National Assembly (that would be Isaias Afwerki) convened them. Their own bylaws said that a super-majority can convene a meeting if the Chairman doesn’t, but that was not, as PFDJ is fond of saying, “part of our organizational culture.” They met when they were summoned.
The Three Deadlines Isaias Faced
Speaking of the Chairman, there were three deadlines that must have been on his mind around the time the conflict with Ethiopia flared up.
Or, if you want to be more specific, as the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission (EECC) would eventually decide, when Isaias started the war with Ethiopia. Whatever provocation there may have been by Weyane in early May 1998, decided EECC, Isaias Afwerki’s decision to roll his tanks and artillery to Badme and beyond was an act of aggression: “Consequently, the Commission holds that Eritrea violated Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations by resorting to armed force to attack and occupy Badme, then under peaceful administration by Ethiopia, as well as other territory in the Tahtay Adiabo and Laelay Adiabo Weredas of Ethiopia, in an attack that began on May 12, 1998, and is liable to compensate Ethiopia, for the damages caused by that violation of international law.” PCA-CPA, Jus Ad Bellum, Paragraph 16.
But I digress because nobody cares about who started the war, not Eritreans, not Ethiopians because that’s the last chapter; and we have opened a new chapter with peace bridges and Nobel Peace Prizes, and Industrial Parks, don’t you know. So what if 120,000 souls perished? It is not in the “political culture” of Eritrea or Ethiopia to hold any government official responsible for national disasters. “New Chapters” are opened.
So what was on his mind when Isaias did what he did on that fateful Tuesday in May 1998? Same thing, as always: his career. Recall:
- The Chairmanship of the PFDJ was expiring, because the 4th Congress was supposed to be held in 1998. Many believed that he stole the election of February 1994 (Mesfin Hagos came in “2nd”) because what counts in Africa is not who votes but who counts the votes;
- The term of President of the Provisional Government (5 year term) was also expiring. He was elected President by the National Assembly in 1993. Yes, thanks for asking: the government is still “Provisional.”
- The Constitution was ratified, and, reflecting the zeitgeist, it had term limits for Presidents: two more and you are out. Dangerous for a man with ambitions to rule for life.
After the catastrophic War, particularly the May 2000 Ethiopian Offensive resulting in Ethiopia occupying a third of Eritrea, an angry population, and a government made up entirely of military veterans, was demanding an explanation. In a great propaganda coup for President Isaias, the May 2000 Offensive is still called “The Third Offensive” by Eritreans, implying the first offensive of May 12, 1998 was also an Ethiopian Offensive. (The Second Offensive being February 1999.) So, there was a lot of anger at Ethiopia’s Weyane and at the leadership of PFDJ and that is why the October 2, 2000 National Assembly demanded, among others, “to form committees to make overall review of the 10 year performance of the government, as well as specifically of the third Ethiopian offensive.” While we are at it, they said, we need Electoral Laws, Party Formation Laws and a National Election to be held no later than December 2001.
Not only was there a chance that Isaias Afwerki could lose power in the chain of events that would be triggered by the 14th National Assembly meeting late-January/early February 2002, he could also have been partly or fully responsible for the 1998-2000 carnage between Eritrea and Ethiopia. So, Isaias and Isaiasists had to act: destroy the reputation of all those who could testify against him (the G-15); not just destroy but ensure that they never, ever have a chance to speak. Thus, they brought the National Security-experienced Naizghi Kflu from his ambassadorship to Russia to run the Ministry of Information, which had been in the “transitional” hands of Zemehret Yohannes (after Beraki Gebreselasse was detained). Naizghi Kflu proceeded to arrest/exile all journalists and ban all private press. Isaias and Isaiasists had to cancel the National Elections which were scheduled for December 2001; and they had to void Electoral Law and Party-Formation Law, which were drafted by a committee chaired by one of the G-15, Mahmud Sherifo.
And since he wasn’t yet a full-fledged authoritarian, he needed the cover of the law to do all of the above, which is why he convened the 14th National Assembly between January 31 and February 2.
The 2002 National Assembly
As indicated above, beginning in January 2001, the Isaias Afwerki regime had organized a vast campaign to redirect the anger and sense of loss Eritreans were feeling after the May 2000 Offensive and what ensued (Algiers Agreement, while Ethiopia was occupying a third of Eritrea; UNMEE forces ensuring Eritreans were artillery-range distance away from the common border; massive internal displacement and exile.) Part of the anger would be directed at Weyane: they were deserving villains whose acts made them easy to despise–particularly their deportation of Eritreans, and the psychopathic way their leader announced the deportation; their desecration of Martyr’s Cemetery, etc. But the other anger was at the Isaias Afwerki regime for starting a war it could not finish; and for rejecting peace treaties only to accept worse ones–and only after it had, in two years, given up the lives of 20,000 combatants. For comparison, the lives of combatants lost in our 30 year war of Independence was 65,000.
That Isaias Afwerki and his Band of Misfits who mismanaged the war would do everything in their power to misdirect investigation into it was a given. What was most shameful in all this was the role of the 2002 National Assembly.
There are many Eritrean expressions, proverbs, aphorisms that testify to what we as a people point to as evidence that we are a civilized people governed by law. The Former Great & Now Desolate minds of some of the Chroniclers of Eritrea’s History (like Asmerom Legesse) have pointed to our Customary Laws to explain why we are a people of Law & Order. But fundamental to law and order is fairness and one of the most commonly known expressions is: “Don’t Pass Judgement Without Hearing Both Sides Of The Story.”
The National Assembly’s Eternal Shame On The Matter of G-15 & Journalists
So, the first shameful act of the 2002 National Assembly was to ignore this fundamental tenet of fairness and pass its judgement only after hearing the one, and self-serving, side of the story told by its Chairman, Isaias Afwerki. And it was a fantastic story:
- “They” committed crimes of “Defeatism.” (although defeatism is not listed as a crime anywhere in the criminal code);
- “They”, through the peace facilitators, relayed a message to Weyane asking if they could stop their offensive if “we” removed from power President Isaias Afwerki;
- “They” disclosed our secrets to the enemy and weakened our negotiating leverage;
- “They” gave direct orders to the army to not fight back;
- “They” committed treason
The “they” in the above list included individuals who had no known role or interaction with military commanders or the peace facilitators. None of the National Assembly members (who repeatedly claimed they represent us the people) asked: How did Aster Fessehazion do this exactly? And when did Germano Naty meet with peace facilitators? How did then-Foreign Minister Haile Derue communicate with the peace facilitators if Yemane Gebreab accompanied him everywhere ALL THE TIME. Or: what could compel a people who spent most of their youth fighting for Eritrea’s independence, some in wars more severe than the Weyane Offensives, to capitulate now? Is saying “given our strength and weakness; the enemy’s strength and weakness right now, this is not a war we can win” defeatism? If so, was EPLF’s 1978 Strategic Retreat “Defeatism”?
Not only did the Useless National Assembly not ask about the whereabouts of its disappeared colleagues, it complimented the Isaias Afwerki regime for its wise handling of the situation thus far. One of them even asked, “why weren’t they arrested earlier?” The Eritrean Private Press journalists were accused of violating the Press Proclamation (no specific clause cited), and they were lumped with the colluders and defeatists and treasonous for committing journalism in broad daylight.
That took care of the immediate threat: the G-15 and the Journalists. But there were other mines planted to term-limit Isaias Afwerki and those, too, had to be removed and here, too, the 2002 National Assembly added more shame to its already shameful act.
The National Assembly & Elections
Recall that their own colleagues, empowered by them in a previous session, had drafted the afore-mentioned Electoral Law and Party-Formation Law and, as instructed by the National Assembly, were getting ready to present the draft laws to State TV when the Chairman intervened and aborted the process. What would the Shameful National Assembly have to say about that? Well, it turned out that they went village to village, hamlet to hamlet, and the unanimous response of the people was, “What parties? We only know one party: it is the one that brought our independence: the EPLF!” They heard this same message from 95% of the people, no, it was 99.5%, well, actually, said one, it was 100%! People were mad at us for even entertaining political pluralism. They all said, “we don’t want it!.”
Grrm Eba. You spend decades telling people political pluralism is bad, and then when they repeat back to you the message you had drilled into them for decades, you report what they told you, which is what you had told them. An echo chamber.
One National Assembly member said words to the effect, “well, it is true that political pluralism is guaranteed in our constitution. And, yes, it is true we have entered into some treaties with Africa pledging to it. But we have never knelt down before and we never will!” Apparently, fulfilling a pledge is “kneeling down.”
So, they all agreed there was no need for elections and the December 2001 Elections would be cancelled. How about future elections? Well, for that they will form a committee to study it, a committee headed by a man who has been on a 26 year campaign to tarnish his Ghedli legacy: Ramadan Mohammed Nur. What? Me neither: 18 years later, I have never heard of what this imaginary committee eventually decided on.
Similarly, with the private press: a committee would be constituted to determine how to revise the press proclamation to allow a “responsible” private press. They haven’t figured that out, either: it appears you have to work for the government to be responsible.
One more thing: all these people, all these Constituent Assembly and National Assembly members, took an oath to defend the Constitution of Eritrea.
Postscript to the 2002 National Assembly
As I indicated above, the National Assembly was made up of the 75 Central Committee (CC) Members of the PFDJ and their 75 Ardent Fans (aka former mass organization members.) If we were to do a “where are they now” update, well, nobody knows about the 75 Ardent Fans (not even the 75 Central Committee Members.) As for the 75 CC Members, awate.com used to provide regular updates before it realized their story is too tragic to narrate:
The Fate of The 75 Central Committee Members
- The National Assembly which sentenced its own colleagues sentenced itself to extinction: it hasn’t met as an institution since 2002 and most of its members are arrested, exiled, or dead;
- The Organizational Congress of the PFDJ hasn’t been held since 1994;
- The National Constitution which allowed for political pluralism and free press has been declared dead and its replacement announced 5+ years ago is not here;
- National Elections are permanently postponed;
- The Security Man brought from Russia to shut down the private press and arrest journalists died in exile; his body denied burial in Eritrea.
- The G-15, their supporters and the Independent Journalists are either dead or dying in jail
When the history of Eritrea is written, the chapter dealing with Isaias Afwerki and his band of misfits will be a gruesome one. And either as a footnote or as sub-chapter, the role of 2002 National Assembly and its decisions of February 2 will instill shame on them and their grandchildren, just as the 1950s parliament did on some of its members and children and grandchildren.
Not that Eritreans of a certain generation celebrate birthdays, but Isaias Afwerki’s birthday is also February 2. So, in a sense, the National Assembly’s birthday present to the President were the tools to be President-for-Life.
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