The post-Tigray War Eritrean politics has left us with four groups. There are Eritreans who have always felt and still feel perfectly represented by:
- (1) the Government of Eritrea (Theme: “NNNN. My President Is Always Right”) ;
- (2) Brigade Nehamedu, Bright Future, Felsi et al (Vibe: “By Any Means Necessary”);
- (3) there are Eritreans who were once in the opposition but find the government suddenly appealing (Slogan: “At Least They Are Not TPLF”); and then
- (4) The Unrepresented, who look at each of the three teams and feel politically homeless. (Shrug: “What Is Going On With Eritrea?”)
Team 4 are the only ones without their own media, so I will write about them, in English, which will magically become audio in Tigrinya. ኣንቢብካ ኣሕልፍ: ተርጉም!
The Unrepresented include members of the legacy opposition, at least the ones who didn’t jump on the Brigade nHamedu bandwagon: they were the first victims of post-EPRDF Ethiopia. They were invited to cease political activities and become refugees when PM Abiy Kung-Fu danced his way to the Ethiopian stage, half a clown, half a king, foreshadowing nothing in 2018.
Yes, you with the butter knife?
Brigade nHamedu and its Blue Wave is in Addis Abeba in 2024!
Yeah, so, ok, you are not making the point you think you are making. Moving on: The Unrepresented also include the self-declared Silent Majority (oh, how my friend Saleh Johar despises this phrase!) who have been shaking their collective heads in disapproval at Eritreans since they became politically conscious. They are a bit fatalistic: whatever will be will be, there is nothing you can do to slow it down or speed it up. The Unrepresented also includes the politically unconscious whom we shall not include as a subset because it’s impossible to have a conversation with them:
So then, Yemane Gebremeskel says…
Who is that?
That is our Minister of Information.
Yemane Gebreab?
No, that is the political director of the ruling party
Hegdef?
Yes, PFDJ. So he tells Alex…
The football player? Have you seen that kid!
So, why even mention them? Because some become Suddenly Conscious and will want to lead you. The Unrepresented also includes The De-centralizers: those advocating for autonomous self-rule for their localities. A government which governs closest to the people best serves the people, they say. Some are on the verge of extinction thanks to PFDJ’s lifestyle: war, displacement, oppression, exile. And they want the powers of the central government to be limited via a formal agreement, in a constitution.
Yes, you with green olives and the blue sea?
Wait, wait, why would those “de-centralizers” not find a home with Brigade nHamedu? That’s exactly what we believe in: local rule!
I don’t know: have they seen your political program?
Oh, there you go: with your political programs and road maps! What do you have to show for it after 20 years of attending seminars and writing political programs and charters and blueprints?
Ah, the debate has started earlier than anticipated. You ever get the sense that all we need is a parliament, our own Bayto, to debate these issues? Yes, you in the back wearing a jersey with all the primary colors?
Didn’t you have your Yiakl Bayto and ENCDC Bayto? If it was about having Bayto, what did that get you, Mr Government in Exile? Yesterday Shaebia, Today Shaebia, Victory to the Masses!
I mean a representative parliament, Bayto. Representation is not as simple as wearing the colors of a tribe: some folk call that “cultural appropriation”, practiced at your nearest “Shaebia” festival. Representation means diverse IDEAS not colors or themes. That’s what a “Front” is supposed to be, diversity of opinions: not a sheeple repeating “The Sayings Of Kbur President” or whoever the flavor of the year is, Wedi Haweboy. But when you lose entire constituencies through attrition, the only way to fake it is to wear their clothes. Wink, back at ya.
So, about The Unrepresented. We cannot, under any condition, ever, surrender to PFDJ. This is because we have a functional memory that remembers all the atrocities the system has perpetrated, and is perpetrating even now as you read this article, on the People of Eritrea. But we are also for due process: we are not going to replace PFDJ by mimicking all its worst traits: enmity against the educated; cult of personality; systematic violence; “instant justice” without due process; revenge masquerading as justice and a monochrome pretending to be a rainbow. We cannot support anti-Eritrean Nationalism just because PFDJ practices ugly Ultranationalism. And, yes, our understanding of what is in Eritrea’s national interest sometimes aligns us with PFDJ. This doesn’t shame us because a better way of putting it is: after a series of stumbles, missteps, self-inflicted wounds and grenade hopping, PFDJ sometimes stumbled upon the right decision.
Yes, you with a clenched fist?
ጀሚርካ ድማ “ለባም ለባም”: “ኤርትራ ኤርትራ” ምጽዋት ! Here you go: playing smart, playing the patriot! Diet PFDJ! There is no violence inherent in our system: just the human instinct to defend itself. If you are not capable of it, that’s on you: we believe in self-defense!
Have you ever heard of Seyoum O/Michael? He was an executive with the ELF, then ELF-RC. He used to say, “We believe in plurality of ideas not plurality of armies. We believe in bringing solutions to Eritrea not new problems.” He was a very ለባም man. Read the history of the civil wars (plural) in Eritrea and then tell me if violence is the solution. Besides, it is counter-logical to ask a country for political asylum and then break its laws.
Yes, you in column G row 4. 4G
We are getting a bad reputation as killers, stabbers, hooligans. Why don’t you stop talking in circles and condemn the violence?
Maybe you shouldn’t all dress like the Ukrainian president with your tight T-shirts. By the way, did you take your shoes off before you went to sleep when Isaias complimented you (ኣገናዕ) on your hooliganism? About this loss of reputation: I heard the same words from Eritrea’s ambassador to Israel. By some strange coincidence, he is the same ambassador who told an Eritrean opposition member in Israel to stop bringing his grievances using the Israeli system but instead face us in the field man-to-man. On video. So, I definitely condemn what he said. I don’t condemn him: he is probably another PFDJ functionary working hard to maintain the status-quo. It’s not like there is a pension plan or a 401-k! But all these PFDJ functionaries have one audience–Isaias Afwerki–so they have to mimic him in every way including coarseness of language.
Yes, you with the Arsenal jersey
I just came back from Eritrea, and you can watch my TikTok. I took a lot of selfies in front of these amazing villas in Asmara. Yes, there was no water or electricity for two weeks straight, how crazy is that, but the air sure smelled nice. Have you been to Eritrea lately?
Thank you for all the videos you have been recording. It will be very useful to our opposition cells.
The Unrepresented also includes the Very Silent. “Look, I am not going to show up for your opposition because I have family in Eritrea who depend on me. Otherwise, I don’t need your meeting to know how bad things are in Eritrea.” Some, specially “The Educated” are silent because they find the Eritrean political discourse unbearably toxic. Some are silent because they have no means of communication. They are in refugee camps in Sudan, in a tiny hut, with a portrait of Hamid Idris Awate and his flag hanging on the walls of the mud hut. They don’t have Internet so they probably didn’t hear the Bright Future leaders trash their hero. Some are in the Middle East, where they are captives to government, given the conditions for renewing their Eritrean passport and thus living, working, moving permit depend on its blessings. Some are living in the West: in Europe, the Americas, Australia and all they know is none of the alternatives are attractive. But most are in Eritrea: they know the government is beyond redemption but they see nothing to replace it in the horizon.
So, that’s the story of us. Don’t worry: there will be no zoom meetings, no GoFundMe links at the end of this article urgently calling you to action. For now, it’s good enough that you know that you exist, and others who feel like you do also exist. But existence requires voice: time to speak up! It would also be not terrible if we all talk to one another. This article started by saying “post Tigray War…” About the only lesson from that war, the same one that has to be learned after every stupid war, is that war solves nothing: its an expensive attrition march to the negotiating table. Everybody should talk to everybody.
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