Eritrea: Q & A with W. Ammar, Eritrean People´s Party Chairman

Photo: W.Ammar, EPP Chairman

Q: The Eritrean regime is said to be militarily and financially backing Al-Quada linked insurgents in Somalia. The Obama Administration has responded by sending weapons to the interim Somali administration. At the same time, the State Department and Congress seem to think that engaging the Asmara rulers is still a viable option. In addition to being a politician, I know you are also a veteran journalist. Give me your sense of what is really going on and where all this is heading?

A: There cannot be any plausible gainsaying - even by PFDJ sycophants - to the glaring fact that the belligerent Eritrean regime headed by near-lunatic Isaias Afwerki has been backing militarily and financially destructive fundamentalist elements in Somalia. This one-man regime in Eritrea consistently pursues policies and actions that can only harm the wellbeing of the impoverished Eritrean people and the peoples of the region at large. Its unwarranted meddling in the affairs of the Somali people is a clear manifestation of the Eritrean petty dictator´s state of mind. Therefore, no one can give a rational explanation to the regime´s military and financial backing to destructive elements in Somalia.

On the other hand, the overdue delivery of weapons by the Obama Administration to the Somali interim administration is in line with international obligations deserved to go to a legitimate government backed by the African Union and the rest of the sane world. It was partly due to the failure of the US and other major powers to support the Somali people that their suffering under warlords and terrorists lingered for so much time. In short, the Somali people deserve more concerted international support that would put an end to the destructive works of fanatics and their mad supporters like Isaias of PFDJ´s Eritrea.

As to the intention of the US State Department and the Congress to ´engage´ the Isaias regime and stop it from playing with fire, I say it is another stillborn scheme. It will not succeed. As we all know, the European Union and its Commission have been trying to ´engage´ that rogue regime since 2001 but to no avail. The sad part of the story is that the major world powers are promoting their strategic interests with little or no attention to the ongoing violations of the basic rights of other peoples like those of Eritrea. There has been some hope that the Obama Administration would act differently. That hope has not yet vanished.

Q: Professor Berket Habteselassie has called for more secular and non-partisan politics for Eritrea. What is your take on these two issues?

A: Eritrea is not a place suitable for any organization with a religious agenda. Therefore, the reiteration of the call for the separation of religion from the state in Eritrea is agreeable to the vast majority of Eritreans who wish religion to remain the concern of the individual believer. Few would disagree with Professor Bereket on this issue because the great majority of Eritreans will not accept politics that would lead us towards creating a confessional state in Eritrea, or one that allows "Swat Valleys" in its belly.

Regarding the second part of the question, I feel it needs some qualification. If it is to imply ´freezing´ all existing political parties/organizations, that is unworkable and unacceptable because we need Eritreans to prepare for multiparty politics of tomorrow. We oppose the building of one monolithic body to crash everyone else, as was the case in pre-independence Eritrea. But if the non-partisan politics is to be interpreted as a call for a broad national umbrella that coordinates the activities of all political parties/organizations and civil society groups, then that has been the core aim of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance and its predecessors. Nevertheless, we need to work towards narrowing down the existing factional divisions by bringing together those with similar visions and programs into viable entities. Again, I say few Eritreans would disagree with Professor Bereket on the need of coalescing our political organizations and civil society outfits into an inclusive and working national umbrella that can channel our collective energies to the common cause: dislodging the evil regime and in its place building a new democratic Eritrea of all and for all.

At this juncture, it may be of interest to recall related pronouncements made at the 5th Congress of the former ELF-RC held in Gondar, Ethiopia, in the summer of 2001. That congress was convened under the slogan "national salvation above everything else", and for the first time called for a national conference (Hagerawi Waala) that would bring together all political forces, old and new, and civil society movements opposed to the dictatorial regime in Asmara.

Q: The Eritrean leader, Isayas Afewerki, keeps saying there is no opposition against him. He thinks there is only a CIA opposition against his regime. What is Isayas´s real concern or fear?

A: The denial by Isaias Afwerki of the existence of any Eritrean political opposition to his regime is also not new. He has been saying it for the past 18 years and one cannot expect him to say otherwise until he and his regime are put into the dustbin of history. It may even be useful to recall that Isaias, a master of denial, has been claiming since 1982 that no other Eritrean political entity existed other than his front. This characteristic denial of what is real explains his perennial bent to ignore other voices and monopolize absolute power under any circumstances and at any cost to the people.

For the past ten years, Isaias used to describe Eritrean opposition organizations as Sudanese (until recently) and Ethiopian "organizations" and not Eritrean entities. Nowadays, the existence of both Ethiopia and the Eritrean opposition as his enemies is denied by Isaias who says CIA is his main enemy and the rest only its ´servants´. Our megalomaniac Isaias is not happy with "small enemies".

Isaias knows he has lost the trust of over 90% of the Eritrean people. His real concern is that the Eritrean people will one day turn against him in a surprising way. It is in the vain attempt of hoodwinking the people to non-existent enemies that the propaganda machinery of the Isaias regime keeps telling lies to the oppressed Eritrean people. The fear of the inevitable wrath of the people is haunting him day and night. For sure, what Isaias fears will come true – one day! And not from the CIA and other quarters, but from the very people he is holding hostage of his mad politics and policies.