ERITREA: Afewerki's Too Much Ado About Nothing Speech
Opinion
Berhane M Tekeste
25 May 2007
In his address to the nation, 24 May 2007, on the occasion of the much deserved 16th Independence Anniversary of the country, Eritrea ruler, Esayas Afewerki, spent quiet a bit of time bemoaning what he calls 'latest Resolution of the Security Council' that doesn't even exist. The latest UN Security action regarding Eritrea and Ethiopia was a press statement issued on 8 May 2007. That is not a resolution but a mere non-binding and meaningless press statement that is not even part of the official Security Council records. That statement is just a reflection of or remark on the prevailing status quo between the two countries. Mr. President, no need to sweat it out and there are no grounds for hysteria. The statement is inconsequential. Just ignore it, sir.
Mr. President, with all due respect, there is a major difference between a press statement and a resolution. The former is no more than a bare remark/comment without any consequences, the latter is an authoritative call and demand for action and entails, sooner or later, consequences for non-compliance, regardless whether or not it is heeded to. But to treat a press statement as if it were a resolution is another manifestation of your perverted understanding of things that do not go your tyrannical way.
For you to waste a good portion of your public address unnecessarily dissecting the minutes of the Security Council's meeting regarding a statement that doesn't oblige you to any action, move, compliance, has no adverse effects on Eritrea and is of no importance is too much ado about nothing. You don't like it for all the reasons you cited like bias or lack of logic, then forget the statement, send it to the document shredder or just discard it and move on. There is no need to be hysterical about it. Case closed.
Even then, some thing good came out of the statement, Mr. President. The Council caved in to your persistent demands to replace the long-designated head of UNMEE and gave the Secretary general the green light to go ahead and appoint a replacement as you demanded. This move was greatly appreciated by your UN Representative, Araya Desta, in New York, who exclaimed in delight "I welcome your decision to appoint a new Special Representative for UNMEE to assume the responsibility that was held by Ambassador Legwaila" without any threads attached in a statement he issued on 8 May 2007 on behalf of your office.
Yet, you lambasted the yet to be appointed new UNMEE head. Isn't that what you wanted? You got your way. What is wrong Mr. President?
I agree with you without any reservation, Mr. President, that it is futile, to say the least, to be talking about restoring normal Eritrea/Ethiopia relations when the requisite basis for that (Ethiopia's unconditional acceptance of Eritrea's territorial and national sovereignty as conclusively decided and determined by the ultimate decision of the Boundary Commission) is utterly non-existent.Yet, what prevents the head of UNMEE from being creative about that? You are not obliged in any way to agree with or accept whatever creative things the UNMEE head might have in his mind but there is no reason why one wouldn't entertain such moves at least as a mere matter of diplomatic courtesy? There is no need to be hysterical or paranoid about the mandate and job descriptions of the new UNMEE chief, sir. He has neither the power nor the authority to impose anything on you. Mr. President, you need to detach yourself quickly from your "my way or the highway" tyrannical policy for the good of our country and even for your own sanity.
The rest of the press statement was a mere recap and a sole reminder to both sides of the myriad of resolutions that have hitherto not been heeded to by either side including a call to oblige to those resolutions.
One more thing that stood out for me on the presidents address was an interesting and legitimate question regarding the border issue that the president raised and correctly answered himself: "What does the term 'temporary' mean he pondered.
"Temporary means temporary" he said and elaborated that in the case of the border issue it means until the border is demarcated. What is the hold up? The president put the blame squarely on US-administration's reluctance to compel its protégé, Ethiopia, to abide by the rule of law.
By the same token, allow me to pose the following question to you, Mr. President. I raise this question because you assumed the public position you hold ad interim since 1991, now for 16 years. What does the term 'interim' mean? To me 'interim' means interim. In the case of our country, interim means until our National Constitution has been drafted and ratified, which happened at the earliest 1997, latest 2002, if not this year of 2007 at a time when you, Mr. President, publicly declared that "we have no problem with Ethiopia" and that "Ethiopia wants nothing from Eritrea". Now, what is the hold up here, Mr. President?
It cannot be a matter of choosing between food and democracy. That is a shameless and fossil scare ploy. Mr. President, Poverty/Food security and democracy are not mutually exclusive? A new start to build a new and economically devastated nation even though a toll order, it is not by any measure or standard an indictment to subjugation by tyrannical one-man, one-party absolute rule? Democratic governance is not an enemy of the poor that have nothing to lose but ever thing to gain from. It is absurd to think that democratic governance would hamper the task of Food Security or government's ability to function as designed?
The rest of Afewerki's speech was all about a laundry list of societal accomplishments, which is his job. Even though it was a litany of sound performances, it does not constitute a justification or an excuse to subject the people of Eritrea to Afewerk's tyrannical rule by any standard. Tyranny is a grave violation of the most basic human rights for which there isn't and there can't be any excuse. The end does not justify the means, Mr. President.
Ever since May of 1991, when Eritrea emerged as a politically independent and self-governing sovereign nation, May 24 is Independence Day in Eritrea. Congratulations and Happy 16th Independence Anniversary, ERITREA, REGARDLESS.
See also:
ERITREA: The End Does Not Justify The Means
ERITREA: Reinventing Democracy to fit Dictatorship
Author can be reached at bmtekeste@yahoo.com
|
| |
