Eritrea: My Take On President Afewerki’s Interview

COMMENTARY

The ruler of Eritrea, president Isaias Afewerki, delivered his widely publicized and anxiously awaited interview on US-Eritrea relations as promised and on time this weekend, 19 Aug 07, and was widely broadcasted via state-owned EriTV that was then relayed to Regime-friendly websites via the internet. As usual, the president’s interview was lengthy and consumed entire 2 hours.

A couple of things jumped at me when I listened to the interview. To his credit, the president made it to a point to clarify political nomenclature right away prior to proceeding with the interview in order to avoid unwarranted confusion and misunderstandings. In line with that, the president made it clear that reference to the country name America/US pertains only to those that are in charge of running the business and making policies on behalf of the people and country of America/US not to the history, people, and country as such.

Thank you for making this vital distinction, sir. That was the message of my article in defense of US Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, James Swan when he used the country name Eritrea in a critique that was clearly directed at your totalitarian governmental authority but was portrayed by your cronies as diabolic attack on the people and country of Eritrea.

Then, the president reverted to his favorite topic: The issue of the depressingly constant domestic calls for constitutional governance (democracy) in Eritrea. In order to make his case and in yet another futile attempt to counter such just domestic calls, the president ventured into making a parody of democracy as practiced in India that he labels as world’s largest democracy and the USA.

Well, Mr. President, you are entitled to say all you want in eternity about democracy as practiced all over the world, but with all due respect, no one in Eritrea is calling for a carbon copy of democracy ala India, America, or any other country you choose to pick on but democracy as dictated by our national constitution that was drafted under your personal auspices and active participation and then ratified with your unequivocal consent, remember?

Unless you are having second thoughts about it and are considering to declare our National Constitution a recipe for the fragmentation of the Eritrean society along our vertical diversity, which the people of Eritrea would never buy, your persistent reference to “societies being split in an ethnic, religious, regional and sectarian manner” as in the Iraqi case you cited (sunis, Shiites, kurds, etc) every time you are confronted with the issue of democratic governance in Eritrea, is utterly baseless and tantamount to fear mongering tactic to delay or even deny the people’s call for constitutional governance. Like every initial national constitution, the Eritrean National constitution is not perfect but it is good. Perfection cannot be the enemy of the good or negate the good.

Just for the record, there is no and there can’t be such thing as ‘universal democracy/one democracy fits all’ for it would defy the cultural and ethnic diversity of the planet we inhabit. Therefore, democracy is defined by the National Constitution of any given political entity, society, or country. No two nations are the same; hence there is no one ‘democracy template’ that would meet the needs, wills, wishes, and interests of two different societies. Democracy in Eritrea is fashioned and customized solely from Eritrean perspectives as stipulated and dictated by our national constitution not a copy of this or that country.

Constitutional governance/democracy is a just form of governance solemnly entrusted to those charged with governing for strict implementation. Democratic governance cannot and does not rule out economic imbalance in the absolute nor does it promise or lead to equal wealth to all but certainly grants all equitable access to wealth. One cannot fault constitutional governance/democracy for gross economic imbalance to the extent of the India example you cited (77% of the population under poverty level as you claimed) because it would mean blaming democracy for systemic governmental corruption. In India or wherever else it might prevail, only those charged with implementing democratic governance bear the sole responsibility for gross economic imbalance, not democracy or constitutional governance.

Let me say for the purpose of clarity that the national constitution is not a piece of paper but a message and solemn covenant between the governed and the governors that, for practical purposes, happens to be printed on paper for the purpose of preservation. In this day and age, there are more options to paper, one can preserve the national constitution in the form of CD or DVD, too.

The president is certainly entitled to his ‘no comment’ response to US plan to put his governmental authority in ‘terrorist sponsoring list’ and possible sanctions. But silence in the face of damning accusations/allegation and looming concrete punitive measures is tantamount to consent.

Finally, as far as the closure of the Eritrean consulate in Oakland is concerned, the president urged Eritreans in America to utilize their right to freedom of speech to protest the consular closure by contacting their congressional representatives. Well said, Mr. President. How about congratulating American democracy at least for granting its citizens freedom of speech that you can now call upon to make your case but which freedom is kind of an absolutely rare commodity in Eritrea, sir?

Author can be contacted at bmtekeste@yahoo.com