Open Letter to the Organizers of the August 30, 2025 meeting.

A meeting is planned for August 30, 2025, to form a Registration and Election Commission with the objective of electing a legitimate global representative body to represent justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora.

Dear Members of the August 30, 2025 Organizing Committee:

I understand you have planned a meeting on August 30, 2025, whose primary objective is to form a Registration and Election Commission. As someone who strongly believes in the noble initiative you are engaged in, I am now writing to share with you ideas that I strongly believe will contribute to the success of the planned August 30, 2025 meeting.

As has been discussed at the April 12-13, 2025 meeting, the ultimate objective is to elect a body that will have the legal authority and the legitimacy to represent all justice-seeking Eritreans in the diaspora. This elected body is expected to represent and speak with one voice on behalf of all those who want to contribute to ending the brutal dictatorship in our home country—Eritrea.

It is obvious that the various activist groups, namely, the Eritrean political parties, Berghed N’Hamedu, Yiakl, Felsi, Bright Future, the Eritrean Women’s Association, Eritrean Research Institute for Policy and Strategy (ERIPS), Eritrea Focus, Facilitating Democratic Change in Eritrea (FAST), and the many non-associated activist groups and individuals, have the same objective—to end dictatorship in Eritrea.

Unfortunately, as you all know, all the above-listed groups, so far, have not been successful because they have been operating for the most part in a fragmented manner. Ending dictatorship in Eritrea should not be left only to the political parties. All justice-seeking Eritreans have a responsibility to participate in ending the suffering of the Eritrean people.

After the regime is removed and Eritrea becomes a multi-party democratic nation, the political party that has the support of the majority of the Eritrean people will have the chance to govern the country. It is therefore to the advantage of the political parties to fully cooperate in the process of forming a legitimate representative group that will design an effective strategy to remove the regime.

Hence, to achieve the primary objective of removing the dictatorial regime, it is important that the various above-listed stakeholders create a mechanism that will help them to effectively contribute to removing the regime.

To this end, I suggest the formation of two separate bodies at the August 30, 2025, planned meeting: (a) a Registration Facilitating Committee and (b) an Election Commission.

In my view, for the Registration Facilitating Committee to be successful in registering all justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora, it is critically important that the Registration Facilitating Committee be composed of representatives of (a) members of political parties, (b) representatives of the various Berghed N’Hamedu groups, (c) Yiakl, (d) Felsi, (e) Bright Future, (f) the Association of Eritrean Women, ERIPS, Eritrea Focus, FAST, and other unassociated activist individuals and groups. The main reason I am suggesting that the Registration Facilitating Committee be composed of the representatives of the various activist groups is because doing so will encourage the supporters and sympathizers of the various stakeholders to participate in the registration process. As a result, the Registration Facilitating Committee will be successful in registering a large number of justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora.

Once the registration process is completed within a reasonable time, using online registration, the role of the Election Commission is to conduct a transparent, all-inclusive, democratic election. For the integrity of the election outcome, it is important, in my view, that the Election Commission be composed of independent, unaffiliated technocrats and professionals.

Hence, I suggest that the Organizing Body of the August 30, 2025, should start individually approaching the above-mentioned groups requesting them to nominate two individuals to be members of the Registration Facilitating Committee. At the same time, it should also identify unassociated individual technocrats and professionals to be members of the Election Commission, who should be charged with conducting fair and free elections.

This process of forming the Registration Facilitating Committee and the Election Commission should start right away so that the Organizing Committee will have a slate of nominees for the Registration Committee and for the Election Commission before the August 30^th meeting. When necessary, additional nominations should also be entertained during the August 30^th meeting, and the Registration Facilitating Committee and the Election Commission should be duly approved at the August 30^th meeting.

I understand that there is some reluctance by some political parties and perhaps other groups in participating in the process of forming a legitimate representative body through an all-inclusive registration process. Given the importance of creating an elected legitimate representative body by registering and conducting an all-inclusive election process of all justice-seeking Eritreans in the Diaspora, I strongly suggest that the Organizing Body of the August 30, 2025 meeting make an extra special effort in involving all the various stakeholders in the formation of the Registration Facilitating Committee. It is critically important that no one group is left behind if the registration and election process is to be successful in the election of a legitimate representative body in an all-inclusive, democratic, and transparent manner.

To help in making sure that all the various stakeholders participate in the formation of the Registration Facilitating Committee, I believe it will help the Organizing Body of the August 30^th meeting to seek the help of influential individuals who will be able to approach and convince the various reluctant groups to participate in the registration process by nominating two individuals that will represent them in the Registration Facilitating Committee.

If it is the wish of the Organizing Body of the August 30 meeting, I will be happy to join others to assist in persuading any reluctant groups to nominate their representatives to be members of the Registration Facilitating Committee.

I trust you will seriously consider my unsolicited suggestions with an open mind.

I wish you success in the endeavors you have been relentlessly making.

Sincerely, Araya Debessay.