Eritrea’s Opposition Has Run Out of Excuses
For more than three decades, Eritrea’s diaspora opposition has lived in a political waiting room—issuing statements, forming committees, dissolving committees, and then repeating the cycle with new names and old habits. The pattern has become so predictable that it no longer shocks anyone. Meanwhile, the regime in Asmera has ruled with total impunity: no constitution, no elections, no independent courts, no national budget, no public accountability, and no vision beyond survival. Eritrea has become a state frozen in time, while its opposition has become a movement frozen in indecision.
The contrast is painful. On one side stands a dictatorship that, however destructive for Eritrea, knows exactly what it wants and pursues it with ruthless clarity. On the other side stands an opposition that claims to fight for the country’s future yet still cannot decide how to work together, even as the nation it invokes sinks deeper into crisis.
This is not a crisis of ideas. Eritreans have never lacked ideas—whether imported or homegrown. They have produced manifestos, charters, roadmaps, and political programs in every language and on every continent. The crisis is far simpler—and far more damning: a failure to unite around a realistic, practical strategy for change.
The verdict of political science and history is unambiguous. Authoritarian regimes like Eritrea’s collapse when opposition forces form minimum‑objective coalitions—disciplined, tightly focused alliances committed to the essential tasks of transition. Not ideology. Not historical grievances. Not debates over who suffered more or who deserves more. A minimum‑objective coalition is anchored in a small set of non‑negotiable steps required to open the door to a new political order. Everything else comes later.
Eritrean wisdom captures this truth with brutal clarity: ምቕዳም እምበር መልክዕ ጉያ ዶ ኣሎ? No one cares how elegant you look while running; what matters is whether you win. Results—not posture—define purpose. Winning, delivering, and taking concrete action must become core values, not afterthoughts. Yet the diaspora opposition has spent decades perfecting its posture—its rhetoric, its conferences, its internal debates—while neglecting the only metric that matters: results.
A Positive Shift—But Not Enough
Since 2025, we have finally witnessed a flicker of meaningful change. After years of fragmentation, the dozens of opposition groups have consolidated into three major coalitions. This is the most encouraging development in decades—especially after morale collapsed so sharply in recent years that some Eritreans began questioning whether certain groups were even Eritrean in essence. The consolidation shows that political actors are beginning to understand a fundamental truth: unity is not a luxury; it is a survival strategy.
But this shift is only the beginning. Three coalitions are better than thirty organizations, but they are still three centers of gravity competing for influence. The trend must continue. These coalitions must now move toward a final push for unity, forming one coordinated front capable of negotiating, planning, and acting with a single voice. Partial unity is progress, but it is not victory.
The Opposition Must Stop Debating and Start Aligning
A minimum‑objective coalition demands only a handful of commitments:
- End authoritarian rule
- Establish a transitional authority
- Secure international recognition
- Prepare the country for constitutional and electoral processes
That is all.
Not a national conference in exile.
Not a 200‑page political program.
Not a fight over the past.
Not another round of “unity talks” that produce nothing but photographs and press releases.
For years, the diaspora opposition has tried to negotiate maximum objectives before securing the minimum ones. That is why it has failed. You cannot build a house by arguing about the color of the roof before laying the foundation. You cannot design a constitution before you have a country capable of adopting one. You cannot plan a future government while refusing to form the coalition necessary to make that future possible.
In short: stop putting the cart before the horse.
A Tigrinya proverb reminds us: ብዘረባ ዝነግስ ብኮኳዕዳ ዝሓርስ የልቦን—no one becomes a king by talking, just as no one ploughs a field with a bamboo stick. Words without action are worthless. The diaspora opposition has talked enough. The time for performance has arrived.
The Hard Truth: Unity Is Not Optional
Every Eritrean opposition group knows this truth—privately and publicly—yet none of the endless initiatives have managed to act on it. The honest reality is simple: no single organization will shape Eritrea’s future alone.
Not the old liberation‑era factions.
Not the civic groups.
Not the youth movements.
Not the religious networks.
Not the regional associations.
The era of political monopolies is over. Eritrea’s future will not be written by one group, one ideology, or one generation. The only path forward is shared power, shared responsibility, and shared sacrifice. Anything less is a fantasy.
After the Regime Falls, the Real Work Begins
A minimum‑objective coalition is only the first step. Once the regime collapses—and it will, whether through internal decay, external pressure, or generational exhaustion—the coalition must expand rapidly into a maximum‑objective alliance capable of governing a fractured society.
That means confronting the hard questions Eritrea has avoided for decades:
- How will the security sector be reformed
- How will justice be delivered without revenge
- How will refugees return and reintegrate
- How will the economy be rebuilt from the ground up
- How will national reconciliation be organized
If these questions are not addressed collectively, Eritrea risks replacing one crisis with another. The fall of a dictatorship is not the end of struggle; it is the beginning of responsibility. And responsibility requires unity—not the symbolic unity of slogans, but the operational unity of shared institutions, shared decision‑making, and shared accountability.
Eritrean wisdom offers another reminder: ሽሕ ዝተማኸርዎ ሓደ ይውርውሮ—when a thousand consult and deliberate, one is bound to throw the arrow that brings change. It is time to launch that consultation of a thousand. Eritrea’s future demands nothing less.
The Diaspora’s Last Chance to Matter
The diaspora opposition is approaching a point of no return. Younger Eritreans are losing patience with organizations that seem more committed to their own survival than to the nation’s. International actors are losing interest in groups that cannot coordinate even the simplest tasks. The regime is weakened but not collapsing. The window for meaningful action is narrowing.
If the opposition cannot unite now—when the moral, political, and historical arguments for unity are overwhelming—then it must accept the consequences: irrelevance in the future Eritrea. History does not wait for those who hesitate. It moves forward with those who act.
A Final Call to Responsibility
- Eritrea does not need more speeches about unity. It needs unity itself.
- It needs leaders who understand that compromise is not surrender.
- It needs organizations that value the nation more than their logo.
- It needs a coalition strong enough to win change and wise enough to manage it.
The diaspora has the talent, the experience, and the moral authority to build such a coalition. What it lacks is the courage to act together. That courage—not ideology, not history, not rhetoric—is now the only thing standing between Eritrea and another lost decade.
For thirty years, the opposition has waited. Eritrea cannot wait any longer. The time for excuses is over—and so is the waiting.
To Contact the Author: weriz@yahoo.com
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