Tag: democracy
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Court of Law–Seattle as an Example
The rule of law finally reached the PFDJ that spent decades believing it was above the law. The recent Seattle court decision was a victory for the “Eritrean Justice Camp.” It is more than a legal ruling—it marks an important historical milestone. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to that outcome. I also have a few…
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The Gettysburg Lesson Eritrea Never Learned
What separates genuine leadership from the exploitation of sacrifice? Using Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as a historical reference point, this essay examines the moral power of leadership during times of national crisis and contrasts it with Eritrea’s post-independence experience. It explores freedom, citizenship, remembrance, national unity, and the responsibility owed to those who sacrificed their…
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From the White House to the Stonehouse
I used to meet an animated, patriotic girl at a neighbor’s house where we gathered on weekends and special occasions. In 1985, just a few days after the September 1 celebrations, we were chatting over coffee. She was nice; only she inserted “Gedli” (struggle) into almost every other sentence she uttered. I teasingly called her…
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OUR NATIONAL UNITY: Why Eritrea’s Political Imagination Fails Reality
I. The Illusion We Keep Rehearsing In recent weeks, I have been reading a series of essays on awate.com – thoughtful pieces by Semere Habtemariam and Saleh Ghadi, attempting to stitch together a moral vision for Eritrea’s political future. They speak of unity, sacrifice, institutional maturity, historical awareness, and the enduring hope that principled action…
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Trust Over Terror: Unity Built on a Minimum Agenda
Accra, Ghana. The very air here reminds me of what could have been for Eritrea. In the early 1990s, two nations stood at a crossroads. Ghana chose democracy, and today it stands as West Africa’s most stable and consolidated democracy. Eritrea, tragically, chose tyranny and has become a cautionary tale of what is broken in…
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Eritrea’s Missing Architects: The Intellectual Void Behind a Crippled Nation-Building
Eritrea’s liberation struggle stands as one of the most extraordinary military victories of the modern era. In 1991, the EPLF decisively defeated Ethiopian forces and freed the country. Yet instead of declaring independence immediately, it opted for a UN-supervised referendum in 1993—an exercise that yielded a predictable 99.83% result. Contrast this with the American Revolution,…
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Prime Minister Resigns: Ethiopia Moves Towards the Third Republic
In what many observers expected, yesterday the Ethiopian television announced the Ethiopian Prime Minister resigned from his position. Hilemariam was elected by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) as a successor to the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Melles Zenawi, who died in August 2012. Until his election as prime minister, Hailemariam served as the…