Are we ready to set up Interim National Transitional council?

Today I begin my article by asking if we are ready to set up Interim National transitional council. I don’t know what your answers could be but I guess you will say it is too early! That is what I felt at first but given the fact that the opposition started the struggle long ago, we should have it by now.

We have heard a lot about Eritrean opposition groups for a long time now. It is thus important to evaluate the path they have gone through. Many agree that they have not achieved a significant success in their goals that turned out to benefit the dictatorial regime in Asmara. It is almost like the Eritrean junta does not need to worry about their influence in changing the politics of Eritrea. All the opposition groups have a big common goal and that is to overthrow the current Eritrean regime. However they vary greatly in their goals for the post Isayas Era. People make lots of jokes about those opposition groups and how disorganized they are. Some even smell the desire for power within the opposition. But why have the opposition failed to win the momentum of the people for change?

Eritrean people are more than ever determined to overthrow the current regime that betrayed their true will. Some of the so called “Opposition” have fought for a number of years and have not achieved success yet. Don’t you think it is time to give the chance to the youth to deal with it or at least to try to work with the youth for change? Of course the question that follows is that “Are the youth ready and capable of continuing the path?” In my view yes they can, but they need guidance and advice from the senior political and intellectual Eritreans. What we learned from the Arab Spring is that how dynamic the youth are in any country. Those Arab Springs were well organized by the youth but of course involved lots of support from senior figures and the people themselves. We have seen how capable our youth are in New york, Geissen, Stockholm and other areas. I’m really proud of all the youth from Bay area who traveled from one end of United states to the other end to say enough is enough for dictatorship! I witnessed lots of devoted youth from EYGM/ EYSC and this is reflected in the work they do through facebook and other means. We now have to keep the momentum of the Arab Spring as time seems to be on our side.

It is so hard to predict how change could be achieved in the near future given the divided nature of the opposition. However, we can do it if we proceed into the second part of the struggle and that is action on the ground. Eritrean oppositions has not yet merged into one and that is one of the great dilemma for success. Unlike in Arab spring countries, in Eritrea, we don’t even have a national interim- transitional council that could take the responsibility of the country during the change and temporarily  in the post- Isayas era. The opposition groups, the intellectuals and the youth should come to the table and form a coalition that could speed up the process of change in Eritrea. This transitional council is important as it will represent the true will of the people and should be comprised of all the different hierarchies of our society. In an interview I heard Dr. Bereket Habteselasie mentioning that the oppositions have not yet promised to hand power to the people once the current regime is overthrown. This is a very important issue, as we still need to hear it from the opposition, whether they plan to do so or want to cling to power. If it is the later do we want to see another Isayas again? This is the answer we clearly want to hear from the Eritrean oppositions.

The civic society of Eritrea should contribute more to the struggle for democracy and justice. We all have seen the hard work of Eritrean human right activists like Elsa Chirum, Aba Mussie Zeray, Meron Estifanos and lots of others.  Personally I’m a fan of the civic society and the youth for bringing change to Eritrea but I also believe in the contributions that could be obtained from the experience of the oppositions. The bottom line is we all need to come together as one and face the giant and that is the only way we can achieve victory. We all need to see a national interim-transitional Council like that of Libya and Syria in the near future. This council should include opposition groups, civic societies and the youth. This could only last for a short time until a national election takes place and that is my dream and the dream of every Eritrean! Lets all work for achieving this goal.

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