እዚ "ብያኣክል" ዝብል ህዝባዊ ምልዕዓል መታን ክዕወት ዓሚቁን ሰፊሕን መጽናዕቲ ዝሓትት ስለዝኾነ መራሕቱ ኣብ ዘዘለውዎ ሃገር ምስተን ዓለምለኸ ትካላት ክተሓባበሩን ትምህርታዊ ዝኾነ ፍልጠት ንክቀስሙ ክጓየዩ ኣለዎም።እቲ ቅድሚ ሕጂ ሒዝናዮ ዝጸንሓና ልምዲ ናይ ወጋሕ ትበል ለይቲ ተሪፋ ፣ትምህርታዊ ዓውደ መጽናዕትታት፣ ኮርሳት ኢዩ እቲ ንኣፍልጦኻ ዘዕቢ፣ፍልጠት ድማ ንክትምዕብል ይሕግዘካ። ዘመን ከበሮ ተሪፋ ዘመን ምንባብን ምምርማርን ይኹን፡፤

Eritrean fourth democratic wave towards Inclusive political  participation and representation

                                              

                               By Fesseha Nair

The struggle from dictatorship to democracy depends on its ownership expressed through its meaningful participation to affirm this it needs democratic institutions and campaign strategy and grand strategy. The goal of the struggle from dictatorship to democracy is clear to remove the dictatorship from its deep roots and system and lay foundations for democratic system and democratic society.

Looking to the Eritrean Movements struggling against dictatorship in Diaspora the main challenge was to unify the Movements under a grand strategy including all political, civic and individuals.

The struggle from dictatorship to democracy is not similar like the struggle for national liberation from colonialism and occupation.

In the past 20 we have seen many national dialogues and conferences held by political and civic organizations but all were not sustainable and successful. This article will try to provide an overview of the process pursued in the past 20 years

During these 20 years of struggle for democratic change in Eritrea the Eritrean Opposition in Diaspora couldn't achieve structured participation but encountered multiple challenges internally ( lack of strategic partnership) and externally( foreign intervention-Ethiopian Government) but still there is hope that one day they will come together and achieve more in the coming future. To achieve this the opposition forces require along-term commitment from all its members in order to guarantee the sustainability of the struggle of all forces regardless of their political affiliations.

The Eritrean Opposition in Diaspora campaign strategy has been against each other for the past 20 years being aware of this failed strategy the opposition must direct their campaign strategy( win- win strategy) against the dictatorship, strengthening participation by all forces for democratic change, through greater participation we can win our peoples' legitimacy.

Through such campaign strategies the opposition can gain a keener understanding of the struggle from dictatorship to democracy and enhance their cooperation providing them more precise and unified message to the Eritrean people inside Eritrea. Let us promise not to campaign against each other, for example, the social media has been an instrument for defamation and blackmailing against each other let us stop this and direct the campaign strategy against it.

The Eritrean Forces for democratic change in Diaspora have tried gradually to build up alliances and coalitions but all were not sustainable and successful. We have learned many lessons during this time why these alliances and coalitions were not successful.

Building alliances and coalitions are democratic instruments in the struggle for democratic change but the Eritrean Opposition still need to learn the importance of these instruments.

The Eritrean Opposition in Diaspora have not succeeded to lay a grand strategy ( See, Gene Sharpe's research studies) winning the dictatorship in Eritrea and laying foundations( What form of Government- State Structure/Federalism/ Unitary) for democratic change inside Eritrea.

Laying grand strategy is the most important instrument to be established to remove the dictatorship and lay foundations for democratic change.

If the call of , " Enough is Enough" for national united platform is out of shared lessons learned they must first assess the past experiences of unity attempts inside themselves and with other compatriots for democratic change. Building national united platform needs a long-term commitment from all the parties involved and I hope the youth will take this initiative and revitalise the method of struggle from dictatorship to democracy.

References

1. Einstein Institute Branch in Sweden

2. IDEA, International Institute For Democracy and Electoral Assistance

3. Expert Group- UD Sweden