[By Bereket Kiros]
Nineteen months and counting following the Pretoria Agreement, fear and division have negatively impacted at home and in the diaspora. Supporters and foes have advanced various arguments about the Pretoria Agreement as the most ambitious peace agreement of the century. Many mediating countries have managed to contain damage and build peace, but the deal stalled; IDPs are still facing hardships in the streets of cities, major towns, and federally recognised borders under occupation.
The power struggle between the Interim Administration and TPLF fuels the simmering silent conflict that Abiy Ahamed is hatching. Moreover, the political system has flaws and weaknesses. Concealed agendas hatched by a few generals interested in illicit gold mining are worsening the crises. We must always guard against a distractive slide into the division of cancerous polarisation, leading to additional loss of lives. A lack of cooperation threatens the realisation of the democratic forces needed to build peace and stability.
From the outset of the agreement, there have been widespread and legitimate concerns about Abiy Ahmed’s tactics and flip-flopping positions. We need to question his credibility and motives. The Abiy Ahmed government expressed its commitment to fully cooperating with all legal proceedings of the Pretoria Agreement in principle, but the facts on the ground tell another political drama. All top officials have repeatedly promised to respect the Pretoria Agreement, contrary to the contrary. Forty percent of Tigrai territory is occupied by Eritrea and Fano’s hostile forces. In such a political game, why is the Tigray Interim Regional Administration (TIRA) disarming combatants with digital identification that infringes on their human rights and identity?
A sharp contrast exists between an organisation like TPLF and TIRA, representing societal interests, and a political party concerned with staying in office. TIRA and the TPLF have lost sight and are caught in a vicious cycle. TIRA sees a change through a democratic process, but TPLF favours taking power by any means necessary. In the light of this chaos, the Interim Administration must establish an active, all-inclusive dialogue to overcome the crisis and create a more promising vision for democratic participation.
Tegaru, we must design a political and legal structure to guide Tigrai’s journey to democracy. We seem to have reached the pinnacle of an unending, irresolvable social conflict pitting one group against another and leaving enormous bitterness and disillusionment in the wake of the Pretoria Agreement. Politically expedient manoeuvring is resulting in the growth of an unnecessary split at home and abroad. We must expose conspirators, opportunists, thieves, and the few power-hungry who want to remain in power at any cost without accountability. We have suffered and maintained a flawed system for far too long; radical change is long overdue. There has to be a better way to deal with problems of poverty, hunger, illness, accountability, and the quest for democratization. The people dying in refugee camps, such as Sudan in makeshift camps, are the finest human beings that have ever walked this Earth. I cannot accept watching the very seed of humankind dying. There is no question that TPLF is responsible for most of the problems in our Tigrai. They poison and pollute our Tigrai with their toxic waste, and they loot our natural resources in exchange for insignificant beads. To the Arab Emirates and China. They dehumanise us all with slavery on a massive scale that they practiced for over four decades and continue to this day with such dominance with their elaborate scheme of exploitation.
Debretsion and his groups cannot cooperate because they have nothing to offer or lack some of the properties of a political organisation or a coherent set of ideological principles that advance democracy. We must communicate with each other and challenge our enemies in whatever guise they come to us. Debretsion is trying to stay in power as a fig leaf to cover his weakness that led to the genocidal war. Greed is the cause of the decline of democracy and social duties in Tigrai. Again, it is good to suggest that the only common denominator is accepting a common strategic goal, a union, based on nations’ right to self-determination.
Now, accept that Debretsion and his TPLF-supportive leaders have harmed Tigrai more than even Mengistu Hailemariam in the seventeen years of his rule. Meles and his supporters destroyed almost all TPLF members with learning and leadership potential and left the TPLF barren. We can now see proof of how such a powerful organisation collapsed, allowing third-rate young Oromos from OPDO to push it aside. If you scream all day long, you cannot pull in a single well-educated and well-experienced potential leader from the current TPLF officials.
Were the TPLF and the Interim Administration blind, or was the intolerable pursuit of their agenda going to keep them on course to a better end? Whatever their motive, there seems to be no end in sight. Perhaps the TPLF and the Interim Administration misguided the height and breadth of the steps leading to this dais because they failed to act on time. It can be argued that the TPLF network organised in the Diaspora by a handful of exiles intensified the growing paranoia, blaming the Interim Administration. The sobering fact is that there is not much the TPLF supporters in the Diaspora can do abroad to change Tigrai’s future. What we can do to help our Tigrai is to support the mechanisms that allow the various political and social forces to dialogue with one another to resolve the current impasses and establish peaceful and lasting democratic institutions.
Tegaru in the Diaspora needs to understand what a hectoring tone evokes when dealing with people who have experienced hardship and endurance in the Enderta and Raya regions. Many idea-bashing clamours are reverberating on the web and social media to rekindle old divisive issues. Cynical, manipulative, self-serving, dishonest opportunists and untrustworthy advisors spearheaded by the PP are trying hard to undermine the process of democratization. This is also a call to all Tegaru who have any residual sympathy for the TPLF and may have to reject the TPLF and its leadership, specifically Debretsion and his clique.
There can no longer be an excuse to support or sympathise with such irresponsible individuals. Tegaru, we are duped into believing that Debretsion and his group are serving Tigrai to wake up and see the new reality that they are being used by mercenaries who have no allegiance to Tigrai and its people. To rebel against such treasonous leaders is a noble act of heroism and patriotism. All the people of Tigrai have one enemy right within the bosom of our beloved Mother country. We must communicate with each other and challenge our enemies in whatever guise they come to us. Debretsion is trying to stay in power as a fig leaf to cover his criminal nakedness. Greed is the cause of the decline of democracy and social responsibilities in Tigrai.
The Tigrigna adage: ዝነቕዐት ብርለይ፣ ንታይ ክትገብረለይ? ንየኣ ደርብዩለይ። aptly underscores the irreversible loss of a glass flask’s utility once it cracks. Analogously, once members of a tightly controlled organisation experience a breach of trust, the organisation cannot return to its foundation. Debretsion had already made serious errors that could not be easily reversed. He must resign or be removed from office, and we must start from scratch by choosing a new leader. There can no longer be an excuse to support or sympathise with such mercenaries who have put Eritrea’s interest first at the expense of our blood and sweat. This is a call to fight fire with fire and to stand for Tigrai.