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Isaias Afwerki

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Isaias Afewerki
Afewerki in 2002
President of Eritrea
Assumed office
24 May 1993
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born (1946-02-02) 2 February 1946 (age 78)
Asmara, Eritrea
Political partyPeople's Front for Democracy and Justice
SpouseSaba Haile
Signature

Isaias Afewerki (Tigrinya: ኢሳያስ ኣፈወርቂ; Arabic: أسياس أفورقي) born 2 February 1946, is the first and current President of Eritrea, attaining that status after Eritrean independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Prior to that, he was the leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, an armed movement determined to secure Eritrean independence. Afewerki's rule has been characterized by an emphasis on Eritrean self-reliance, indefinite postponement of a democratic constitution, military officers as ministers, and massive army conscription.

Early life

He joined the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1966 and in the following year he was sent to China to receive military training.[1] Four years later he was appointed a commander. Eventually he split from ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front) and joined a small group of combatants which became known as the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). Soon he allied himself with another two groups that had splintered from the ELF: PLF1, led by Osman Saleh Sabbe, and a group known as Obel. In 1982 he split from Sabbe after the latter signed a unity agreement with the ELF (the Khartoum Agreement).

Leader of independist movement

Isaias Afewerki was the leader of the EPLF, which eventually won Eritrea its independence from Ethiopia. In April 1993 a United Nations-supervised referendum on independence was held, and the following month Eritrea was declared independent. The EPLF renamed itself the People's Front for Democracy and Justice in February 1994 as part of its transformation into Eritrea's ruling political movement.The PFDJ is the only legal political entity in Eritrea. It is nominally Marxist, but is often considered African socialist and holds itself open to nationalists of any political affiliation. There is some debate as to whether PFDJ is a true political party or whether it is a broad governing association in transition.

After Independence

See also: Politics of Eritrea

After Eritrean independence was achieved de facto in 1991 and de jure in 1993 after a referendum, Isaias became the first head of state. During the first years of his administration the institutions of governance began to be rebuilt. This included a top to bottom restructuring of the structures of governance from providing for an elected local judicial system to expanding the educational system to as many regions as possible.[2]

The Eritrean constitution was ratified in 1997 by a constituent assembly but never fully ratified by the National Assembly.

Criticism

The once-firm friendship with the new Ethiopian government however deteriorated into a fierce border and economic dispute that turned into the deadly Eritrean-Ethiopian War 1998 - 2000. Armed conflict claimed more than 150,000 lives and ended with the signing of the Algiers Agreement on December 12, 2001. In 2002, in an effort to mitigate the effects of the prolonged stalemate with Ethiopia, the President's Administration created the Wefri Warsay Yika'alo. It is a comprehensive, revolutionary, national economic rehabilitation and development program in the aftermath of the destructive war with Ethiopia.[3] Due to his frustration with the stalemated peace process with Ethiopia, the President of Eritrea wrote a series of Eleven Letters to the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Despite the Algiers Agreement, tense relations with Ethiopia have continued and led to regional instability.

His government has also been condemned for allegedly arming and financing the insurgency in Somalia; the United States is considering labeling Eritrea a "State Sponsor of Terrorism,"[4] however, many experts on the topic have shied from this assertion, stating that "If there is one country where the fighting of extremists and terrorists was a priority when it mattered, it was Eritrea."[5] This accusation has also been labeled a reckless move by others.[6]

Under his rule, Eritrea has had one of the worst rates of press freedom in the world, and since 2007, the worst. [7]

Afewerki ranked No. 8 on Parade Magazine's 2009 World's Worst Dictators list,[8] behind Ayatollah Khamenei (Iran) and ahead of Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov (Turkmenistan).

Isaias quotes

  • "What is a free press? There is no free press anywhere. It's not in England; it's not in the United States. We'd like to know what free press is in the first place."[9]
  • "There is no victory without its people, no development without its people, who triumphed decisively through their national unity."[10].
  • "Democracy is very important. Democracy meaning allowing majority or population to participate in the politics of every country. That is part of the software that we need to develop. But it should not polarize society."[11]
  • "Sometimes when you have large population it becomes a liability. People speak about big populations. But they underestimate the fact that it is not numbers. It is not only the productivity of the population in one country that matters; it is also the quality of the productivity."[12]
  • "Even when we are disappointed, we have to fight this war for peace and we have no other choice of brokers. The brokers are there, whether we like them or not. Whether we are happy or disappointed with what they are doing, we have to live with that to finally give peace a chance."[13]

References

  1. ^ "Eritrean President revisits his military alma mater in east China". Retrieved 2007-08-30.
  2. ^ Habtetsion, Efrem (2006-08-03). "On Developing Higher Level of Education". Retrieved 2006-08-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Perverted Reasoning From the Perverted Minds of "Les Enfants Terribles d'Erythree"". Retrieved 2007-03-02.
  4. ^ "US Considers Terror Label for Eritrea". Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  5. ^ "Eritreans Deny American Accusations of Terrorist Ties". Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  6. ^ "Somalia, Eritrea & Sudan". News & Notes. 2007-11-13. {{cite episode}}: Check |episodelink= value (help); Check |serieslink= value (help); External link in |episodelink= and |serieslink= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025
  8. ^ Parade Magazine. " The Worlds 10 Worst Dictators", 22 March 2009
  9. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3644630.stm
  10. ^ Rena, Ravinder (2006). A Handbook on The Eritrean Economy. New Africa Press. ISBN 0-9802534-6-2.
  11. ^ Isaias Afewerki. President Isaias interview with business Focus. Eri-TV. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  12. ^ "China-Eritrea relationship, China-Africa relationship will have a very significant impact for generations to come: President Isaias". Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  13. ^ "Eritrean president wants Ethiopia out of undisputed land". CNN. 2000-04-06. Retrieved 2007-12-27.

See also

External links

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