[From: A Week in the Horn of Africa, Oct. 7, 2011 issue.] 

Mutual back-scratching by President Isaias and his supporters 

As part of his efforts at thwarting the United Nations Security Council’s deliberations on tightening the sanctions already imposed on Eritrea, President Isaias Afeworki for the first time in a decade has been making a considerable effort to give diplomacy another try. It wasn’t really such a surprise to those who watch the behaviour of the regime in Asmara and its leaders. When things get tough, they are quick to drop their empty bravado and produce shrill cries for mercy. The transition from a defiant anti-west diatribe into soft-spoken, well-meaning, sweet-talking deflection is no more than the difference between the international community’s indifference to, or getting serious about, Eritrea’s more unwholesome adventures.

As part of the process, President Isaias has been busy running around diplomatic circles in New York in what amounted to a frantic effort to deflect the attention of the world, and indeed of his own people, from the real danger his regime poses to the Horn of Africa. It has hardly been a success but President Isaias himself was apparently compensated by the turnout of his supporters to greet the ‘dear leader’ in New York. In fact, considering the level of opposition the President has been facing in recent years the turnout was quite surprising. Much subdued compared to the organized excesses of yesteryear, it seemed to surprise President Isaias himself, but he was emboldened by the presence of a large crowd wearing t-shirts with his image to wave away all the problems his regime is facing.

He told the audience he was not in the least worried about sanctions, and had not bothered to discuss them with any of the leaders he had met at the UN. He took care not to give any account of why he had been making these efforts to seek out leaders or why he had been so assiduously stalking the foreign ministers of countries like Vanatu. All smiles, he told his audience that with their support, he had no enemy to fear. He cheerfully denied there was any famine in Eritrea and reassured them there never would be. This was not because Eritrea had tons of gold but because his government had done a ‘wonderful job’ over the years. He didn’t need to specify – it was true because he said it. In another typical denial of reality, President Isaias spoke of the ‘monumental economic success’ that his government had registered. He made no attempt to explain why thousands of Eritreans were leaving their country every year or why Eritrea was the largest per capita producer of refugees in the world. He pointed to what he called the unique quality of Eritrea, which more than made up for its small numbers. It was the "Quality of people, not their numbers" that mattered. "One Eritrean" according to President Isaias’ arithmetic is "ten times as capable as any other people." The audience laughed and applauded.

President Isaias was not so pleased by the nearly complete absence of young faces in his audience. He sternly warned that the youth should be more responsible. They should not just wait idly by, freely enjoying the fruits of "the long struggle we made." Asked about the prospect of peace in the region and "the fact that Eritrea is the only island of peace" in a troubled neighbourhood, he graciously promised to try to bring peace to the region although he also told his audience that he thought things would get worse in "Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia." Given his past record that suggests he was indicating renewed resolve to continue with his destabilizing activities that have caused so many problems to the region over the last decade.

Response to questions also produced some vintage Isaias comments. Asked about the political atmosphere in Eritrea, he said that building democracy was a long and arduous process and that his government had plans to start some kind of democratization. He quickly added that he could not really put a definite timetable on this "for obvious reasons." He was in effect telling them once again that democracy was not one of his government’s priorities or indeed one of his intentions at any time. One questioner, praising President Isaias for working so hard in the cause of both urbanites and rural dwellers alike, and wondering how any single individual could serve his people so relentlessly and selflessly without  rest, wanted to know how the President found any time for sleep given his extraordinary schedule. The answer was unequivocal and revealing: "without exaggeration I sleep for 9 hours." It seems the President has no worries over which he loses sleep. He sleeps like a baby as it were. It hardly sounded like the leader of a nation which according to him has to fight with many enemies all at once. It seems his supporters, though small in number, are mighty enough to give him confidence, and indeed a good night’s sleep.

All told, President Isaias seems to have gone back home reassured, for the time being at least, that he can still count on more dollars from his supporters in North America, and continue to carry out the project of bringing more misery to the Eritrean people and to the region. As for his "diplomatic" overtures, the theatrical posturing and wearing suits were not enough to sway anybody.  Real changes of behaviour, not mere sartorial elegance, are his only way forward.

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