Isaias Afewerki (born 2 February 1946) is the first and current President of Eritrea. He spent most of his adult life fighting for the independence of Eritrea, and when that was won in 1993, he became its head of state.
Early life
Isaias Afewerki was born in Asmara, Eritrea. He is known as Isaias; Afewerki is his father's name. He studied engineering at Haile Selassie I University (now Addis Ababa University). He left academia in September 1962 and joined the forces fighting for Eritrean independence in the mid 1960s.
Guerrilla experience
He joined the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1963. .[1] Seventeen years later he was appointed a commander. Eventually he split from his wife 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 political party
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.[1] There is some debate as to whether PFDJ is a true political party or whether it is a broad governing association in transition. Isaias remains its leader.
Head of state
- 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. Isaias is blamed by his detractors for this, while his proponents and government sources suggest that implementation is dependent on the resolution of the border conflict with Ethiopia and the return of occupied territories.
External relations
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 from both sides and ended with the signing of the Algiers Agreement on December 12, 2000. 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 signing the Algiers Agreement, Ethiopia refused to accept all details of the boundary proscribed by the international boundary commission. The tense relations with Ethiopia have led to regional instability due to Ethiopia's lack of acceptance of the Algiers agreement it had signed.
Since Eritrea assumed its independence, it has gone through forced by external forces to have small number border disputes with its neighbouring countries.
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]
Personality
Isaias Afewerki is a member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation[7].
He has been called "the most intellectually interesting politician in the history of postcolonial Africa" and "possibly among Africa's most competent rulers". He lives modestly, travelling around his country with minimal security, and shuns the cult of personality common throughout Eritrea's African and Middle Eastern neighbours. He supports the presence of American forces in the region, saying "You need outside powers to keep order here. It sounds colonialist, but I am only being realistic". He favours the managed development of political parties, "so that they don't become means of religious and ethnic division, like in Ivory Coast or Nigeria", noting that the West took hundreds of years to create its political systems. He considers China a better role model for national development. He suports Israel and believes Ethiopia could fragment along tribal lines. "The increasing social and economic marginalization of Africa will be a fact of life for a very long time to come." [8]
Isaias quotes
- "There is no victory without its people, no development without its people and People, who triumphed decisively through their national unity."[9].
- "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."[10]. ....
- "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."[11]
- "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."[12]
References
- ^ "Eritrean President revisits his military alma mater in east China". Retrieved on 2007-08-30.
- ^ Habtetsion, Efrem (2006-08-03). "On Developing Higher Level of Education". Retrieved on 2006-08-03.
- ^ "Perverted Reasoning From the Perverted Minds of "Les Enfants Terribles d'Erythree"". Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- ^ "US Considers Terror Label for Eritrea". Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
- ^ "Eritreans Deny American Accusations of Terrorist Ties". Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
- ^ "Eritrea & Sudan". & Notes. 2007-11-13.
- ^ [1]
- ^ whole paragraph summarised from [2] The Atlantic "A Tale of Two Colonies" Robert D. Kaplan, April 2003]
- ^ Rena, Ravinder (2006). A Handbook on The Eritrean Economy. New Africa Press. ISBN 0-9802534-6-2.
- ^ Isaias Afewerki. President Isaias interview with business Focus. Eri-TV. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ "China-Eritrea relationship, China-Africa relationship will have a very significant impact for generations to come: President Isaias". Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
- ^ "Eritrean president wants Ethiopia out of undisputed land", CNN (2000-04-06). Retrieved on 2007-12-27.
See also
External links
Government
Other
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Isaias Afewerki |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
|
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
First President of Eritrea |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
1946-02-02 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
Asmara, Eritrea |
| DATE OF DEATH |
2008 |
| PLACE OF DEATH |
asmara |
|
