Meles vs Isayas “Border Demarcation” Games

By Dr. Tolossa Gofta Kassane
March 12, 2003

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The issue of Ethio-Eritrea boundary demarcation is being played up for
whatever it is worth. When the Hague Commission’s ruling was announced,
many
of us said the deal behind Ethiopians’ back would not hold and is
groundless.

For the first time ever since the TPLF/EPLF’s ascendancy,
Ethiopians came together to reject the ruling by the Boundary
Commission in
the Hague. Among many others, I commented that the Commission’s ruling
is
not implementable as it is based on negotiation between two ruling
cliques
who stand for the same objective — the weakening of the Ethiopian state
and OF
her sovereignty!

By Ethiopian, once again, I refer to all Ethiopians,
including those who live in Eritrea. I also said that the so called the
‘border war’ was the symptom of what was wrong as pursued by the TPLF
and
EPLF rather than an invasion of one sovereign state’s territory by
another
one. This was based on the consideration of the oneness and of the
inherent
mutuality between Eritrea and Ethiopia that cannot be put asunder by
the
whims of the liberation front leaders who have no legitimacy.

With the above stated as the background to the current crisis reported
below, it is worth noting a new dimension to TPLF VERSUS EPLF power
politics. For Meles, Isayas is a ‘spent force’, but Eritrea is an
enduring
commitment. Hence, Meles/Bereket’s machination to organize Eritrean
fronts
under Teddla Bahiru’s stewardship. To achieve the objective of the
Eritrean
state’s independence, Meles&co would play any and every card, including
that
of wanting to include Badme within Ethiopia as Badme can be used to
marginalize the broader concerns regarding Ethiopia’s sea access and
the
issue of Afars’ wishes.

For Isayas, it is ‘finishing off’ his long term dream of leaving behind
an
independent Eritrea with ‘fixed boundaries.’ Once demarcation is
finished
with, Isayas would like to effect a confederation with Ethiopia, with
all
his ill-gotten gains intact to show to his detractors that he is not a
sell-out Christian with roots from Tigray in Ethiopia as fanatics of
the
Teddla Bahiru&co brand wish to portray him, being assisted by the
Eritrean
State’s agents in Addis.

Interestingly and paradoxically enough, both Isayas and Meles hope that
Eritrea can be maintained at the expense of Ethiopia. Given this
artificial
environment in which Meles and Isayas operate, the so called the
‘Ethio-Eritrea’ conflict would not end without the passing away of its
‘founders’, the demise of the ethno-apartheid system in Ethiopia and
its
replacement by an all-inclusive democratic system of governance.

What Ethiopia and Eritrea need is a ”convergence” between people
under a
democratic order, not physical delineation of the inseparable
entities – Ethiopia and Eritrea!
Therefore, democrats in both ‘countries’ should work for the phase post
the
‘two’ regimes. This is the only realistic road map!

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