THE ERITREAN LIBERATION
Political Program
10th National Congress 2019
Introduction:
The Eritrean revolution was not only a challenge to the Ethiopian occupation, but also a challenge to a conspiracy in which the strategic interests of the international powers in the Red Sea basin and the expansionist ambitions of its ally, Emperor Haile Selassie, were intertwined. In the midst of the battle for liberation, our people’s determination and legendary steadfastness proved that the liquidation of the Eritrean revolution militarily is out of the question, despite the great international support that the regime of the Emperor and The Derg has enjoyed on the military and political levels, and despite the media blackout imposed on our struggle in the past sixties century.
The Ethiopian emperor and his western allies planned to strike national unity and the rally of the people around the slogan of independence by creating sectarian strife. The project of we and our objectives ( Nihnan Ilamana) were in the context of that scheme. This sectarian group made its way through the path of subversion, exploiting the contradictions within the components of the Eritrean revolution. It ignited a civil war in alliance with non-Eritrean forces, which was aimed at eliminating the pillars of national unity established by the Eritrean Liberation Front and emptying the Eritrean revolution of its national contents and preparing the stage for the forces of exclusion and domination.
and a mid of the geopolitical variables in the region produced by the cold war, the calculations of the international force hostile to the aspirations of our people for national independence changed from the liquidation of the Eritrean revolution militarily to its deviation from its stated objectives by paving the way for that group to control and to control the Eritrean decision of its isolationist exclusionary project and the liberation of Eritrean territory on May 24, 1991, in favour of its narrow factional objectives, which blew up the homeland and the Eritrean citizens.
Despite the enormity of the tax road to independence, the Eritrean people passed through their peaceful struggle and armed revolution led by the martyr commander Hamed Idris Awate and his heroic companions a long and arduous road from the bloody struggle in which the dear spirits and bloodied, and despite the obstacles of the road that sometimes shook its national cohesion and drew a group of people from the homeland to confront the revolution , but our revolution and the skill of men have exceeded that requirement, and the Eritrean people, despite their small numbers and equipment, were able to record their historical impact with their heroic victory and to extract its national entity from the clutches of Ethiopian preoccupation colonialism, Throughout the process, the fighters and the people of the revolution dreamed and worked for a free state free of inequality and oppression of man for his fellow man, they dreamed of a state of justice and equality, and that noble dream was urging their footsteps and pushing them to advance the eternal September revolution, which was ignited by the Eritrean Liberation Front led by the martyred leader Idris Mohamed Adam,
The generations were following the joy sought by our Eritrean people to be independent and to have a place under the sun like all other peoples, a place where thepeople of all Eritrea live in justice, fairness and brotherhood, living in an atmosphere of freedom and human dignity that they have long missed during the Ethiopian era of colonialism, its bloody massacres and its widespread displacement of the people of the regions of the revolution, the incubator of the armed struggle and all of Eritrea, the dream was a state where there are no radical contradictions and with their common struggles the state of citizenship and national partnership will be born the democratic state of Eritrea, free for all its sons and its children.
It was the enthusiasm of the Eritrean masses and their joining with the revolution that made them urge their sons to join them and cite under their banners and bear the tax of the struggle for freedom and independence with all its cruelty, in fact, the Eritrean masses have endured their overcapacity by bearing the secretions of the secondary contradictions between the sons of the revolution with all the destructive behaviour that has reached the point of denying the other and seeking to eradicate it or its absence in the absence of prisons and prisons and was prosecuted by physical liquidation, and these un revolutionary and unpatriotic practices culminated in the deprivation of a large number of Eritrean people who sacrificed and displaced their rights and did not find fair compensation, Instead of seeking ways to compensate him for the long suffering, the punishment for those groups was to deprive them of their historical, humanitarian, legal and national right to return to their villages and cities from which they were displaced, and instead the regime put obstacles in the way of return, and practiced systematic exile policies came to the little that came back and was accompanied by the insolence of saying that these refugees are in their homeland (refugee camps in Sudan, Yemen and Djibouti), and these published conversations were an indication of the mentality of the regime’s politicians and a reflection of the predetermined intentions and policies
And the substitution and settlement described, which is still practiced in full swing, and with this approach divided the system of the sectarian elite climbing at the expense of the blood and the bodies of the martyrs society and the people of the revolution in Eritrea to an audience of oppressed, disadvantaged and oppressed, including the vast majority of the various components and trends of the Eritrean people, with these policies and declarations which describe the substitution and settlement, which is still practiced in full swing, and with this approach divided the system of the sectarian elite regime climbing at the expense of the blood and the bodies of the martyrs society and the people of the revolution in Eritrea who are oppressed, disadvantaged and recessive, including the vast majority of the various components and trends of the Eritrean people,in order not to realize the strengths of the oppressed, the unity of its purpose and its common interest in removing the authoritarian regime, it has become a victim of sedition and propaganda that has undermined its unity and cohesion.
The members of the intelligence services were artful in the mixing of contradictions and sow strife and confusion between the components to perpetuate the program of demographic change and change the demographic and cultural face of the various areas of Eritrean territories in the biggest betrayal of the struggles of the Eritrean people and the loyality of martyrs and the goals of the Eritrean revolution we are in front of an audience that is uprooted from its land, from its roots and another settles settel in the land of their brothers from the masses of the disadvantaged in the areas of asylum and internally displaced persons. It is indisputable that the practices of these sectarian elites have put the Eritrean people in the face of a project of strife and civil war, if they break out, god forbid, they will not remain and will not be excused, and therefore it is imperative that the militants see from now on the dangers of this incitement and work to ensure that they do not fall among our people, and this needs the concerted efforts of the fighters of the Eritrean Liberation Front and all the forces of revolution and national and democratic struggle.
Needless to say, this demographic change is taking place at the expense of the disadvantaged in the asylum areas in the worst tragic picture ever recorded in the history of the people’s revolutions.
The approach of demographic change and the arrest of thousands of freedom fighters and innocent unarmed citizens and destroyed even for a while their dream of the noble homeland , and the authority of our country has been dissolved by a sectarian elite that has carried out unjust and authoritarian policies that have divided the Eritrean people to a crowd of oppressed people and other masses using tools and pawns to implement the wishes of the people in demographic change, and this was the giving of those who do not deserve it.
So in the face of this tampering with the demographics and the manipulation of the rights of the original landowners, it is natural that there will be different reactions in its direction, content, intensity and regional, national, cultural and religious dimensions, which are the fruit and natural result of oppression, superiority and prejudice and a legitimate product of the behaviour of those who have taken over. They have become feudal princes who control the rights and destinies of citizens and commit the most heinous crimes against them without accountability and control, taking their titles in the phase of the war of liberation and the heroism and role of the People’s Army as a cover for the practice of these crimes against the people and the implementation of agendas that threaten national unity.
Therefore, we in the Eritrrean Liberation Front and in the face of the destructive policies of the sectarian elite regime, we affirm that stability, peace and national unity in Eritrea will be guaranteed by justice and true national partnership in power and wealth, and to remove the uneven injustice that has befallen many regions and national components and work to redress them.
The leading role of the Eritrean Liberation Front stems from the fact that it is the vanguard that ignited the revolution and awakened the Eritrean nationality and authorized the first political program emanating from the first conference in which the masses participate in the Eritrean arena, and It was the first force that indicated in its program the form of the democratic state hoped and the forces that should form it not only this, but the front was the force that defended firmly the rights and aspirations of the Eritrean people in freedom and faced the forces of the hake and its destructive projects, and the Front was the first to point out the seriousness of the solitary spirit and talked about the crises that will put it in the face of stability and the damage it will inflict on national unity.
The hallmark of the Eritrean reality today is the emergence of the demanding civil movements in which the Eritreans are increasingly engaged and which have begun to enter the scene of resistance against the exclusionary regime and its unpatriotic policies. Our people today are struggling from all walks of life to put an end to the militarization of society and the aggressive policies of the fanatic group faction and to eliminate the differences between Eritreans and the approach of demographic change, the systematic displacement of young people and the destruction of the Eritrean family.
What we note from the emergence of an active mass movement supporting the resistance project is important and should be taken care of and sponsored and open the horizons of work in front of it and expand coordination with the mass entities in order to more harmony and its harmony with the general line of struggle and protect it from the drift and conflict with the historical resistance of the tyrant regime because this is in addition to being an addition to the resistance movement of tyranny on the one hand, it is also a guarantor of the waste of energies and distraction of the tools of struggle in battles that are not yet timed on the other hand and if things go in coordination and harmony and work together While we can work on it, the regime will eventually completely lose its existence.
Our struggle in the Eritrean Liberation Front today is a struggle for Eritrean national unity based on national partnership and equality between Eritreans in rights and duties and in this sense it is a struggle for peace, social progress and coexistence between Eritreans.
To achieve these goals and purposes, we need to assemble the components and forces that have a real interest in change and need to gather national energies and to combine capabilities in the field of action on the ground, and that the Eritrean Liberation Front is an extension of a historical act made by the Eritreans, it is the appropriate arena and the militant base that is strengthened today to accelerate victory.
To achieve this act, we all need to overcome ourselves, our small things, our concerns, our ideas and the nature of our typical dealings, because the current phase, its nature and its circumstances compel us to strive to put the concept of the Eritrean Liberation Front (a broad struggle tool) into effect and fully representative to make it a national project and a struggling trench that accommodates all the people of the country through which they seek together to extract their rights and build a homeland of justice, equity and freedom. This path (front for all Eritreans) is in terms of a logical concept of the term “front” in the first place, and on the other hand it is imposed today urgently by the reality and requirements of the struggle for freedom and justice and the need to accelerate the removal of dictatorship
The current phase of our struggle for a homeland that accommodates all its people calls for the framework of struggle that regulates the energies and efforts of the Eritreans (a real picture in theory and practice) for this understanding, and therefore we are advancing and calling through this program everyone to assume their historical responsibilities towards the Eritrean Liberation Front.
The Eritrean Liberation Front is not merely a desire and wishes isolated from the act, but in fact a struggling institution that anyone who believes in the righteousness of its people and works with it is entitled to the honour of belonging to it. In this sense, for more than 60 years, it has been a framework of struggle for all the Eritrean people, representing their wishes without exception, absorbing their energies without exception, and fighting with them for a homeland for all.
Therefore, its character rejects any attempt to assign it to one social group without another, own it for one generation without another, or to allocate it or inherit it independently of the militant act associated with it. In this sense, it is a trust in the necks of the loyal militants who carry it a sincere and ambitious struggle project towards the dawn of getting rid of the injustice that has been prevailing on the homeland for three hundred years despite the defeat of the foreign occupation.
We say that the protection of this project and its central contents is the responsibility of the people of Eritrea in general and the fighters of the front generation after generation who protected it with their blood, souls and money and sacrificed precious and precious to keep its essence of struggle and its open visions and prevent its character and distortion through profiling and cramming it into molds that contradict its essence, which remained a tent for all Eritreans
And a crucible for their interaction in which all their efforts, abilities and creativity are fused, taking into account in the past that attempts to empty them of the basic features mentioned above and to restrict their power and inclusion and openness and representation of all the people of the country with all their social, cultural, religious and intellectual components, a front free from all the constraints of narrow view is the responsibility of the bearers of our national project today, allowing future generations to receive a sound front flag and free from diseases. and able to withstand storms and able to achieve the legitimate goals and objectives of our people.
We affirm that we in the Eritrean Liberation Front are fighting to establish in Eritrea a democracy that depends in its means, methods, behaviour and approach on a peaceful circulation of power and work for a constitution that guarantees the rights of all Eritreans and discusses in the atmosphere of equality and freedom, a constitution that is agreed upon. We seek a constitution that guarantees the rights of all Eritreans in recognition of human dignity and the right of society as a whole and its members. With a safe life, and the will of the Eritrean people expressed by free election is the source of the government’s authority.
The Eritrean Liberation Front believes that our Eritrean people, who blew up the revolution and have shouldered with honour the consequences of the armed struggle, deserve to be honoured on their land under a state and a democratic system, the first and last word in which this valiant people, democracy, freedom and established rights, are the least equivalent of their efforts and sacrifices during 50 years of struggle for independence and against tyranny.
We are confident that our people, who defeated the catchy colonialism, are able to take away their rights to life in freedom, dignity and save their country and future from the absurdity of the authoritarian sectarian elite, which has been abused and even damaged by the citizen’s relationship with the homeland and the relationship of the people with each other for three decades.
In light of these new circumstances and the great dangers it represents and those created by the authoritarianism of the sectarian elite group, the National Congress of the 10th year of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) adopted the following political program as the focus of our struggle at this stage, in addition to the documents adopted by the conference depicting the front for the end of Isaias era.
principles and objectives:
First: General principles:
1- The struggle to overthrow the ruling sectarian elite regime in Eritrea.
2. Work to build a democratic state that accommodates all.
3. Promoting freedom and justice, rejecting terrorism, political, social and religious exclusion, and all forms of discrimination, unilateralism, domination and cultural assimilation.
4 Arabic and Tigrinya are the official national languages of Eritrea.
5. To emphasize the important of Eritrea the African continent and to the Arab world.
6.The struggle to establish freedom of thought, belief, opinion, expression, movement and ownership.
7. Addressing the regime’s policies related to demographic change and land issues and working to restore the land to its original owners.
Second: The objectives that the organization seeks to achieve at the level of the state and authority:
1. The ELF fights for a just state that preserves human life, removes injustice from its burden and provides opportunities for a decent life for its children.
2. Establishing a state of law and establishing a constitutional life in the country.
3. Establishing a republican system of government adopts direct election from the people.
3. Working for the establishment of a decentralized regional system of government in the country.
4. Limit the presidential cycle to two periods on a condition of a row.
5. We seek to establish a system based on pluralism and peaceful transfer of power through free elections.
6. The organization struggles to establish and organize a capable administrative body.
7. The ELF is working to establish an independent judicial system that is equal to citizens.
9. The struggle to care for human rights and the simplest freedoms.
10. constitutes an independent national body for the general elections in the country.
Third: The objectives of the organization in the field of defence and security:
1. The Eritrean Liberation Front is fighting to form a national army capable of protecting the country and its sovereignty and maintaining its democratic system and political pluralism with complete neutrality.
2.We are fighting for the establishment of a native force that reflects the Eritrean community in its structure.
3. The establishment of an army that protects the country and its stability and contributes to the establishment of security and internal peace.
4.Service in the armed forces is the duty and honour of Eritrean citizens and its duration is determined by law.
5. The central role of the armed and regular forces in protecting the homeland, defending its integrity, respecting citizens, protecting the choice of the people and democratic entitlement.
6. The ELF is working to build a national security apparatus that protects the state and respects democracy and freedom of human rights.
7. The establishment of police forces to monitor the security and safety of the country and the citizen and work in compliance with the legal, moral and humanitarian rules.
Fourth: The objectives of the organization in the economic field:
1. The people have all the sources of wealth in the country and the state and the government work to employ them for their own benefit.
2. The establishment of a national bank that issues the national currency and establishes monetary and financial policies in the country.
3. Develop a national program for balanced socio-economic development and develop the content of work and economic activity its circumstances, purposes, conditions and environment. 10
4. Radical renewal of the economics of the Eritrean society and the application of the colours of its historical economic activity diverse grazing agriculture fishing trade.
5. Rational investment of all the country’s resources and directing its revenue to the benefit of the people
6. Following scientific methods in fishing and agriculture, improving the use of land, linking agriculture to livestock production, strengthening the feed base, seeking self-sufficiency in food crops and developing cooperative partnerships.
7. Strengthening citizens’ participation in planning and managing economic activities.
8. Reducing the difference between the city and the countryside.
9. Following a financial system of financing and lending based on the idea of non-profit self-financing based on the values governing society in the financial aspects and diversity of dealing with forms of banks.
10. Solving the housing problems resulting from the destruction and displacement that have affected the country and its people and working to ensure that every eritrean family live in a decent and comfortable home, whether in cities or rural areas, taking into account the needs of the population, their economic lifestyle, climate and environment, and working on the principle of justice, participation and equity.
11. In its political activity in Eritrea, the ELF takes into account social diversity and the resolution of national problems between the Eritrean components by peaceful and democratic means and in the interest of the oppressed.
12. The believes in balanced economic policies that achieve the development and development of strategic economic sectors such as mineral wealth, agricultural and industrial projects, energy resources and marine resources.
13. Organizing and rationalizing the exploitation of the maritime revolution.
14. Developing livestock and developing and securing veterinary care and working to improve the living and stability of pastoralists.
15. Prospecting for underground wealth and operating gold and marble mines and using the expertise of brotherly and friendly countries.
16. Attention to manufacturing industries and rehabilitation and providing the necessary support and facilities for them. Encouraging cooperatives in productive, consumer and service projects.
18. Interest in tourism and historical sites as a source of national income.
19. Establishing a road network connecting Eritrean cities with each other and to working areas and neighbouring countries. The revitalization and modernization of the railway and the construction of modern airports, land ports and communications and development and rehabilitation of seaports .
20. Following a customs policy that is appropriate to the requirements of national development.
21. Allocating 5% of the proceeds of the wealth discovered to the benefit of the region in which it was discovered.
22. The organization works to establish laws for national and foreign investments in order to benefit and not affect national sovereignty.
23. The state compensates private property that is in the public interest for a rewarding and fair compensation.
24. Develop an educational strategy that will help human development
Fifth: the objectives of the organization in the social and cultural policies.
1. Educate the Eritrean citizen in the spirit of faith, justice, fairness, altruism, loyalty to the homeland, respect for the values and creed of the people, their diversity, democratic choices, and acceptance of the other as he sees himself as he is.
2. Preparing well-educated and educated citizens who are able to perform mental and physical work and work effectively in various aspects of economic and social life.
3. Applying the principle of compulsory education to the secondary level.
4.The school’s mission is to educate students who believe in the love of the homeland, cooperation and respect for adults, families and teachers, and to involve students in the management of school affairs and to increase the suspense factor.
5. The adoption of multi-purpose vocational schools and short-term studies to graduate cadres that address the urgent need of society and focus on political maturity and organizational and administrative experience.
6. Expanding evening education and correspondence and opening up all prospects for people to increase achievement and motivate those who rise in the educational ladder from workers in various activities.
7. Formulating curricula in accordance with the requirements, culture and values of society
8. Bridging the gap in education between cities and rural areas.
9. Encouraging kindergartens to instill the principles of pre-school education
10. Build hospitals and clinics, raise health awareness and fight harmful habits
11.The struggle to involve women in public life and equal equality with men in wages for similar work with regard to motherhood and childhood and privacy.
12. Setting the maximum working hours by eight hours a day and establishing a law on social security, pension, retirement, compensation for work injuries, attention to occupational health and safety, payment of wages for holidays, events and annual vacations, taking care of the family as the nucleus of society and taking care of maternity and child programs.
13. Promoting physical sports and securing sites for the construction of sports and social clubs
Sixth: Goals of the front in the field of culture and media:
1. The ELF is fighting for freedom of expression, thought opinion Journalism and publications.
2. Encouraging and supporting the writing of Eritrean history and national and struggle experience objectively, honestly and scientifically.
3. Promoting positive elements in cultural diversity in order to strengthen national unity.
4- Documenting the heroic epics that our people have written for freedom and linking modern generations to the glorious past of their ancestors.
5- Encouraging the study of heritage and values and the development of research and studies centres
Seventh: In the field of foreign relations
1. The ELF works to create relations of cooperation and friendship with countries, parties, popular organizations and trade union organizations in the world on the basis of mutual respect
2. Building advanced and distinguished bilateral and collective relations with neighbouring countries.
3. Building external relations based on the interest of the nation and the people and on the principle of positive cooperation with countries
4. Cooperation with neighbouring countries in establishing stability in order to serve the development of the region.
5. Respecting the choices of peoples and pursuing a policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of countries.
6. Contributing to security and serving peace in the region and the world.
7. Belonging to international and regional organizations and their specialized bodies in the service of the Eritrean people and the humanitarian interest.
the Eritrean Liberation Front
( E.L.F.)
