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An
Inspiring Seminar: Dr Bereket Habte Sellassie in London
London:
29 Aug 2003
Dr. Bereket Habte
Sellassie's seminar which was hosted by EHDR-UK on 23 Aug, 2003 was
conducted successfully. The hall was packed and the audience welcomed him
with a standing ovation.
By taking stock of current
realities, Dr Bereket shared his views with the London public on
Eritrea's unfulfilled promises and on what the future may hold. The theme of his presentation was
on 'Constitutional Government as the basis of Stability and Development'. The subject matter was a blow to
the government's 'new' development economics, which is being propped up
by the new ministry - Ministry of National Development. Dr Bereket argued that it is
unlikely that such development plans will function as they lack the
essential foundations. Convincingly, he showed how lack of a
constitutional government is presenting a major impediment to Eritrea's
national progress.
'A constitution is a
manifestation of the essence of a nation' Dr Bereket argued. He mentioned that Eritrea has a
ratified constitution, which has been shelved since 1997, and which, if
implemented, could provide a conducive environment for development, democracy,
and social justice.
After describing the five
pillars of constitution, which are unity (stability), democracy,
development, rule of law and social justice, he went on to divide his
title into three sub-headings - democracy and its challenges, strong
government and rule of law, national development and justice. He pointed
out that those three divisions must be at the heart of nation's life. He
argued that a nation-state without a constitution, in other words,
without the above-mentioned pillars is destined to fail.
The seminar, as expected,
gave the audience a chance to reflect on times when Eritreans had high
hopes for Eritrea's future and why Eritrea has taken the path it has in
recent years. There were
plenty of questions asked and the answers were to the audience’s
satisfaction. Dr Bereket reminded the public that all opposition forces
need to focus on the contents of the constitution and use it as a tool to
rally for change instead of disagreeing as to who wrote the constitution,
under what circumstances it was written and other issues presumed absent
from its articles. He stressed that accept-and-change approach can bring
us together and take us a long way.
We would like to take this
opportunity to thank Dr Bereket for taking time off from his busy
schedule to address the London public on such an important matter. We believe his visit has added a
new dimension to the struggle for human and democratic rights of our
citizens inside and outside the country. As Dr Bereket said it, the justification for human
rights in Eritrea is written in our martyrs’ blood.
Board of Directors
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