The Eritrean - Tigriyan love affair

It seems to me that Tigrayans have always had an important say in Eritrean politics, at least when it comes to the highlands. The Eritrean highlands was part of the Northern Abyssinian rule whose center was Tigray. The late Aboy Woldeab Woldemaraim who is dubbed by some highland scholars as the ‘Father of Eritrean independence’ was originally from Aksum in Tigray. He started his political career by advocating the ‘Unity of Tigray-Tigrinya’ that later developed into a call for Eritrean independence. He was a veteran who struggled for Eritrea’s independence and no one can deny he was, thus an Eritrean. Though both the ELF and the EPLF supported the Tigrayans armed struggle for self-determination to grow, The EPLF wouldn’t have been able to drive the ELF outside the field without the help of the TPLF. The EPLF would not have been able to survive the various Derg military offensive without a substantial help from the TPLF. Though the EPLF may have helped the TPLF in entering Addis, Eritrea’s independence would not have been recognised internationally without the recognition from TPLF and thus from EPRDF. We may have been like Somaliland. Even the Secretary General of the UN then, Boutros Boutros Ghali, an Egyptian was against Eritrea’s independence and the Ethiopian Government then told him to mind his own business.

Some of the important figures who run the show in Asmara, today, are of Tigrayan origin and today the regime depends on the Tigrayan opposition, the ‘Demhit’ for survival. The Eritrean opposition who are under the umbrella of ‘ENCDC’ for its part depends on the support of the TPLF/EPRDF. Some Eritreans blame the TPLF for paralyzing the ENCDC and for not doing enough to topple the regime in Asmara, while others blame the TPLF for meddling itself in the affairs of the country. Whether change comes from within or outside Eritrea; the new Government that results from it has to have good relations with Ethiopia.

The regime and its supporters are counting that Ethiopia is going to disintegrate and that will have a major say in the affairs of the country. One can ask, ‘Was it possible for the Ethiopian revolution to be successful without the support of the Eritrean revolution?  It is difficult to answer that, but Ethiopia is a big entity and you cannot rule out that it could have succeeded without Eritrea’s support.

Do you agree or disagree that Tigrayans still continue to play an important role in Eritrean politics?