Eritrea is a country found in the East of Africa and is bordered with Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan and also has a coast along the Red Sea, where it also owns a few islands, facing Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The country’s capital Asmara, also called Asmera is located in the Eritrean Highlands.
Way back the area that is Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia were made up of several kingdoms, with one of the first being the Kingdom of D’mt and then the Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, or also called the Aksumite Empire which was an ancient kingdom that took up what is much of modern-day Eritrea as well as a part of Ethiopia during the 1st or 2nd Century AD.
After the Aksumite Kingdom came the Middle Ages where parts of Eritrea came under different entities such as the Sultanate of Aussa and the Christian Kingdom of Medri Bahri and also the Ottomans conquering the northeast, making it a governorate called Habesh Eyalet.
In the last quarter of the 16th Century the Ottoman’s were driven out, although retained control of the seaboard until Italian Eritrea was established. During the Scramble for Africa lands in the area were sold to the Rubattino Shipping Company, which had been founded by the Italian entrepreneur and colonialist Raffaele Rubattino and the power struggle that opened up after the death of Emperor of Ethiopia Yohannes IV in 1889 gave the Italians the opportunity to occupy the highlands along the Eritrean coast which they did and established Italian Eritrea, a colony of the Kingdom of Italy.
The occupation was recognized by an Ethiopian King Menelik due to being a rival of the lands and also in exchange for financial aid and access to weapons and ammo from Europe. Menelik defeated his rivals and became Emperor of all Ethiopia, confirming the Treaty agreed with the Italians. Over the years the colony would be developed and people would be enlisted from it to fight in wars.
When Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy, things changed, including how the colony was governed and the land was merged with Italian Somaliland and the newly conquered Ethiopia and called Italian East Africa under the declared Italian Empire.
During World War II after the Battle of Keren in 1941 the Italians were expelled from Italian East Africa and Eritrea came under the administration of the British while the Allies tried to come to an agreement on its future.
During the 1950s Ethiopia laid claim to Italian Somaliland and Eritrea and sought to annex them. The United Nations debated over what to do, with the British and Americans wanting to cede most of Eritrea to Ethiopia thanks to their support in World War II while the Independence bloc of Eritrean Parties asked for a referendum to come to a decision over sovereignty.
Eventually a UN Resolution in December 1950 had Ethiopia and Eritrea join in a loose federation under the Ethiopian Emperor, with Eritrea having a degree of autonomy. But in the late 50s a liberation movement begun and made political moves against Ethiopian control and from 1961 a 30-years-long armed struggle begun, in 1962 the Emperor dissolved the Eritrean parliament and annexed the territory.
During the war for independence a civil war also broke out in Ethiopia, which was aided by Eritrean rebels in return for independence, helping them overthrow the Marxist-Leninist government in 1991 and a subsequent referendum supervised by the UN had Eritrea vote overwhelming for independence which was internationally recognized in 1993. Sadly though, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, a successor to the Eritrean Liberation Front, seized power and established a one-party nationalistic and (formerly Marxist-Leninist) dictatorship which has held no elections since independence, with the country being condemned for its lack of democracy and human rights abuses since. The party later became the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, a left-wing nationalist, secularist and socialist party.
The country does not have an official language but does have a number of national and recognised languages, such as Tigrinya, Beja, Tigre, Kunama, Saho, Bilen, Nara and Afar, many also speak Italian but it isn’t recognised as a national language. There are many ethnic groups in the country with the largest being the Tigrinya followed by the Tigre, making up 55% and 30% respectively, other ethnic groups are under 5%. The largest religion is Christianity but also has a large number following Islam. The country’s currency is the Nakfa. The country’s population, after dipping from the mid-90s until the early 2000s, is estimated to reach 6,081,196 by July 2020 according to the CIA World Factbook.
Government Type
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Although the constitution frames Eritrea as a presidential representative parliamentary democracy, it isn’t enforced and so the country is as of now ruled by a single-party presidential totalitarian dictatorship with no active democracy and a President who is both Head of State and Head of Government. Any other political parties are banned and thus the President has control over the legislative branch of Government. Outspoken critics in the country have been locked up and private media has been shut-down since 2001.
Although there is a National Assembly (unicameral parliament) it hasn’t met in session since 2002 with the President handling legislative matters absolutely. Although the country has a constitution, much of it is yet to still be implemented, if it ever will be and so although we are going over it, I’ll make sure to make notes on areas that are not currently active.
The Executive Government
So as said there is a President who is both head of State meaning they represent the country aboard in its diplomacy and foreign affairs and also Head of Government. The President has broad powers, although would be limited by the constitution if it were to be implemented fully.
Presidential Absence
If the Presidential office becomes permanently vacant then the Chairperson of the National Assembly is meant to become interim President for up to 30-days while a new President is elected by the National Assembly to serve the remainder of the term. It remains to be seen if such procedure would be followed in the event of this happening.
Presidential Duties
The President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces, which according to the constitution is a Defence Force, meaning not meant to be used for invasion or operations abroad. The President appoints high ranking members of the Armed and Security forces.
The President is meant to deliver an annual speech to the National Assembly on the state of the country and policies of Government, which clearly has not been happening.
Declare State of Emergency or Martial Law when required, which is meant to be approved by the National Assembly.
Meant to ensure the execution of laws and resolutions by the National Assembly, which would only be possible if it were put into session.
Negotiate and sign international agreements which are then meant to be approved by the National Assembly.
The President appoints members of his Cabinet and also Public Office such as ministers, commissioners, Auditor-General, Governor of the National Bank, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and any other positions required by the constitution or laws. All these appointments are meant to be approved by the National Assembly, which again clearly isn’t happening as of now and it is unclear if all offices are even appointed.
The President presides over meetings of the Cabinet and coordinates its actions. The Cabinet members are responsible to the President on their actions within their ministries and departments and if the National Assembly were active, they would be collectively responsible in their actions towards them.
The President can also establish or dissolve government ministries and departments seen as necessary for effective governance of the Nation, which is meant to be done in consultation with the Public Service Administration.
Appoints Justices of the Supreme Court, on proposal of the Judicial Service Commission and of which are meant to be approved by the National Assembly, we can only assume that the President is simply directly appointing the Justices as of now, or if the Commission does exist it will be in the absolute advantage of the President as its organization, powers and duties are determined by law which is currently absolutely controlled by the President with no functioning National Assembly.
Appoints judges of the lower courts, again meant to be on proposal of the Judicial Service Commission but we can likely assume that is not happening.
Appoints and receives ambassadors and diplomatic representatives.
The President can reprieve offenders and grant pardon or amnesty.
The President can remove any person appointed by them.
State of Emergency
During extraordinary circumstances such as public safety or the security and stability of the State or if threatened by war, external invasion, civil disorder or natural disaster the President can proclaim a State of Emergency. The constitution states that the resolution must get a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly to come into force, if approved it will be active for six months and can keep being extended for three months at a time via two-thirds majority votes in the National Assembly, a two-thirds vote can also extend the term, for no more than 6-months, of the National Assembly during this time. Obviously, we can assume that if the President were to declare a State of Emergency it would likely be just by decree rather than any approval as the Assembly hasn’t been in session since 2002, unless of course the President does decide to summon the parliament, being that it is totally stacked by the President’s party members and appointees, they would quite easily win.
The constitution goes on to say that the National Assembly can vote to end a State of Emergency at any time and there are safeguards that protect suspension of important Articles, prevents granting of pardon or amnesty to anyone, acting under the authority of the State, who has committed illegal acts. It also prevents introduction of martial law when there is no external invasion or civil disorder. All of this can now be taken with a large grain of salt.
The Legislative Government
The legislative government is meant to be made up by the country’s unicameral National Assembly which has 150-members, but there has not been an election for it since 1993 and it has not been called into session since 2002 and so practically all legislative matters since then have been handled exclusively by decree of the President.
If the National Assembly worked how it is supposed to it would have the power to enact laws and pass resolutions for peace, stability, development and social justice of the nation. It is also meant to approve the annual state budget and enact tax laws as well as ratify international agreements. It would also have the power to approve government borrowing as well as approving a state of war, peace or state of emergency. The National Assembly would oversee the execution of laws it has passed.
The National Assembly would also elect the country’s President as well. The National Assembly would also have powers to impeach or both impeach and charge the President for constitutional offences via a two-thirds majority vote, which in the case of being convicted would likely lead to removal from office, removal of office would also be possible for being declared by the National Assembly as mentally or physically incapable.
The Parliament would be able to set up and elect committees for it to function as stated in the constitution. Such committees would also have powers to summon anyone before them to answer questions or submit documents.
A Chairperson (or President) would overlook the National Assembly, elected by its members via absolute majority for 5-years, they would be in charge of calling sessions, presiding over them and making sure internal rules are followed, they would also have a casting vote in the event of a tie. Outside of sessions will coordinate and supervise the committees and Secretariat. The Chairperson/President can be replaced via a vote of absolute majority.
Emergency meetings would be able to be called either by the Chairperson, President of the Nation or by a one-third vote of the National Assembly’s members.
Legislation and resolutions passed by the National Assembly would be submitted to the President of the Nation to be signed into law.
The Electoral System
Presidential elections are meant to happen every 5-years, although they would be done via the National Assembly, with its members electing a President from among themselves via an absolute majority. This has yet to happen since 1993. Candidates are meant to be nominated by at least 20% of members to qualify.
A single person is not supposed to hold office for more than two terms (10-years).
Parliamentary elections are meant to be held every 5-years and half of its members (75) represent the country’s only party, who are elected by its members. The other 75 members are meant to be appointed by the President, many of whom are supposed to be elected by the populace. The constitution claims that once a transition period is over all members will be elected by the populace who are eligible to vote. Elections were originally scheduled for 2001 but were postponed due to a war with Ethiopia and no elections have yet been rescheduled, despite the war having officially ended and peace agreed in 2018, there had been no fighting since 2000.
Although there hasn’t been an election since 1993, the constitution states that all Eritrean citizens who are at least 18-years-old can vote.
Sources
The source for this blogpost comes from the Eritrea’s 1997 constitution (constituteproject.org) and so should be as accurate as possible but it must be kept in mind that the constitution has not been entirely implemented and the country is currently run in a totalitarian-styled fashion. Also keep in mind that things may have been missed or misinterpreted and that also the constitution can be changed or things can change so that eventually this post may become outdated and so cross-research is important if reading this in a serious capacity.
Sources on population from Eritrea entry on CIA World Factbook.
According to the constitution, it can be amended at the proposal of the President or by at least one-half of the members of the National Assembly. Passage requires an initial three-quarters vote in the National Assembly and then after one-year final passage requires a four-fifths majority vote by the National Assembly. Of course, under current conditions it isn’t known if this procedure would be followed how it should be.
Next up will be the government system of Estonia.
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