1. The off-on interview w/President Isaias Afwerki (PIA) finally surfaced and lived up to its tradition of being at once boring & infuriating. His idea of answering a question is to re-define the question in droning, long-winded, way.

#Eritrea #Ethiopia

#EritreaPIAInterview
2. If u want to know if these are interviews w journalists or indoctrination sessions: just watch the body language of the interviewers: they look like they are one wrong word, one phone call away from being sent to Eira Eiro prison.

#Eritrea #Ethiopia
#EritreaPIAInterview
3. Timing: why did Isaias Afwerki, who skipped his customary annual end-of-year & Fenkel interview hold his talk now, more than 100 days of war next door later? Does the narrative need to be reshaped? Is this the beginning not the end?

#Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
4. This was not a “victory lap” interview his cult of personality (domestic & foreign) were looking for: it was the usual Ted Talks of “Isaias Explains The World”, with himself as the embattled hero cursed with the Prophet’s Burden.

#Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
5. In many ways, his 2021 talk gives 1998 vibes: now as then, he is shocked, shocked I tell ya, of war in (not with) #Ethiopia. Not only did he not expect it, nobody could have expected the #TPLF (janda, junta, etc) to be so foolish!

#Eritrea #Ethiopia
#EritreaPIAInterview
6. Yes nobody expected this war. It is perfectly normal to have the inauguration of “Friendship Park” become a showcase for military flexing as it was in Addis Abeba on September 10. Does that happen everywhere in the world?

#Eritrea #Ethiopia
#EritreaPIAInterview
6. Yes nobody expected this war. It is perfectly normal to have the inauguration of “Friendship Park” become a showcase for military flexing as it was in Addis Abeba on September 10. Does that happen everywhere in the world? #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
6. Yes nobody expected this war. It is perfectly normal to have the inauguration of “Friendship Park” become a showcase for military flexing as it was in Addis Abeba on September 10. Does that happen everywhere in the world? #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
7. It’s perfectly normal for your PM to inspect military readiness of his neighbor, a neighbor who has been cursing & predicting end of a local govt, & to invite him to inspect your readiness These are normal events that happen everywhere. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
7. It’s perfectly normal for your PM to inspect military readiness of his neighbor, a neighbor who has been cursing & predicting end of a local govt, & to invite him to inspect your readiness These are normal events that happen everywhere. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
7. It’s perfectly normal for your PM to inspect military readiness of his neighbor, a neighbor who has been cursing & predicting end of a local govt, & to invite him to inspect your readiness These are normal events that happen everywhere. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
8. It’s perfectly normal to relay a msg to your people, in their local language, advising them whom to elect & whom to retire in their next election. PS you say: it’s illegal election & you are more than capable of militarily stopping it.

#Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
9. Per IA & Abiy, 2+ years of taunting “GameOverWeyane” by Isaias & accommodating Abiy could not have, or should not have, given the #TPLF any reason to believe war is imminent and then pursue the logic of war: disable the biggest target. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
10. In 1998 we were shown Isaias-Meles letters as exculpatory evidence for Isaias that skirmish Isaias started was a total shock to Isaias, now we are being told that his visit with Debretsion was to ask why the #TPLF is marching to war. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
11. As to the question the world has asked and answered—is #Eritrea involved in the #Tigray War? Is it committing war crimes? What happened to the #Eritrean refugees—again: these are the interviewers. Those questions were not even asked. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
12. Squaring #TPLF is defeated forever w/absence of peace & stability in Tigray is hard? Isaias has ideas for Abiy: “TPLF remnants” can only get you so far, try invoking usual baddies of external enemies of US UNSC, EU who never concede.
#Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
12. Squaring #TPLF is defeated forever w/absence of peace & stability in Tigray is hard? Isaias has ideas for Abiy: “TPLF remnants” can only get you so far, try invoking usual baddies of external enemies of US UNSC, EU who never concede. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
12. Squaring #TPLF is defeated forever w/absence of peace & stability in Tigray is hard? Isaias has ideas for Abiy: “TPLF remnants” can only get you so far, try invoking usual baddies of external enemies of US UNSC, EU who never concede. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
13. And this is the dilemma for @PMEthiopia: does he follow the path of Nobel Peace Prize Winner @AbiyAhmedAli or the Situation Room CCO in love with his war toys? Isaias has his preference but it usually leads to sanctions and isolation. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
13. And this is the dilemma for @PMEthiopia: does he follow the path of Nobel Peace Prize Winner @AbiyAhmedAli or the Situation Room CCO in love with his war toys? Isaias has his preference but it usually leads to sanctions and isolation. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
13. And this is the dilemma for @PMEthiopia: does he follow the path of Nobel Peace Prize Winner @AbiyAhmedAli or the Situation Room CCO in love with his war toys? Isaias has his preference but it usually leads to sanctions and isolation. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
14. The rest of Isaias Ted Talks is a rehash of everything he has said before. Reflecting his advancing age, he is narrating the same stories about Meles (mentioned twice), GERD, #Egypt, #Sudan, World War II, Cold War, Fukuyama, Huntington. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
15. Isaias is not happy with New World Order (who is?) Whereas rest of the world has found a way to deal with it or thrive in it or change it, he doesn’t have the personality or intellect to do it. In frustration he jumps from war to war. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
15. Isaias is not happy with New World Order (who is?) Whereas rest of the world has found a way to deal with it or thrive in it or change it, he doesn’t have the personality or intellect to do it. In frustration he jumps from war to war. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
15. Isaias is not happy with New World Order (who is?) Whereas rest of the world has found a way to deal with it or thrive in it or change it, he doesn’t have the personality or intellect to do it. In frustration he jumps from war to war. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
16. #Eritrea being too small for his ambitions, it takes up a small & perfunctory part of his agenda. He has no solutions for its challenges but he sure can list them: water, electricity, economy, investments, etc: good enough for NNNN. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
17. This requires accomplishing a feat mere mortals would be too self-conscious to attempt: the knowledge that he has been in charge for 30 years and all he laments happened under his watch and he is therefore responsible for it. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
18. Let’s take the simple example of Hirghigo Power Plant and its decay that keeps complaining about. Who was responsible for its lack of maintenance? #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview

http://awate.com/isaias-afwerki-we-were-not-chosen/
19. Those in some self delusion #Eritrea will pursue path of reform once the “Weyane threat” is gone have their answers as to what to expect: it’s more of the same “ክተት! (Mobilize!): ask no questions, just make placards & fund raise. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview
20. Those of us who believe the #Eritrea|s gov is too deformed and too guilty to be reformed, have to pursue alternatives or watch the country die in our lifetime. #Eritrea #Ethiopia #EritreaPIAInterview

An alternative: a step back to step forward.

http://awate.com/its-time-for-a-unity-government-in-exile/
PS: @ERiTV_Official asked Isaias about a list of priorities he had outlined in 2018 but he had forgotten all about them: whether they were 12, 10, 14 or 9 😂 As an Awate commenter once wrote: ኣየ ወዲ ኣፎም ብሪ፥ ጀሚርና እምበር ፈጺምና ትብል ቃል ኣይትሞልቆካን.
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