This is part one of the fascinating article that was published on BBC – Tigrinya Service on 30 Sep 2024.

“ … the last meeting was unusually tense because President Isaias’ son, Abraham, had come to attend the cabinet meeting “to gain experience”. Abdella Adem

It has been six years since the last meeting of the Eritrean Cabinet of Ministers.  Many Eritreans have been raising questions regarding its disappearance. ‘What happened to it’? Why is it ‘suspended’? ‘What happened to the ministers themselves and the ministries they used to head’?

The age of most of the incumbent ministers has also been among the main concerns of Eritreans. BTW, the average age of its members is close to 80, with no replacements in sight.

What are the duties and responsibilities of the Cabinet of Ministers as an institution?

According to political scientist, Dr Adan Gebremeskel, the system of government structure is not only used in democracies but also in monarchies and democracies that believe in “centralisation” of power.

“The Cabinet is a gathering of ministers with various functions and responsibilities.  Ministers meet from time to time to formulate plans, coordinate their implementation and allocate the necessary financial, human and other resources of the country.

“Although the legislature or parliament drafts and passes laws, in many countries draft laws usually come from the cabinet. In addition, the Cabinet issues and approves regulations and directives for various functions. One of them is the formulation of policies, such as foreign relations, economic policy, etc.” He says.

Ambassador Abdella Adam, a former senior diplomat who served as the governor of Senhit and South Red Sea region after independence, said “cabinet means government building”. he describes it as.

He compares the dissolution of the Cabinet of ministers to the dissolution of the National Assembly.

Eritrea, before it officially declared independence and in the years that followed, has tried to be guided by this principle of political order since its infancy.

However, instead of becoming stronger and bigger, the institutions have been weakening and collapsing. For example, the judiciary, which should have been sovereign, has been paralyzed by the executive from the outset.

The once auspicious transitional legislature (or parliament) has not come back to life since it collapsed in 2002, that is, before national elections came to fruition.

The cabinet, the only remaining government institution that was headed by the president, seems to have suffered the same fate since 2018.

Let’s add context to the formation and dissolution of the cabinet of minsters

What was the Provisional Government of Eritrea (1992-1993) like?

After the forces of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) liberated the whole of Eritrea from Ethiopian occupation in late May 1991, the faction that drove the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) – sister front – out of the battlefields of Eritrea,  declared itself the “government” and assumed political power in the country without the consent of Eritreans.

In May 1992, a “Proclamation to Determine the Structure of Powers and Functions of the Provisional Government of Eritrea” declared that the main organs of the EPLF would serve as organs of government.

Accordingly, the party’s central committee decided to be “the legislative body of the interim government of Eritrea with the highest legal authority during the transitional period, until a referendum was held and a constitutional government was established”. One of its responsibilities was to “formulate and regulate” domestic and foreign policies. The proclamation also mentioned the establishment of an “independent” judiciary.

The document also stated that “the Council of Eritrean Interim Government” headed by the party’s secretary-general had been established

The council or cabinet consisted of 15 heads of departments were composed of: justice, economic development and cooperation, interior affairs, foreign affairs, defence, industry, agriculture, finance, construction, education, health, news and culture, governors of the 10 regions (that existed then) , commanders of four Corps and commander of the Navy.

‘Transitional Government – Transitional Period’ 1993- 1997

In May 1993, before Eritrea’s independence was officially declared through referendum, a new government was formed to replace the Provisional Government.

In a proclamation issued on May 19, 1993, it called for “a transitional period and a transitional government that respects fundamental human rights and freedoms until a constitutional government is established.”

The transition period was to last only four years until an elected constitutional government was formed.

According to the new decree, the government consisted of a transitional legislature (National Assembly), an independent judiciary and an executive made up of members of the EPLF and representatives from the provincial councils.

One of the differences between the “council” (executive body) formed early in the official declaration of independence was that the number of its members and its composition were determined “by legal notice”.

Legal Notice – members of cabinet

In addition, the 1993 proclamation provided for a “President of the Government of Eritrea” elected by the National Assembly. Accordingly, on 23 May 1993, the new Transitional National Assembly elected the Secretary-General of the EPLF, Isaias Afwerki, as President at its first session. He won the secret ballot with “99 out of 104 eligible votes”.

“To ensure the reliability of the future state of our country, we need to ensure laws are enforced as well as establish a constitutional government to guarantee that democracy and democratic institutions to prevail,” the new president said.

In the days that followed, he appointed “ministers” who were members of the council and formed a cabinet.

A legal notice issued in June of that year announced that the Eritrean government council would be composed of 14 ministers and the governors of 10 provinces. The participation of army commanders remained in the new council.

“In the absence of the President, the Minister of Interior shall serve as President,” the document included in its sub-clause.

After the last EPLF Congress in February 1994, the proclamation was amended.

The main amendment in March 1994 was to delete the phrase “Council” and replace it with the title “Cabinet of Ministers”.

A subsequent legal notice clarifies the number of ministries at 16.

The ministries were: regional administrative (former local administrations), defence, interior, justice, foreign affairs, news and culture, finance and development, trade and industry, agriculture, marine resources, construction, mineral energy and water resources, education, health, transport and tourism. Events authorities and commissions act as additional organs of government.

“The Cabinet of Ministers of the Government of Eritrea shall be chaired by the President of Eritrea and shall consist of all the Ministers of the Government of Eritrea,” the statement said.

Article 46 of the 1997 National Constitution, which was declared “dead” before it was put to use, defines the role of the Cabinet as follows: to direct, coordinate and oversee the operations of the state and to study and prepare the national budget of the state to be submitted to the National Assembly, draft laws submitted by the National Assembly for approval, study policies and plans”.

Session 2018: Causes and Consequences of Cabinet Dissolution

During the interim government (1992-1993), the council, which included army commanders and district governors, was required to hold regular meetings every two months.

“The council was supposed to hold its scheduled meeting every six weeks. And it may hold emergency meetings as necessary at the call of the Secretary-General or at the request of two-thirds of its members,” states the then proclamation of the formation of the interim government.

Under the 1994 Transitional Government Declaration, the council sessions were supposed to be held every “six weeks”.

In a subsequent amendment, however, regular meetings of the executive body, later called the Cabinet, were held “monthly” instead of every six weeks.

In practice, however, neither the council nor the cabinet meetings were held regularly and on time, according to former government officials.

Especially after 2001,  the president has been seen accommodating cabinet meetings at will.

Furthermore, until 2008, he held “tripartite” meetings for ministers, including regional governors and operations commanders. The tripartite meetings were held, rather unusually,  in the port city of Massawa, Dibarwa and Barentu.

In the years that followed, formal Cabinet meetings were held on-and-off, later they became quite irregular; soon after they were abandoned altogether.

The last cabinet meeting was held six years ago in September, 2018.

According to Ambassador Abdella, the meeting was unusually tense because President Isaias’ son, Abraham, had come to attend the meeting “to gain experience”.

To be continued …