Gebru's party intends to regain Assab Port through legal means

10 November, 2007

The chairman of the newly formed political party, the Union of Tigrians for Democracy and Sovereignty (UTDS), admitted that he and his previous party, TPLF, had committed serious mistakes concerning Ethio-Eritrean relations.

The new party has included the agenda of regaining Assab port through peaceful and legal means, Gebru told The Reporter.

Interviewed by The Reporter, he regretted the mistakes his former party committed, particularly concerning the Eritrean issue, including the move to leave the port of Assab to Eritrea freely and the way Eritrean seceded from Ethiopia.

He said it was done in a way that doesn't respect and protect the national interest of Ethiopia. Gebru noted that one of the causes for the Ethio-Eritrea conflict was that when Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia, the border was not clearly demarcated.

The democratic space in Ethiopia is so narrow for political changes, said Gebru. Asked why he and his colleague were late to be involved in Ethiopian politics after the split of TPLF, he said they needed such a long time to reevaluate their former weaknesses and strengths, and take good lessons from that experience. "Finally, we have now come up with strong agenda to protect the rights and interests of the country," he said. "If the move to protect the nations' national interests causes one to be blamed as a nationalist, we want to be labeled as such," he concluded.

By Yemane Nagish - Ethiopian Reporter