Assembly session "conservative but not regressive"

Eritrea's National Assembly session wound up its work over the weekend after adopting a number of resolutions, including setting up a committee to look into the issue of the private press.

Other measures included approving a national budget of 10.9 billion nakfa [about US $700 million] and a decision to postpone the formation of political parties. The assembly ratified the electoral law earlier last week. Regional observers told IRIN on Monday the outcome of the session was conservative, but the most important issue was that the assembly actually convened in the wake of last year's political upheavals and after a long delay. "The results are not nearly as forward-looking as many had hoped, yet not as regressive as many had feared," one observer said.

About 38 percent of the national budget will be allocated for economic services, funding projects in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, transportation, communication and building roads, the official 'Shaebia' website reported. Social services will account for 29 percent of the budget, financing education, health, emergency rehabilitation and information services. A further 25 percent of the budget will be devoted to administrative issues and community development projects.

Regarding the draft law on political parties, the assembly said the "overwhelming majority of people" believed that now was not the right time to form parties. "Taking into consideration the opinions of the people [and]... notwithstanding the fact that, in principle, the formation of political parties is acceptable and constitutional, the issue, should however be postponed for the time being," the national assembly resolved.

On the press law, the assembly underlined the importance of freedom of the press, 'Shaebia' said. It accused the private press, which was closed down last year following the arrest of 11 prominent dissidents, of "divisive acts against the unity of the people". The law states that the capital of any newspaper should be "100 percent Eritrean", but, according to the national assembly, the private press received "foreign financing". Because of this, and due to "interference from the capitulationists [dissidents]", the private press had "discarded its independence, freedom and responsibility".

"Drawing lessons from this negative experience and ascertaining the importance of newspapers that value responsibility and professional ethics...the national assembly has authorised a committee that will prepare the ground for the national press to enter a new, positive phase," the assembly resolution said.

Regional observers say that the committee will recommend some form of control mechanisms and regulations for the private press, but that the government is on course to lift the suspension. "It is a point of pride for the government to open their [the press] doors again," one analyst commented. But, he cautioned, that the private press would be "under fairly strict management".

The analysts pointed out that the assembly touched on most of the issues which had been on the dissidents' "agenda" over the past year, "giving credence" to the government's view that it was not the substance of the dissidents' views, but the timing that was wrong. "This is not to say those issues were handled to the satisfaction of everyone, but they were brought out," a regional observer told IRIN. "It is an attempt to take the issues of the dissidents, make them their own and try to move on."