selamat Aya Tesfay,
You're right; boycotting is NOT the answer. I, in disgust and anger, was
thinking to stay home instead and play with my two years old. But
registering our disatisfacion was the right thing to do. Let's hope the
government/Embassy will change the ruling and everybody will be happy. If
they don't, still we have no interest in boycotting. Those of us who have
discussed, planned discussions, went to the debates, (where not even ten
percent of the community didn't show up most of the time) and argued about
the constitution for the last two years, we did it because we have an
interest in the well being of our land. And the conclusion is near, with all
of its imperfection. Let's not talk about boycotts now. Hopefully the
community of Eritreans in Australia will reconsider as well.
Paulos.
At 11:58 AM 3/13/97 EST, tka kflu wrote:
>
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>
>Seb Dehai:
> It is appropriate for honest and country loving citizens to
>peacefully express their concerns, & ventilate their anger everytime
>a government decree or directive fails to add up or make sense.
>In a situation like this, both the Govt. & the citizens win.
> Unlike in most other cases, this time, it is obvious that
>the government at home was not showing its best side when it let a
>faulty directive, such as the one inquestion come out of its good offices.
> Limiting government help only to citizens who have
>updated themselves with their 2% annual obligation, may
>be debatable but it is O.K. I once (more than 2 years ago) had a property
>related situation & the '2% ' was standing on my way like what people in
>'Management' call it the CPA or 'Critical Path Analysis'...I had to do it,
>because not doing it was certainly not to my advantage. That is what CPA is
>all about...there is no other way arround except that way..the only way.
> I joined this discussion mainly because I failed to see the
>'linkage' or the rational of puting the 2% as an elligibilty factor.
>Elligibility factor for property or service related matters may
>be understandable, but to bring it in this historic chapter of
>our life and use it to sift the good from the bad and the ugly, still
>does not look right to me. Personally, I would have been more pleased
>if the communities were left alone to do the sifting on their own, based
>on who they believe will represent them best.
> However, as one or two of our Dehai members said it yesterday, at least
>for now, since it appears like it is the law of the land, we have
>no choice but to comply with. Boycotting or refraining from part-
>icipation will not help. This is a historic moment..let's grab it. There
>will not be other moment like this. There will be amendments to the consti-
>tution from here to eternity, but the constitution is only made once.
> I for one, no matter how much I disagree with the way the directives
>were crafted, in about 10 days from today, God be willing, if the
>weather permits I will drive for 2 1/2 hrs to Rochester, N.Y., join my
>fellow Eritreans and do whatever is required of me.
>
>T. Kflu
>
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