After Independence
See also: Politics of EritreaEritrean independence was achieved de facto in 1991. In April 1993, a United Nations-supervised referendum on independence was held, and the following month Eritrea achieved de jure independence. Isaias Afwerki was declared the first head of state. During the first years of his administration in this new state government, the institutions of governance were structured and put in place. This included a top to bottom restructuring of the structures of governance by provision of an elected local judicial system to expanding the educational system to as many regions as possible. The EPLF renamed itself the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) on February 1994 as part of its preparation to usher itself as a political party in a democratic Eritrea.
However, his once-firm friendship with the new Ethiopian government and Meles Zenawi quickly deteriorated just seven years after independence into a fierce border and economic dispute that turned into a long and bloody border war with Ethiopia, 1998–2000. Armed conflict with Ethiopia claimed more than 70,000 lives from both sides and ended with the signing of the Algiers Agreement on December 12, 2000. Because of this, the drafted Eritrean Constitution and its implementation were put on hold. It is yet to be implemented.
Read more about this topic: Isaias Afewerki
Famous quotes containing the word independence:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)
“In a famous Middletown study of Muncie, Indiana, in 1924, mothers were asked to rank the qualities they most desire in their children. At the top of the list were conformity and strict obedience. More than fifty years later, when the Middletown survey was replicated, mothers placed autonomy and independence first. The healthiest parenting probably promotes a balance of these qualities in children.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)