An overview of the discussions on ‘languages’ that took
place in the Eritrean parliament in 1952:
The draft that was presented for discussion did not contain
any reference to official languages and was as follows:
Article 40 Languages
1. Allows the use of languages spoken by different
population groups in dealings with government departments as has been the
practice.
2 - Allows the use of these languages, for religious or
educational and for and all forms of expression
When the draft was tabled for discussion, two recommendations
were suggested to amend article. One called for making Arabic and Tigrinya the only official languages, but
the other called for making both languages official but allowed that any person
to use his/her language for educational, religious and for other purposes. But
because there was disagreement on the amendments decision was postponed several
times. When the issue was opened for discussion there was a hot discussion in
meeting No. 33 that convened on 11 June, 1952. The first speaker that day was
- Woldeyohannes Gebrezghi and he said "Most countries
use one language, one flag and one authority. As there is no one in the country
who does not know Tigrinya, it has to be the official language and as Arabic is
a language of religion so it is a foreign language and thus cannot be used for
official purposes.
- Berhanu Ahmadein,
responded “ If it is like that, then Arabic alone has to be the official language”
- Nasir Pasha
"Arabic is an ancient language and is used by many countries, but Tigrinya
is the language of the highlands and we use it for communication purposes “
- Hadembes Kiflom: "Arabic came accompanied by religion,
let us make Tigrinya the official language and as we will enter into a federal
arrangement with Ethiopia let Amharic be the 2nd language and thus Tigrinya can be used in internal
matters and Amharic for federal purposes. Let us use Arabic for a limited
period until our brothers learn Tigrinya”
- Teklehaimanot Bukhru "People's opinions on this subject is
different, let us approve the draft as it is, not all Eritreans know Arabic or
Tigrinya"
- Tedla Bairu "The people are divided into two
religions, but members of the Assembly need to be united, division within the
Assembly will result in results bad consequences for people."
- Mohammed Omar Akito "If draft article is approved as
it is, there will be chaos , there are two languages, Arabic and Tigrinya, let
us approve both "
- Embaye Habte: "Let us leave the religious differences
aside and turn to the people's interest. The draft was prepared in English and
Arabic and Tigrinya. Thus let Arabic and Tigrinya be the official languages and
the other languages be used by the people in their daily dealings in the official
circles
- Judge Ali Omer: Arabic and Tigrinya are not that far from
each other. The origin of both languages is Yemen. The UN Representative has
indicated in the peoples meetings that both languages will be included and
should have kept his promise. If there is a need to add English or Italian, I
have no objection”
- Demetros Gebremariam, “the official language is Tigrinya,
if there is a need for another language, Tigre can be included, but Arabic is a
language of religion and has to be seen from this aspect”
Anze Matienzo“This
was one of the controversial issues and I notice now similar differences.
Constitution needs to be a unifying factor and as there is a majority view to have
Arabic as an official language, there is a need to reach a compromise, therefore
I accept the amendment that both Arabic and Tigrinya be official languages.”
No decision was taken at that meeting and the meeting was
adjourned to be held the next day. On the second day session, Unity Party
member, Blatta Demsas Woldemichael from Abashoul (Asmara) took the floor and
started by saying Arabic should not be an official language as if taking the
discussion back to square 1, but suddenly Berhe Asberom, member of the Liberal
Party from Maraaba suggested to adjourn the meeting for informal discussions on
the matter. Then the meeting convened again and Blatta Demsas (who had objected
to the Arabic language) took the floor. Having explained that he spoke on the
behalf of many, he added in order to reassure the members and for the sake of
harmony they support the amendemnt that both Arabic and Tigrinya be the official
languages. He was seconded by Degetzmat Berhe Asberom and the Matienzo
presented the article to read as follows and the amendment and was passed with
a majority of votes.
Languages
1. Tigrigna and Arabic shall be the official languages of
Eritrea.
2. In accordance with established practice in Eritrea, the
languages spoken and written by the various population groups shall be
permitted to be used in dealing with the public authorities, as well as for
religious or educational purposes and for all forms of expression of idea
As for how the unionists agreed to accept Arabic , Assembly
Member, Omar Akito told the author of
the book the following:
"We had decided on our part to boycott the meetings of
the Assembly and leave everything if they
did not accept the Arabic language. We were from the start objecting the presence of a representative of the Emperor.
They (the Unionists) started to tell us (Accept the Emperor representative and
we will accept the Arabic language). We discussed a lot outside the session. At
last we said this is our fate that we accept the representative of the Emperor for
the sake of unity of our people and they accepted the Arabic language.
-------------------------
Source: Alem Seged book
"Federation of Eritrea with Ethiopia" – Arabic Edition p
171-175, quoting from the minutes of meetings
Translation mine and I stand to be corrected
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