Woyane's irridentism in Ethiopia

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Ethiopia to choose Meles successor - Africa | IOL News | IOL.co.za

Addis Ababa - Ethiopia's ruling coalition will hold a two-day governing council meeting from Friday to choose a leader to succeed former prime minister Meles Zenawi, who died last month, it said.

“The council assigns the chairperson of the organisation that replaces our great leader, who departed from us suddenly,” said an online statement Thursday by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

During his 21 years in power, Meles was both EPRDF chairman and prime minister.

Government spokesman Bereket Simon told AFP that “automatically the chairperson will be the prime minister.”

However while this was the case under Meles, there is nothing to say that it will remain the same following his death, said a western diplomatic source in Addis Ababa.

After Meles's death, deputy prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn was quickly named interim prime minister and presented by the government as the natural successor to the long-time ruler, who had groomed Hailemariam as his heir.

Parliament, however, has not yet reconvened to confirm Hailemariam as the country's new leader.

An extraordinary session of parliament set for the end of August was cancelled and government spokesman Bereket told AFP that there was “no hurry” to reconvene the legislative body.

“There is no reason it will do it (reopen) before the last Monday of September,” Bereket said.

Hailemariam, 47, is considered an outsider compared to other core members of the ruling coalition, despite having held several high-ranking positions, including the post of foreign minister, according to analysts.

He did not participate in the guerilla war that ousted dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam from power in 1991 and does not come from the same northern Tigray region as Meles.

Hailemariam also belongs to Ethiopia's minority protestant faith rather than the country's dominant Christian Orthodox church. - Sapa-AFP

Monday, September 10, 2012

Ethiopia’s ruling party prepares to elect new chairman - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

September 8, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) - Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, the Ethiopia Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is expected to hold a meeting on 16 September to elect the party’s new chairperson who also will most likely be the successor of the late prime minister, Meles Zenawi.

Following the death of Zenawi on 20 August, the deputy prime minister and foreign affairs Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn has been the acting prime minister of Ethiopia.

Desalegn was supposed to be officially sworn in on Thursday however the ruling party delayed the appointment raising concerns from opposition groups and uncertainty from the public on the viability of the post-Zenawi new leadership.

Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP), one of the country’s biggest opposition groups on Wednesday said the fact that the country still remains to be led by an acting prime minister indicates the country is not in a full functional state and could create a power vacuum.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune some opposition groups have speculated that the delay on the appointment of country’s new leader might be due to internal conflict among the heavy weights within the EPRDF leadership.

The Ethiopian government has dismissed concerns from the public that the death of the late premier could create power vacuum in the horn of Africa’s nation.

According to government officials, the newly elected chairman of the ruling EPRDF party will most likely take on the government until next elections in 2015.

“We are expecting the council meeting to be on the 16th,” Seikoture Getachew, the foreign relations head at the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front’s secretariat, told Bloomberg.

“There will be the assignment of chairperson and deputy chairperson.” He added.

Ethiopia, on 2 September, held a state funeral of the country’s long-time leader.

Tens of thousands of people including dozens of African leaders and hundreds of foreign dignitaries’ attended the funeral.

All leaders of Ethiopia neighbour’s attended the funeral ceremony with the exception of Eritrea.

However the Red Sea nation which remains at loggerheads with Ethiopia over the unresolved border dispute has gave its respects over Zenawi’s death via Binyam Berhe, Eritrea’s envoy to the Africa Union.

Berhe signed at the condolences book and has also shook the hand of Azeb Mesfin, the wife of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a 1998-2000 border war over their disputed boundary that killed an estimated 70,000 people.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Ethiopian News in Amharic - Saturday, September 08, 2012 - YouTube

Ethiopian News in Amharic - Saturday, September 08, 2012 - YouTube: ""

'via Blog this'

Is Ethiopia at dangerous crossroads?-PressTV

Is Ethiopia at dangerous crossroads?

Wed Sep 5, 2012 10:11AM GMT

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Ethnic rivalries could be a source of instability. Meles Zenawi Asres was a Tigrayan, a group that accounts for 6% of the population but that came to dominate the political establishment under him.

The Amhara ethnic group traditionally ruled the country and is likely to lobby for one of their ruling party members to take over.

The death of the strongman raises questions about Ethiopia's influence over other neighbors. Adekeye Adebajo, executive director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution in South Africa, said:

"If a new government decides it has to focus internally, that could affect what happens in the region. If there is a weaker, less confident leader, it may mean Ethiopia is not so confident in playing that foreign policy role. That could have a direct impact on security in the Horn of Africa."

Domestic instability was "absolutely" possible, Adebajo said. "Meles's deputy is seen as quite competent and substantial but nobody has the same clout to keep the complicated coalition together.

Meles has always been seen as one of the most thoughtful leaders we produced as a continent. There will be a vacuum. They're in uncharted waters and it will take a while before we see what emerges."

Meles built one of the strongest armies on the continent, and it saw action in Somalia and Sudan with mixed results. In 1998 he went to war against neighboring Eritrea, costing tens of thousands of lives, and his demise creates fresh uncertainty among the sworn enemies.

When the Ethiopian military wanted to march all the way to the Eritrean capital, it was Meles who stopped them, Dowden said. "There was a crucial moment when Meles sacked hundreds of officers because they didn't like the settlement with Eritrea. I wonder now whether that might bubble up again, because it's never been settled."