Medeshi
Ethiopia - Meles Zenawi, will he, won’t he go?
Indian Ocean Newsletter
The Prime Minister is blowing hot and cold about his possible departure after the 2010 election. The EPRDF will have its work cut out to find a successor for him.
The conference of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF, ruling coalition) scheduled for September 2009 should bring an end to the confusion resulting from Meles Zenawi’s affirmation that he may leave the post of Prime Minister (ION 1256). This confusion has reached a peak these last few weeks because Meles Zenawi has been issuing conflicting statements about his possible departure. One day he announced that he would resign his post of Prime Minister. Another day, he stated that he would like to become the President of the EPRDF. On yet a third day, he stated that he would leave politics altogether. Which of these Meles Zenawis should be believed? In fact, all these declarations are soundings to test the reaction within the EPRDF and try to bring a generally accepted candidate to emerge. Otherwise, the Prime Minister would be obliged to carry on for another mandate.
But each suggestion of a possible successor provokes the wrath of its rivals. So, Meles Zenawi and his Minister for Information, Bereket Simon, leaked the idea within the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF, hard core of the EPRDF) that the present Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seyoum Mesfin could become the next Prime Minister. This immediately provoked protests, notably from the Minister for Public Works, Arkebe Oqubay Mitiku, who considers this candidate unsuitable for the post. The Prime Minister further complicated the debate when he considered that all veterans of the guerrilla struggle should leave the fore of the political scene and make way for a younger generation of EPRDF which has not known these combats. Much the same happened when he hinted that the future Prime Minister could be a non-Tigrayan, whereas the majority of the TPLF executive believes the opposite. On the TPLF side, the two most quoted names as potential Prime Ministers are those of Seyoum Mesfin and the Minister for Health, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus. In the ranks of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO, governing), the name of Girma Biru is doing the rounds. Finally, many of the leaders of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM, pro-government formation currently going through an internal crisis), do not appreciate the fact that a suitable Amhara candidate has not yet been found to succeed Meles Zenawi in the post of Prime Minister.
Ethiopia - Meles Zenawi, will he, won’t he go?
Indian Ocean Newsletter
The Prime Minister is blowing hot and cold about his possible departure after the 2010 election. The EPRDF will have its work cut out to find a successor for him.
The conference of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF, ruling coalition) scheduled for September 2009 should bring an end to the confusion resulting from Meles Zenawi’s affirmation that he may leave the post of Prime Minister (ION 1256). This confusion has reached a peak these last few weeks because Meles Zenawi has been issuing conflicting statements about his possible departure. One day he announced that he would resign his post of Prime Minister. Another day, he stated that he would like to become the President of the EPRDF. On yet a third day, he stated that he would leave politics altogether. Which of these Meles Zenawis should be believed? In fact, all these declarations are soundings to test the reaction within the EPRDF and try to bring a generally accepted candidate to emerge. Otherwise, the Prime Minister would be obliged to carry on for another mandate.
But each suggestion of a possible successor provokes the wrath of its rivals. So, Meles Zenawi and his Minister for Information, Bereket Simon, leaked the idea within the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF, hard core of the EPRDF) that the present Minister for Foreign Affairs, Seyoum Mesfin could become the next Prime Minister. This immediately provoked protests, notably from the Minister for Public Works, Arkebe Oqubay Mitiku, who considers this candidate unsuitable for the post. The Prime Minister further complicated the debate when he considered that all veterans of the guerrilla struggle should leave the fore of the political scene and make way for a younger generation of EPRDF which has not known these combats. Much the same happened when he hinted that the future Prime Minister could be a non-Tigrayan, whereas the majority of the TPLF executive believes the opposite. On the TPLF side, the two most quoted names as potential Prime Ministers are those of Seyoum Mesfin and the Minister for Health, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus. In the ranks of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation (OPDO, governing), the name of Girma Biru is doing the rounds. Finally, many of the leaders of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM, pro-government formation currently going through an internal crisis), do not appreciate the fact that a suitable Amhara candidate has not yet been found to succeed Meles Zenawi in the post of Prime Minister.
Nazret
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