Ethiopia’s dictatorial ruling party on Saturday named as its leader acting Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who took over after the death last month of longtime dictator Meles Zenawie, an official said at the end of a congress of party bosses and internal dispute that lasted over two month and which is still continuing.
As chairman of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, or EPRDF, Hailemariam, 47, will almost certainly be confirmed as the country’s prime minister in an upcoming official ceremony. Bereket Simon, Ethiopia’s communications minister said Hailemariam would be sworn in soon. It remains unclear exactly when, but Bereket said this might happen early next month.
Since the party holds an overwhelming majority the party’s chair since the dumped election of 2010, he will automatically is the country’s prime minister, according to Bereket said. “So Hailemariam will be the country’s new prime minister”. This would be true only if the internal factional power crisis did not explode in public and accelerate the end of the regime.
A 180-member council of the EPRDF appointed Hailemariam unanimously and also selected Education Minister Demeke Mekonnen to become deputy chairman. The ruling party controls 545 of the 547 seats in parliament, guaranteeing swift passage of its resolutions.
Hailemariam ascension to the ruling party’s top leadership signals that he is just warming the seat for someone else and that behind party officials will use as a symbolic head, And are not keen to respect the wishes of Melees, who picked Hailemariam from obscurity and made him foreign minister and deputy prime minister without contributing to the coming of the ruling junta to power through the barrel of the gun.
For international observer especially for the competing interests the US and China that the ruling party would pick Hailemariam, who promises to continue the domestic and foreign policies in their respective favor. Since he does not have the true power in his hand to harness his decision making will be highly hampered by unfinished internal faction disputes of TPLF and EPRDF. (Tigrian and Ethnical parties)
It seems they are obliged but to go through with appointing Hailemariam since the last two month they could not arrive to find a true successor of Melees Zenawie. Hailemariam is a choice by default till the internal power struggle for succession finally settles. It has been impossible for the ruling party the last two month to find replacement that is acceptable to the four coalition members and the different factions that made them last over one month old to declare Dictator Melees Zenawie death to public. . His official death was declared one month after on Aug. 20 of an undisclosed illness in a Belgian hospital. His bosses praised him for his obedience, the great majority of Ethiopian and their supporters s saw him as a tyrant who restricted freedoms, including free speech and free press:-
According to the International Crisis Group said after the death of Melees that Hailemariam was not likely to be as pivotal and decisive a figure as the man he replaced.
“Given the opacity of the inner workings of the government and army, it is impossible to say exactly what it will look like and who will end up in charge. Nonetheless, any likely outcome suggests a much weaker government, a more influential security apparatus and endangered internal stability,” the group’s report said.
- Ethiopian Ruling Party, EPRDF Press Conference – YouTube
- Hailemariam Desalegn will be the New Ethiopian Prime Minster – YouTube
- Ethiopia : Statement of the EPRDF – YouTube