UNBEARABLE

The past week may have seen a three-day long sit-in by residents of the towns surrounding Addis Abeba and beyond, prompting a declaration of a new State of Emergency by the Council of Ministers. But it says a great deal about Ethiopia’s political state that either was not the momentous event of the week but Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s decision to resign from his post. Only the second Prime Minister to resign, it came six years after he took office, and three years since the first signs of unrest in the restive Oromia Regional State were began with the student protests. The latter never abated, even after a 10-month long decree, and was ascribed as a primary reason for Hailemariam’s historical decision. Hailemariam is the second leader to quit premiership, almost half a century since Aklilu Habtewold did as such following a similarly stressful term in office.

“I want to be a part of the solution,” he told members of the media where he made public his decision, two days after tendering his resignation to the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), one of the four parties that make up the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

It was not long after that the SEPDM, whose central committee reportedly criticised the Prime Minister for failure to uphold the interests of the Movement, accepted his decision. Hailemariam will thus only continue in his chairman and premiership positions until the EPRDF’s Council convenes to elect a new person for the chairmanship, who its leaders will nominate to Parliament for Primiership. YOU CAN READ THE FULL STORY HERE.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.