[ION] ETHIOPIA: PRESIDENT GIDADA's COMING FALL
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30/06/01
ETHIOPIA
President Gidada's Coming Fall
Ethiopia's President Negasso Gidada, who has just resigned his memberships
in the directorates of theOromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO) and the
ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary DemocraticFront (EPRDF) coalition, has
in the past few months visibly been wanting to give up the largely honorific
title of head of state as well. The German Ambassador to Addis Ababa
(Negosso Gidada's wife is German) is said to be the one having pressured the
president to stay at his post. But Negasso Gidada complained of a lack of
freedom of speech and the fact that OPDO leaders were qualified as
narrow-mindedly nationalistic and chauvinistic by their counterparts
in the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the EPRDF's hard core who
are close to Prime MinisterMeles Zenawi, as soon as the former denounced
the repression against the Oromos.The atmosphere grew more poisoned during an
OPDOmeeting in Nazareth on June 4 whose purpose was the debate over the Meles
Zenawi document castigating theTPLF dissidents. As soon as it opened, Negasso
Gidadaand & Shiferaw Jarso protested against the presence of Sebhat Nega, a
TPLF leader sent by the prime minister to supervise the meeting. A furious
Sebhat Nega had to leave the premises and return to Addis Ababa after being
confronted by Shiferaw Jarso who told him to his face that he would rather die
than continue being his puppet. During the meeting, Negasso Gidada reiterated
his criticisms towards the TPLF, adding that most of the decrees
with his signature had not even been shown him before their promulgation.
Several OPDO leaders suggested that their organization leave the EPRDF
coalition and become an independent party, but no consensus was reached on this
point. Indeed, no unanimous agreement was forthcoming from the OPDO in support
of Meles Zenawi for the EPRDFmeeting which was held last week. And that, in
spite of Girma Biru's threats who predicted the disappearance of the OPDO if it
did not heed the prime minister's line. Finally, Meles Zenawi had no option but
to instigate the indictment of Negasso Gidada,leading him to leave
the meeting and tender his resignation. Unless they agree to follow the prime
minister's line, three other OPDO leaders – Shiferaw Jarso, Kuma Demeksa,
and Chla Wordefa – risk expulsion from both the OPDO and the EPRDF.
ION – To fill the shoes of Negasso Gidada asEthiopia's president, the names
of a number of possible contenders are available: government ministers Ghennet
Zewde and Girma Biru, former president of Amhara regional state Adisu Legesse,
and Abdul Mejid Hussein, the current Ethiopian representative to the United
Nations in New York.
THE INDIAN OCEAN NEWSLETTER N° 956