TPLF increasingly split in Ethiopia

5 December 2013 | Indian Ocean Newsletter N° 1347 04/01/2013

Despite appearances, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), formerly the hard core of the EPRDF (ruling coalition), does not seem to be getting over the death of its leaderMeles Zenawi. The latter’s widow, Azeb Mesfin, is increasingly isolated and abandoned by her former friends. Abaye Tsehaye, her late husband’s advisor on security issues who became the general director of the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation in 2010, talk to her on the phone.

Two other TPLF leaders, the foreign affairs minister Tewodros Adhanom and the Deputy Prime Minister Debretsion Gebremichael, harbour discreet ambitions to become Prime Minister instead of Hailemariam Desalegn. In the last week of December, the TPLF held a two-day long executive committee meeting whose discussions were widely broadcast on television. All except for the first half day, when the debates on delicate matters were held behind closed doors, such as internal division, unease in the army, preparation for the TPLF and EPRDF conferences in February. According to our sources, nothing came out of these discussions other than setting up a commission to discuss the matters.

No comments:

Post a Comment