Ethiopia: EPRDF Delegates Unhappy With Meles Eulogy
28 March 2013
Delegates of the ninth convention of the ruling EPRDF party have shown their
dissatisfaction over a eulogy written for their late leader, Meles Zenawi,
while some were critical of the quality of its writing and completeness of
the content.
Translated from Tigrigna, the eulogy was first presented to the congress of
the TPLF, held in Meqelle two weeks ago, before it was presented to over
1,000 delegates at the conclusion of the ruling coalition's convention on
Tuesday, held in Bahir Dar.
The first to voice such disappointment over the organisation of the eulogy
and its content structure was Meles's widow. Elected to the political bureau
of the TPLF for the second time and to the all too powerful Executive
Committee of the EPRDF, Azeb Mesfin was displeased to see the eulogy
incomplete.
Some of the points she argued as missed are Meles's place, role and the
contributions he made as an Editor-in-Chief of the party's ideological
organ, Addis Ra'ey. Azeb feels that the contributions Meles had made in
originating the idea of forming a training facility for the rank and file,
now directed by Addisu Legesse, and the manual he develop ought to be
forcefully underlined.
Azeb defended her late husband's legacy in relations to how he had handled
the conflict and the subsequent war with Eritrea. Despite condemnations from
his political opponents due to his heritage, Azeb told delegates that Meles
had never negotiated on the national interests of Ethiopia.
"Not even for a second," Azeb told delegates rather emphatically.
Azeb described Meles's conduct during the war with Eritrea in the late 1990s
as "extraordinary" in not showing what he had felt of the accusations, but
focused on defending his beliefs and political positions regardless.
She recalled her late husband as perhaps the only leader who had earned a
little over 4,000 Br a month in net salary, but fought poverty with courage
and resolve, while remaining selfless.
"Meles didn't have a bank account," Azeb said. "He had neither an ID card
nor a driving licence."
These parts, Azeb argued, were not given their proper place in the eulogy,
which was read by Hailemariam Desalegn, re-elected to chair the EPRDF twice
since the death of Meles in August 2012.
Hailemariam's re-election was fait accompli, although he was made to pass
the test of contest to the office. His deputy, Demeke Mekonnen of ANDM, and
Alemayehu Atomsa of OPDO, were nominated by their respective parties for the
chairmanship, while leaders of the TPLF have declined to nominate their
leaders, Fortune learnt.
Hailemariam has won the chairmanship with a landslide, after bagging 176
votes of the 180 Council members of the ruling party, sources in the Council
disclosed to Fortune.
Although the other two contenders have received two votes each against
Hailemariam, Demeke too claimed the deputy chairmanship position with
significant margin, claiming 146 votes against 25 given to his contender,
Fortune learnt.
Emerging as uncontested non-combatant leader of the Revolutionary Democrats
since the party's formation in the late 1980s, Hailemariam was seen
endorsing the conciliatory proposition made by Addisu, who remains one of
the 13 political bureau members of the ANDM but left out from the EPRDF's
Executive Committee.
Addisu has argued that the eulogy is filled with repetition, is not well
organised, and suffers from losses in translation, while its structure is
weak. Addisu urged delegates to let the EPRDF's Executive Committee rewrite
the eulogy before it gets adopted as the party's official document, a
proposition Hailemariam had secured its adoption by the Congress
unanimously.
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Received on Thu Mar 28 2013 - 19:54:37 EDT
