ADDIS ABABA: The Council of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the country's ruling party, will elect a new chairman to succeed the late prime minister and EPRDF chairman, Meles Zenawi, when it holds it regular council meeting on Friday and Saturday. The party's Secretariat announced Thursday that the council was also expected study a review document of the country's five-year Growth and Transformation Plan prepared by the EPRDF Executive Committee as well as past decisions. In addition, it would deliberate on the 2005 Ethiopian year, which began last week, political works and forward direction. A statement from the Secretariat published by the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) added that the Council would also study a document prepared on the building of the Party's leadership to reinforce its work on its Ethiopian Renaissance strategy as initiated by the late prime minister. The Council is also expected to nominate a chairperson to replace Meles and a deputy chairperson of the party. Although Hailemariam Desalegn has been the acting prime minister of Ethiopia since Zenawi's death on August 20, some in the ruling Ethiopia's Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) have voiced opposition to him taking the post and have called for a new election. Desalegn had been scheduled to be sworn in earlier this month as prime minister, but the party had delayed the appointment after a number of members and opposition groups questioned his role as new leader of the East African country. One of those opposition parties, the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) has said that the country needs an acting prime minister in order to avoid a power vacuum. But they also said the process should be transparent and open to public debate. Despite the calls for transparency, the government here has moved to assure its people that a power vacuum will not take place and the debate over the new prime minister will be resolved this week. “We are expecting the council meeting to be on the 16th," Seikoture Getachew, the foreign relations head at the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front's secretariat, told Bloomberg news agency. “There will be the assignment of chairperson and deputy chairperson," he added. According to local reports and party members, the executive council failed to reach a unanimous decision on the election procedures that would have seen Desalegn ascend to the country's top position. The result has thrown much uncertainty into the political fray in Ethiopia as the country searches for a new future following Meles' death. “We just want to move forward and get things back on track," a shopkeeper in Addis Ababa told Bikyamasr.com. The delay has led many to believe there are internal political divisions inside the ruling party and some members believe Desalegn is not the right person to lead the East African country. This comes despite a August 21 meeting of ministers that endorsed the acting prime minister. But the ruling party's Tuesday meeting has seen this decision revoked. “Within those who are in a struggle of a common goal, the instalment of leadership is an easy issue as it is simply assigning a comrade who would pay huge sacrifices ... and rather the focus should be on our respective duties" a statement from the party read. It highlights the growing debate over the future of Ethiopia's political situation, with many calling for dramatic changes to the current status quo of absolute power by the ruling party. Earlier this month, leading Ethiopian political thinker and professor Alemayehu G. Mariam said the time is now for Ethiopia to have “radical improvements" in its social and political climate following the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. “I say today is the perfect time for all Ethiopians to bury the hatchet of ethnic division, religious sectarianism, regional conflict and human rights violations," Mariam wrote in an opinion article. “It is the perfect time to shake hands, embrace each other and get our noses to the grindstone to build a new democratic Ethiopia where the rule of law is upheld and human rights and democratic institutions respected." He argued that the situation facing Ethiopia does not need to be a painful process of change and that the new leadership should learn from the past two decades and its impact on the people. “Today, not tomorrow, is the best time to put an end to historic hatreds and resentments and open a new chapter in Ethiopia's history. Today is the best time to unchain ourselves from the burdens of the past, close the wounds that have festered for generations and declare to future generations that we will no longer be prisoners of resentments of the past," the professor argued. There is a tentative hope that democracy and human rights can be part of the transition away from authoritarian rule. Still, many experts have pointed to the reality that Ethiopia is unlikely to see democracy or a change in the status quo, despite the two decades rule of Zenawi coming to an end. For a university student group made up of Christians and Muslims, which they have dubbed themselves “Concerned Ethiopian Students" they are hopeful that the change can be made for the better. “We have long face this kind of attack from the government if we speak out, so we really want to see democratic change in Ethiopia because it will mean a better country for all," the group told Bikyamasr.com. “Ethiopia deserves a country that is not ruled by one person, but a place where citizens and the people have a say in our future."
