ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia's government said on Wednesday that it was to swear in new Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Friday to succeed the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who passed away last month. Government officials said they hoped the ceremony would take place on Friday. “The party council felt that an extraordinary session should be held on Friday … the two officials, the two chairs who have been appointed, will be sworn in,” said government spokesman Shimeles Kemal, referring to the acting PM and his deputy. It comes as more and more Ethiopians are hopeful that the handover will bring forth a new future for the country based on democracy and human rights. What that future will be is anyone's guess at the present moment. Many in the country are hopeful that the memory of late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will be upheld and Desalegn will follow in his footsteps politically. However, there is a growing number of activists and observers who are looking for a new path and one that Desalegn can help create that respects human rights and the democratic process. “We just want to move forward and get things back on track," a shopkeeper in Addis Ababa told Bikyamasr.com, in reference to the infighting that had delayed the new PM from officially being sworn in. There is a 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.
