The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) re-elected Abiy Ahmed (PhD) and Demeke Mekonnen as its chairperson and deputy chairperson of the party, respectively.
It is now clear that the two will led the Front for the coming two years.
In its 11th Congress held in Hawassa, the capital of Southern Regional State, the party’s council consisting of 180 members from the four sister parties within the front conducted an election in the afternoon of October 10, 2018.
In this regard, Abiy and Demeke competed for the Chairmanship of the party where Abiy got 176 votes and Demeke one vote out of the 177 votes casted.
On the same token, for the deputy chairmanship Debretsion G.Michael (PhD) and Demeke were the candidates. Yet, Demeke got 149 votes and defended his seat while Debretsion managed to collect 15 votes.
The Front which many speculate would change its ideological foundation or perhaps its name and organizational structure has not lived up to those expectations. However, reports indicate that the Front has agreed to discuss the idea of launching a study exploring the possibility of ideological shifts. In this regard, as per the decision of Central Committee, a study could be commissioned probing into the possibility of shifting the long-held ideological stance of the EPRDF: Revolutionary Democracy. In addition, the front has also decided to postpone the cases of the affiliate parties and on how they could be integrated into the Front.
In his opening speech, Abiy said that the study regarding the affiliate partiers is not yet finalized and hence will be ready presented for discussion on the 11th Congress.
