The newly established Ethiopian Citizens Party for Social Justice (ECPSJ) has elected Berhanu Nega (Prof.) and Andualem Arage, as Leader and Deputy Leader of the party, a unique form of political arrangement where so called Leaders are elected to assume the top position in the newly formed party.
The top two, Berhanu from defunct Ginbot 7 and Adualem from the dissolved Unity for Democracy Justice (UDJ), are expected to spearhead the ECPSJ which is planning to mainstream citizenship and social justice politics in Ethiopia and mount a formidable competition in the upcoming national election.
Berhan, former leader of Ginbot 7, has received 912 votes to assume the top leadership position in the new party while Anduwale, also former leader of (UDJ), has been elected as the deputy.
Perhaps a bit unorthodoxly, Yeshiwas Assefa, former leader of Blue Party, has also been elected as chairperson of ECPSJ, securing 722 votes while Chane Kebede (PhD), former leader of Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP), was made to assume a deputy chairperson’s role.
The leadership structure of the party assigns separate responsibilities to both its Leaders and Chairpersons. Hence, the so called Leader positions (currently occupied by the Berhanu-Andualem duo) will assume government posts in an event the party succeeds to win national elections. Meanwhile, the post of Chairpersons (won Yeshiwas and Chane) will be concerned with purely party operations over seeing issues like the party structure and day-to-day activities.
ECPSJ is an outcome of seven political parties, both from abroad and Ethiopia, who have taken the step to dissolve their parties and join forces to create a formidable political alternative in the tittering Ethiopian political space.
