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Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is about to go back on his promise to leave power at the next election. Consequently, the former Ethiopian Minster for Defence, Seye Abraha, now a dissident in the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF, hard core of the ruling coalition), has been making an increasing number of contacts in the United States with Ethiopian opponents in exile who want to return to their country in order to participate in the 2010 elections. Seye Abraha's strategy should be to try to form ties with the other dissident Tigrayan group, which is headed by the former President of the Tigray Regional State, Gebru Asrat. He wants to bring activists and leaders still in the TPLF round to their cause. The real motive behind these moves is to push Meles Zenawi to leave the post of Prime Minister without disrupting the role the TPLF plays in the Addis Ababa administration. He is walking on a tightrope.


February 22, 2008
The Indian Ocean Newsletter

HEADLINE: Addis Ababa

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The Ethiopian Prime Minister would appear to want to renew his post after the next election. According to certain sources, Meles Zenawi is already encouraging officials and activists in the ruling coalition who are loyal to him to embark on a campaign for him to remain in power with a new mandate after 2010.

February 22, 2008
The Indian Ocean Newsletter