In the minds and hearts of millions of their
supporters, there could be no doubt that the
opposition leaders released from jail last week are
indeed leaders of the Coalition for Unity and
Democracy (CUD). It is a verdict from a court of
public opinion. However, the key to the CUD is
controversially held by two warring individuals that
were once loathed by the leadership of the party and
its vast followers as “traitors and individuals who
have betrayed the cause for their own selfish
interests”.
Temesgen Zewde (MP-CUDP) and his archrival within
the party, Ayele Chamiso, deputy chairman, have the
final say – accidentally - over the very existence
of a political party that has come to be almost a
household name in today’s Ethiopia. Tamrat G.
Giorgis, Fortune Staff Writer, has looked into
the detail.
Chinese
Company to Construct First Private Industrial Zone
Chinese
Jiangsu Qiyaan Investment Group is to construct the first
private industrial zone in Dukem, Oromia Regional State, on
five square kilometre leased plot. A steering committee
headed by Girma Biru, minister of Trade and Industry, was
created to support the company on request by the Prime
Minister’s Office.
After the
excitement following the release of CUD leaders held in Kaliti
prison facilities for two years, many procedural and practical
issues remain unanswered as to how they will integrate into the
political landscape that has developed in their absence. Questions
ranging from party registration matters to party platforms and
leadership roles must be tackled for the smooth re-entry of the
politicians after being granted amnesty. Tamrat G. Giorgis, Fortune
Staff Writer, asked Temesgen Zewde, Parliamentary whip of the
Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP), and Ayele Chamiso,
deputy chairman of CUDP, how they viewed contributions of political
opposition shaping in the future.Read
the Interviews
INTERVIEW WITH TEMESGEN ZEWDE
Fortune: Are
you surprised by the speed and the manner the government decided to
release the CUD leaders?
Temesgen
Zewde: Yes, I was
pleasantly surprised by the speed, but it is not something we have
not been expecting. Our party, the coalition for Unity and Democracy
Party (CUDP) has been urgingthe government repeatedly that
the problem created since the 2005 election ........
Fortune:
Is it confusing to distinguish between the former
and current CUD leaders? Is it not surprising for
you to see the release of these leaders from jail so
soon?
Ayele Chamiso:
I see the action of the government positively for
letting the CUD leaders out from jail. The
government listened to the plights of the supporters
and the public at large. I would congratulate
........
Notwithstanding the positive attention the sector has
enjoyed in the media of late, a closer look calls into
question some of the grandiose projections of leather
earnings growth. While Ethiopia enjoys great potential in
terms of livestock supply, the tannery industry currently
faces many impediments to...
As a co-founder
of Médecins Sans Frontières, Bernard Kouchner, the new foreign
minister of France from the socialist party to serve the
centre-right government of Nicolas Sarkozy, has a passion for
humanitarian issues. Developments in Darfur, Sudan, Chad and Somalia
are his major concerns that brought him to Addis Abeba last week, to
confer with Africa Union (AU) commissioner Alfa Omar Conare and
UNECA’s executive secretary, Abdoulie Janneh.
He believes the peace process to resolve the crises in Darfur is not
going fast enough, while he would like to see the inclusion of
leaders from the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in Somalia’s peace
process. It was the first time since 1997 for a Foreign Minister
from France to visit Addis Abeba, according to French diplomatic
sources. He flew from Tripoli, Libya, the same day, where President
Sarkozy was having his first African visit since elected to the
presidency this year.
“We are not
having a new strategy [on Africa], but a new government,” he told
journalists at the French Embassy here on Thursday, July 26,
responding to questions about what could be in store for Africa
under the new government.
The Foreign Minister has also met with Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi; he proposed to him to
establish a business commission that may have
offices both in Paris and Addis Abeba.More
Meles Sees Sign of Age
It
is rare for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to start a press
conference framing the issue before letting journalists
unload their series of questions. That was what he did last
Friday, July 20, 2007.
“I
would like to start with the latest information regarding
the individuals who have been sentenced in a recent court
case,” he told journalists both from the local and
international media. “I am told that the President [Girma W.
Giorgis] has approved their requests for pardon, effective
from today.”
"Thank
you to the opposition because a government without an
opposition is not serious."
The
departing Ishac Diwan, country director for Ethiopia and Sudan,
bidding farewell to government officials, representatives from
the private sector, civil society and opposition leaders on
Thursday, July 26, 2007, at the Sheraton Addis. He assumed his
office here right after the Ethio-Eritrean War and leaves when
the country has gone through one of its most trying times
recently.
The
recent release of the CUD leaders is a decisive component of
a crucial moment in contemporary Ethiopian history. The
elders who negotiated the release may be seen as ushering in
a piece of Ethiopian tradition as ....
