Monsieur Meles Zenawi wants to leave office, if that is alright with his party he chaired for over two decades now. This he has said himself in different times, forms and ways. The trouble is, he does not want to abandon the party should he leave office, and would like to negotiate with the leadership on how to relinquish executive power come the national elections next year.

For all there is to tell, both the leadership and the rank and file of the ruling party sees his position in office as indispensable. The leadership appears to have made up its mind that Meles has to stay in office at least for one more term. Period!

The Prime Minister is torn apart on the issue, according to gossip. Personally, he would prefer to resign and remain the Chief of his party, gossip disclosed. That is for two reasons: He might feel physically exhausted after 18 years of on the robe type of life style - he might be one of the few leaders in the world with no official record of annual vacations taken. On the other hand, he wants to reform his party with all the terrific ideas that have been popping up in his mind, claims gossip.

He may believe that it is about time for the Revolutionary Democrats to transform themselves in order to become a party of the coming era; the world has changed, so should the EPRDF. There lies the challenge, and thus his passion to overcome it, according to gossip.

Nevertheless, should he believe that he has spent enough time in the top executive position, that is also a view shared by the international community in Addis he often refers to as development partners. The trouble is, they can not see an alternative to his persona in or outside the ruling party, claims gossip. It is of course obvious many of those in Addis Abeba's diplomatic circle find it hard to see the opposition as strong enough to assume an alternative role, although the only period where they had been divided over this issue was during the 2005 national elections.

The Europeans flirtation with the idea that the opposition may come close to takeover government was equally matched with the ardent view from their American colleagues that the Revolutionary Democrats were too strong to concede power and the opposition too feeble and divided to maintain their hold even if they were to win. Four years down the road, they both seem to agree that the continuity of EPRDF rule for the years to come is inevitable.

The issue they may be pondering about is the likely successor to Monsieur Meles should he be determined to leave office. Two names consistently popup within the international community, gossip disclosed.

Girma Birru, minister of Trade and Industry and an Executive Committee member of the EPRDF, is considered to have the potential, as well as the calibre to assume a leadership role. He is seen as a politician that is well read, hardworking and charismatic. Girma has a political background beginning from the years of student movement as an EPRP operative back in the 1970s. But some see as his drawback a popular perception that he is elitist and detached from the average person within and outside of his party.

The darling of the west is, of course, Tewodros Adhanom (PhD), minister of Health. An executive member of the ruling party and the lone non-ex-fighter politburo member of the TPLF, Tewodros is also the local media's favourite EPRDF leader because of his humble, down-to-earth attitude and his accessibility. He is seen by the international community as having a combination of the leadership personality and the populist flavour that is seen as lacking in Girma, gossip says. And he is a new generation politician with little or no background of the messy and intolerant political culture of the student movement.

Should any of these happen to be - in any likelihood - a Prime Minister, then the highest echelon of executive power would be taken, for the first time in 18 years, by a politician who has not been a combatant during the insurgency.