Ethiopia: Controversial Decisions On Party Splits

The UDJ could be considered a strong party as it published two newspapers a week using its own printing press. It had also asked for a plot of land for the construction of a headquarters, according to one of the officials in the group that has lost as a result of the decision of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. However, the party, that had strong differences within it regarding financial management, would face an irreconcilable difference over the election of Belay Fekadu as president, which eventually led to a decision by the Electoral Board throwing his group, including Girma Seifu, out of the party. At the time of Belay's election last December, 2013, based on a new bylaw at the party, Tigestu Awol had no problem, because he assumed that the electoral board had approved the bylaw. Trouble erupted when he discovered that the board had not approved it. It may also be an irony that information which the NEBE decided was unacceptable two years ago, when it rejected the election of Abebaw Mehari as the president of the AEUP has now become acceptable making Abebaw and his group the rightful owners of the party appellation, AEUP. The day the board made the announcement in the presence of local and international media, Merga Bekana (Prof.), the board's chairman, would only answer one question and leave the venue at the Hilton Addis Hotel, reports, DAWIT ENDESHAW, FORTUNE STAFF WRITER.
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