ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Office of the Council of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling party, revealed on Wednesday that it will elect its chairperson next week.
The new party chairperson is expected to be the next prime minister of the East African country as the outgoing Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's resignation was accepted by the party last month, days after a crippling strike in parts of Ethiopia.
Desalegn, chairman of South Ethiopia Peoples Democratic Movement (SEPDM), took over the Premier position after the death of Meles Zenawi in August 2012 who was also chairman of Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF). Both SEPDM and TPLF along with OPDO are coalition partners in EPRDF.
The election process, which is scheduled to start after the conclusion of the party's Executive Committee meeting on March 11, is also expected to evaluate the implementation of previous decisions by the ruling party's four coalition member parties, according to state news agency ENA, which quoted EPRDF Office Head Shiferaw Shigute as saying.
According to Shigute, the meeting of the Executive Committee of the ruling party was delayed due to priorities to restore the country's peace and stability, saying that it is "a prerequisite to respond to any of the public demands."
In addition to endorsing its new chairperson, Ethiopia's ruling party is also expected to elect members for vacant positions following the conclusion of the party's executive committee's meeting.
The Council is also expected to decide on the postponement of the general assembly to August, which was previously scheduled to be held in March.
Widespread rumors that suggest differences among EPRDF's four coalition member parties have been circulating over the past few days after some 88 members of the Ethiopian parliament, which is exclusively dominated by the ruling party, had voted against the recently approved 6-month state of emergency rule.
Shigute, however, downplayed the rumor insisting that "no individual or party member had opposed the importance of the state of emergency."
The ruling party is a coalition of four parties that are Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM).
EPRDF has been ruling the East African country for the past quarter of a century succeeding the Communist government of Mengistu Hailemariam and the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE). Mengistu is currently in exile in Zimbabwe.
