|
LONDON,
June 27, 2009 – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was quoted on
Tuesday as saying he was preparing to step down and that discussions on
the issue had already started within his ruling party.
"My personal position is that I have had enough," Meles, who came to
power in 1991 when his then guerrilla group ousted former Marxist ruler
Mengistu Haile Mariam, said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Meles, whose ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
faces a parliamentary election in June next year, gave no deadline for
his departure.
"I am arguing my case and the others are also arguing their case. I hope
we will come up with some common understanding on the way forward that
would not require me to resign from my party that I have fought for all
my life," said Meles.
"We are not talking about Meles only. We are talking about the old
generation. The party needs to have new leadership that does not have
the experience of the armed struggle."
Meles was hailed as part of a new generation of African leaders in the
1990s, but rights groups have increasingly criticized the
guerrilla-turned-premier for cracking down on opposition in sub-Saharan
Africa's second most populous nation.
Ethiopia's political climate is closely watched by foreign investors
showing increasing interest in agriculture, horticulture and real estate
prospects.
The country is one of the world's poorest, ranked 170 out of 177 on the
United Nations Human Development Index, and one of the largest
recipients of international aid.
Ethiopia sent thousands of troops into Somalia in 2006 to help topple an
Islamist movement holding Mogadishu and most of the south.
That drew protests from some in the Muslim world and enraged the
Islamists, who regrouped to launch an insurgency. The Ethiopian troops
withdrew in January. (Editing by Ralph Gowling)
Source: Reuters, June 23, 2009
|
