ETHIOPIA: Parliament Unanimously Elects a Female President
Newly elected President of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia (In Grey Suit) with Pope Francis when she welcomed him at the UN Africa Headquarters in Nairobi in 2015 (Image Courtesy)
Following the resignation of President H.E. Mulatu Teshome on Wednesday, 24th October, 2018, the Ethiopian Parliament has elected Veteran Diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Until her appointment to the largely ceremonial post, the 68-year-old Sahle-Work Zewde who is first female president in Ethiopia’s history, was the United Nation’s Special Representative to the Africa Union. She makes history as the fourth female President in Africa after Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia (2006 to 2018); Joyce Hilda Banda, President of Malawi (April 2012 and May 2014); and Ameenah Gurib-Fakim President of the Republic of Mauritius (June 2015 to March 2018).
According to Article 70 of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the President’s nomination is done by the House of People’s Representatives, while a joint session of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and the House of the Federation elects the candidate by a two-third majority vote. The term of office is six years and the elected President cannot serve more than two terms. The highest Executive Powers of the Federal Government of Ethiopia, according to Article 72 of the Constitution, are vested in the Prime Minister and in the Council of Ministers.
The immediate former President, H.E. Teshome Mulatu who hosted the AMECEA delegates to dinner at the Presidential Palace in July 2018 at the conclusion of AMECEA 19th Plenary Assembly in Addis Ababa, took office in 2013. The 63-year-old former President Mulatu is a member of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), one of the four parties of the ruling coalition Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
According to Rev. Fr. Teshome Fikre Woldetensae, the Deputy Secretary General at Ethiopia Catholic Secretariat, the Ethiopian people are happy with the election of a female President in a largely patriarchal community.
“People do have great expectations regarding peace building and the new President has been so much involved in peace and reconciliation processes in the world,” Fr. Teshome told AMECEA Online News via phone from Addis.
“People expect that she can bring that experience to the reality of Ethiopia today,” said Fr. Teshome who attended the inauguration ceremony of the new President in Parliament on Thursday 25th October, 2018, told AMECEA Online News.
President Madam Sahle-Work has previously served Ethiopia as Ambassador to France, Senegal and Djibouti and headed the UN office in Nairobi. It is remembered that in November 2015, she welcomed the Holy Father Pope Francis at the UN Headquarters in Africa, situated in Nairobi, during his historic maiden trip to Africa where he visited Kenya, Uganda and Central Africa Republic.
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
