Two former senior members of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, including the republic’s first president, have joined the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ).
The UDJ is one of the leading members of the recently formed Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia, which is a coalition of eight political parties.
Ex defence minister, Seye Abraha, and former president Dr. Negasso Gidada, who was also the only independent MP to win a seat in parliament in 2005, are the two new recruits.
Both former Revolutionary Democrats now say the way forward for the nation is for it to focus on individual rights as much as ethnic rights and adopt liberal democracy.
UDJ vice president Gizachew Shiferaw said the party is deeply humbled by the pair’s choice and called on them to guide the party to solve the nation’s enormous challenge that he said resulted from a lack of cooperation among citizens.
Seye Abraha, a former defense minister and former senior figure in the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) youthful rebel army that unseated the communist regime, said last Thursday at a ceremony held at the Ghion Hotel that he is now ready to join a national party.
Dr. Negasso, struggling with tears and emotions as he announced his decision just before Seye, apologised for the remarks he made when the nation’s constitution was first enacted. Negasso explained that saying at that moment that all political parties were fully participating and the process was a democratic one was an outright lie and that he has felt ashamed and deeply regretful of the comment ever since.
However, he said he has been putting in effort to correct the situation and now feels that he can contribute to the nation’s democratic process by joining the UDJ.
The two former EPRDF cadres have long been in the opposition camp after splits from the ruling coalition, but their choice of joining the UDJ was a surprise for many.
Seye was expected to join Gebru Aserat’s Arena Tigray for Democracy and Sovereignty, a party founded by another former senior official of TPLF, while Dr. Negasso, who was a senior member of Oromo Peoples’ Democratic Organisation, a member of the EPRDF coalition, was expected to join current forum members, the Oromo Federalist Democratic Moment (OFDM) and Oromo National Congress, who also announced this week that they would be joining forces.
“Though I cannot talk on behalf of millions of Oromos, I and my party colleagues are not disappointed by Dr. Negasso’s decision to join the UDJ, as I firmly believe that the forum is the best hope of this nation and with the two joining the UDJ, they will be joining the forum too and strengthening it,” OFDM chair Bulcha Demeksa commented to Capital.