Sackings and dissent in ruling party

Key members from the Meles Zenawi’s Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been dismissed following internal dissent within the party. Ethiopian government sources told the BBC that Meles’s position was not under threat, but admitted that there had been “internal dissent” over the past few weeks. Division amongst leaders and politburo members of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPDRF) - of which the TPLF is the leading political party - had centred on criticism of the prime minister’s policies. Key members of the TPLF opposed Meles’s reforms, and accused him of “selling out to capitalism and bowing to western powers”, rather than remaining loyal to the Marxist ideology that brought the TPLF to power, the BBC said. The row between pro-Meles reformists and the conservatives also focused on Meles’s handling of the conflict with Eritrea, and access to ports.
The Ethiopian newspaper ‘Ethiop’ said on 21 March that the TPLF had sacked top party executive members, including: Siye Abraha, former defence minister 1991-95; Gebru Asrat, president of Tigray Regional State; Abay Tsehaye, adviser to the prime minister; Tewolde Woldmariam Desta; Alemseged Gebreamlak, adviser to the prime minister on political affairs; Aregash Adane, director of social affairs at the prime ministers office; and Hasan Shifa, a former police commissioner. Leading TPLF members who have continued to support Meles include Kinfe Gebremedhin, internal affairs minister, and Seyoum Mesfin, foreign affairs minister, the Ethiopian weekly ‘Mebrek’ said on 22 March. The government has made no official comment on the sackings, but the BBC said anonymous government sources had said that the dissenting members were “free to return to the committee.”