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Meles Zenawi

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Meles Zenawi
1st Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Incumbent
Assumed office
1995
PresidentGirma Woldegiorgis
Preceded byMengistu Hailemariam(As head of the ECP)
Personal details
Born300px
May 8, 1955
Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia
Died300px
Resting place300px
Political partyEPRDF
SpouseAzeb Mesfin
Parent
  • 300px

Meles Zenawi (Legesse Zenawi Asres) (Ge'ez መለስ ዜናዊ meles zēnāwī) (b. May 8, 1955) is an Ethiopian politician and the Prime Minister of the country since 1995.

Background

Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's most controversial leader, was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia. He received elementary education at the Queen of ShebaSchool and completed Secondary School in 1972 at the General Wingate School in Addis Ababa. He joined the Medical Faculty at the Addis Ababa University (former Haile Selassie University) where he studied for two years. Meles Zenawi interrupted his studies in 1974 to join the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Rise to power

The TPLF was one of many armed groups struggling against the dictator, Colonel Lieutenant Mengistu Hailemariam. Zenawi was elected Leader of the Leadership Committee in 1979 and Leader of the Executive Committee in 1983. He is now chairperson of both the TPLF and the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since 1989. EPRDF is an alliance of the county's four main political parties coming from the Amhara State, Oromo State, Southern Nations Nationalities & Peoples State and Tigray State.

Upon defeat of the Military Regime known as Derg of Mengistu Hailemariam, Meles Zenawi became the Interim President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995. Meles Zenawi was then elected as Prime Minister and Dr. Negasso Gidada as President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995; following the first elections, that was heavely boycotted by opposition parties. International Election Observers concluded that had opposition parties contested, they could have won seats. In 2000 Meles was elected Prime Minister as well as 2005.

However, in 2005 the Ethiopian elections have been the most contested and the most controversial in Ethiopia's short democratic history. But it was the first multi-party Ethiopian election in the country's near 3000 years of history. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was elected into office again after the heavily contested elections, the top favorites being the EPRDF and CUD (Coalition for Unity and Democracy). [1] More than 30 other political parties participated in the election.

Criticism & scandals

provide references

Although the aftermath of the election led to small violence initiated by the opposition party, it received an enormously unproportional & chaotic response by the police forces. Some opposition parties blamed the government for the violence. At the end of the demonstration, six police officers & 193 protestors were dead showing both the violent nature of the protestors as well as the irresponsible action & illiterate nature of the police force.[2] This led to many rounds of accusations between the government and the protestors where the Information Minister Berhan Hailu said the government was "sorry and sad", but blamed the violence on the CUD.[3] The opposition parties have continuously accused the government of a massacre. EU election observers concluded the election failed to meet international standards for a free and fair elections while the Carter Center concluded the election was fair but with many irregularities and a lot of intimidation by both sides especially the government.[4] An inquiry on the violence claimed the property damage caused by the rioters and protestors in Addis Ababa & other cities totaled to 4.45 Million Ethiopian Birr, including 190 damaged Buses and 44 cars as police officers tried to restrain the rioters. Some EU observers have also shown their discontent at the post election violence and suggested that the police response was unproportional.

The main opposition party's (CUD) leaders are in jail for an alleged attempt to overthrow the government and initiating the post election violence. All of these charges are denied by CUD leadership both in Ethiopia & international, and the European Union continues to plea for the political prisoners to be released.

On October 18, 2006 an independent report said Ethiopian police massacred 193 protesters in violence following May 2005 disputed elections. It said that 193 people had been killed, including 40 teenagers. Six policemen were also killed and some 763 people injured.[5]

Police records showed 20,000 people were arrested during the anti-government protests. It has further been reported that the protesters were unarmed yet the majority died from gun shots to the head.[6]

Political offices

Currently, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is serving as co-chairman of the Global Coalition for Africa. He has also been involved to end the civil wars in Sudan and Somalia, with talks with Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Somalia‘s Interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

International Honor/positions

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, despite running a 3rd world country, has received various international awards for setting up a good foundation for the development of Ethiopia. One of these was the World Peace Prize for PM Meles Zenawi's contributions for global peace and his effort to stabilize the Horn of Africa through cooperation with Inter-Governmental Authority for Development(IGAD).[7] In addition, PM Meles Zenawi received the 2005 Yara Prize for Green Revolution for initiating a good foundation for economic progress in Ethiopia, particularly on the agricultural sector. During the award ceremony held in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on September 3rd, the director of the UN project for Africa said, "With our support, Ethiopia can lift itself from poverty and hunger. Under Prime Minister Meles the country has created the grass roots structure to enable this to happen.” [8] Also in 2004, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom appointed Prime Minister Meles Zenawi as one of the Commissioners taking part in the Commission for Africa.[9] Prime Minister Zenawi served as the Chairman of the Organization for African Unity (OAU, now the African Union - AU) from June 1995 to June 1996.

Education and personal life

Prime Minister Meles acquired a First Class M.A. (Masters of Arts) in Business Administration from the Open University of the United Kingdom in 1995 and a MSc. (Masters of Science) in Economics from the Erasmus University of the Netherlands in 2004.[10] The Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has also received many Honorary Doctorate Degrees from the same Universities. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is married to Azeb Mesfin and is the father of three children. Azeb Mesfin is now the chair of the Social Affairs Standing Committee.

His hobbies include reading, swimming and playing tennis.

References

  1. ^ Election results with detailed map of Ethiopia
  2. ^ Inquiry on post-election violence
  3. ^ Post election violence
  4. ^ Post election comments and conclusions
  5. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6064638.stm
  6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6064638.stm
  7. ^ [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200207/16/eng20020716_99777.shtml World Peace Prize award for Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi]
  8. ^ Yara Prize international award
  9. ^ Commission For Africa
  10. ^ More information on Meles Zenawi

See also

Meles Quotes

Government websites

Speeches:audio

Press samples

Opposition Party websites

New title
Derg Overthrown
 Prime Minister of Ethiopia
1995 - 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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