OLF leader joins Abiy cabinet, as Tigrayan picked for Defense Minister
Top Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) official Kejella Merdassa has joined Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s new cabinet, which includes a prominent Tigrayan as Defense Minister.
Kejella was nominated for Minister of Culture as part of a historic three opposition party figures gaining ministerial positions in the executive branch of the Ethiopian government. Since the 2018 reform, several high level OLF officials have been selected to serve in Ethiopian government. OLF’s Brig. Gen. Kemal Gelchu was previously appointed as chief of Oromia Security while OLF former spokesman Lencho Bati remains a Senior Advisor to Abiy.
Another notable selection from opposition parties is Dr. Berhanu Nega for Education Minister. Dr. Berhanu was Chairman of the Ezema party, the largest opposition coalition in Ethiopia. However, despite his party winning a handful of seats, he suffered an astounding defeat in the 2021 elections for parliament. With the sudden rise of a new party named Balderas in Finfinne, opposition votes in the capital were split, allowing Prosperity Party (PP) candidates to sweep victories by merely gaining a simple majority.
Prominent ethnic Tigrayan official Abraham Belay has also been appointed for Defense Minister, as the conflict in Tigray continues with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) promising to escalate the war that has already led to massive humanitarian crisis in three regional states. His appointment could possibly moderate government’s response to the rebels, however Abraham previously described the conflict as a “hostage situation” with hundreds of thousands of malnourished Tigrayans, who were dependent on food aid for decades under TPLF rule, now being used as “pawns,” he claimed. UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Gemma Snowdon recently suggested evidences of TPLF diverting aid logistics for its soldiers is the “primary impediment to moving humanitarian aid into Tigray.”
Another prominent ethnic Tigrayan, Gen. Yohannes Gebremeskel Tesfamariam, was previously appointed as head of the security task force in Tigray before the July ENDF withdrawal. Despite accusations of profiling, the government claimed its “law enforcement” operations were managed by Tigrayan transitional authorities. Ethiopian Airlines, the state-owned flagship airline, is also led by an ethnic Tigrayan CEO Tewolde Gebremariam, however rebel supporters have attempted to damage Ethiopia’s foreign currency and economy by tainting the airline’s global image.
Ethiopian parliament approved the 22 ministerial nominations by the PM, with only two votes against.
