Gedu Andargachew has won reelection as the president of the Amhara National Regional State for a third consecutive time, despite earlier reports that he would not continue. He was appointed to the post in 2013, succeeding Ayalew Gobeze who took an ambassadorial post in Turkey. On 2015, Gedu was re-elected as chief administrator of the region. He served in the past as deputy president of the region and head of the agriculture bureau. He remains a popular figure in the region, despite irking certain members of the federal government in his supposed position on the border issue of Wolkait Tsegede and Humera, a cause of contention with the Tigray region. Gedu has been a target of ferocious attacks from media close to Tigray Liberation Front.
Demeke Mekonnen has also been re-elected as president of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), a position that he has held since 2010. He was also re-elected in 2016. He is additionally Deputy Prime Minister and one of the candidates presented to replace the just resigned Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, though many say he has little chance of winning.
In the just ended ANDM’s executive meeting in Bahir Dar town, the party has not made any major change, except allowing Getachew Ambaye, minister of justice to join in its executive Committee to fill the vacancy, caused by the departure of Kassa Tekleberhan who was appointed as Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the US.