• Veteran diplomat said to have criticized Abiy Ahmed’s release of armed opponents
• TPLF seen as split on approach of new Prime Minister after its leadership changes
• UN representative also recalled with 5 months left of Ethiopia’s Security Council term

The recall of Ethiopian diplomat Berhane Gebrekristos from Beijing reportedly came after he criticized aspects of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reformist approach during a recent meeting with the Ethiopian community in China.

The Ambassador, a veteran of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front’s liberation struggle, spoke about how Abiy’s administration was departing from some of the ruling party’s principles, an attendee from the business community said.

“Berhane started by talking about the change being initiated and led by the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front itself, but said there are signs of the new Prime Minister going away from the path of long-held EPRDF principles: revolutionary democracy, and a federal system that created an inclusive and just order in the country,” they said.

“That move threaten the hegemony of the four-party EPRDF, which controls all federal and regional parliamentary seats”

The July 7 event at the Embassy with the business community of around 150 people was to celebrate the 27th anniversary of the the downfall of the Derg. Berhane’s general discontent with the direction of the EPRDF under Abiy was confirmed by an Ethiopian diplomat who was also present.

Broadly, Revolutionary Democracy means a vanguard party organizing mass participation in politics and development, as opposed to a pluralist liberal democratic model. Abiy has released political prisoners, criticized authoritarian practices such as systemic torture, and promised to open up the political system. That move threaten the hegemony of the four-party EPRDF, which controls all federal and regional parliamentary seats.

The businessman said Ambassador Berhane also expressed disquiet about some of the releases, which have included Andargachew Tsige, the deputy leader of Patriotic Ginbot 7. “Abiy could be used as tool by our enemies who have been waging a propaganda war on us and by openly advocating armed struggle. Freeing people who were engaged in armed struggle and declared as terrorists was way out of the party’s line,” he said, summarizing Berhane’s concerns.

TPLF divided on Abiy?

The TPLF is seen to be split over Abiy, whose nascent premiership is proving hugely popular with Ethiopians across the political spectrum at home and abroad, as well as winning praise from international partners. Some senior figures such as Seyoum Mesfin and Sebhat Nega are believed to strongly oppose him, while others like Chairperson Debretsion Gebremichael and former politburo members Arkebe Oqubay and Azeb Mesfin seem to back the young Prime Minister.

Abiy, who is chairperson of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organisation, was elected by the EPRDF Council in late March after three years of civil unrest in Oromia and elsewhere. Many of the TPLF Central Committee are thought to have voted for Shiferaw Shigute in the EPRDF Chairperson election, while some TPLF politburo members reportedly spoke out against Abiy when the candidates were assessed. Abiy received 108 votes, Shiferaw 59 and Debretsion two out of the votes split between the four EPRDF parties.

Tirfu Kidanemariam, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Australia and a former TPLF Executive Committee member and fighter, has spoken publicly of her support for Abiy’s strategy. She was said to have been displeased with some senior party figures when her husband, Abay Woldu, was removed as TPLF Chairperson in November and Tigray Chief Administrator in mid-January.

Azeb, Meles Zenawi’s widow, was removed from politburo and as Chief Executive of the TPLF-tied EFFORT conglomerate in November. Abiy appointed her to the board of the Metals and Engineering Corporation in May. Arkebe has a critical role as Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on infrastructure and chair of the Industrial Park Development Corporation’s board.

While some analysts claim elements of the TPLF are stirring up trouble for Abiy, others believe the party has accepted a diminished role in the federal government and is focusing on improving its administration of Tigray.

Permanent Representative to the UN Tekeda Alemu was also recalled this month even though Ethiopia’s two-year stint on the Security Council runs until the end of the year. There have been no explanations of the career diplomat’s departure.

Berhane served as Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s Special Envoy with a ministerial rank. He then replaced Seyoum Mesfin in China in August. Seyoum is also a liberation veteran and was a long-serving Foreign Minister, who had been in Beijing since 2010. He is believed to still be the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the Middle East after being appointed in December by Hailemariam, while there is a suggestion Berhane and Tekeda have retired.

Berhane was a State Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2015, Permanent Representative to the EU from 2002 to 2010, and Ambassador to the U.S. from 1992 to 2002. In Brussels he helped organize medical care for Meles, who was going there for treatment for eight years, and was by the Prime Minister’s side when he passed away in 2012, according to a political analyst and a former Ambassador to Ethiopia.

During the struggle, Berhane represented TPLF in the U.S. and Europe, rallying support from a series of posts after joining the movement in 1976. He headed the diplomatic mission in the Foreign Relations Bureau of the EPRDF from 1988 until 1991.

Main photo: Berhane Gebrekristos. Credit: The Ethiopian Herald

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