Ethiopia: Birtukan Mideksa step-down from UDJ President

by yeEthiopiaforums

Afrik:

Birtukan Mideksa, a renowned former judge and leader of Ethiopia’s powerful opposition party, Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) has decided to step-down from her influential presidential position at UDJ, four months after she was pardoned  and freed from a life person term.
Ethiopia’s youngest and charismatic opposition party leader has revealed her decision to retire from active politics in the latest edition of Awramba Times, a local Amharic language newspaper.

The 36 year old Birtukan Mideksa confirmed to the newspaper that she had asked her party to organise a general assembly to elect a new person to replace her as president.

Birtukan mideksa

Ethiopia’s most powerful female politician Birtukan Mideksa

According to Amnesty International, Birtukan Mideksa had become a prisoner of conscience after she was rearrested a few months ahead of Ethiopia’s national elections last year.

Her arrest dealt a severe blow to her followers and injured her party’s influence in the widely criticised 2010 elections which saw the ruling party, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), grab 545 seats in a landslide victory that left only two seats for opposition parties in the 547-member parliament.

A Few days after the opening of the new parliament, the EPRDF government pardoned Birukan for a second time.

Birtukan who led the vibrant opposition alliance in the run up to the 2005 elections was accused of fomenting violence after that year’s general elections and sent to jail after judges found her guilty on treason charges. And after reportedly signing a plea, regretting the crimes she was accused of, she was released alongside senior members of her party in September 2007.

But Mideksa was re-arrested and sent back to prison on 28 December 2008 to continue her life sentence after she failed to report to the Addis Ababa Police Commission to deny a reported slur on the conditions of her release during a trip to Sweden. She is believed to have indicated that her pardon was a result of political negotiations and not a favour from government.

Birtukan Mideksa has since her release, in October 2010, refused to talk openly about her time in prison or her political future. It is believed that her freedom came with preconditions that indirectly bars her from a full political engagement.

One Party

After Birtukan’s second sentence, Ethiopian opposition decried a plan by the ruling party to create a single party in the country, ahead of the 2010 elections; a plan that observers believe reflects the current political representation of the Horn of Africa country’s parliament.

Ethiopian observers have indicated that the political atmosphere in the country is not conducive for Birtukan or her party to remain fully operational. Some argue that unless she leaves Ethiopia UDJ will be bogged down by the conditions of her pardon.

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5 comments

Hope Kiya Kebede January 28, 2011 - 4:38 pm

it is time

Reply
Geberye M. Wossenseged January 28, 2011 - 5:18 pm

she lost her credibility the moment she find herself agains her word. she has no moral high ground to lead others.i believe none of them has the moral ground to lead us including brhanu and hailu shawel, the lied between their teeth

Reply
Paulos Gebre January 28, 2011 - 10:13 pm

Geberye,
You need to ask yoruself if you have done anything meaningful to advance democarcy in Ethiopia before you have the moral authority to critisize Birtukan who has sacrificed so much. Hypocratical people like you are diseases that hinder progress and try to discredit others without doing anything constructive themselves. Birtukan is an inspiratinal leader who has paid unbelievable sacrfice and has shown great courage facing a brutal and uncivilized regime. Anyone who tries to blame her for asking apology under her cirumstances is either an ignorant fool or a woyane supporter trying to discredit her. Ethiopians are not stupid and won’t buy such a cheap propaganda.
We respect whatever decision Birtukan takes as she has already done more than anyone can reasonably expect.

Reply
Abiy Molla January 31, 2011 - 1:48 pm

It’s possible that she is fueled by fear

Reply
Alg January 31, 2011 - 9:29 pm

I agree paulos she has done a lot

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