October 30, 2024
borkena
Toronto – The Tigray region politics has always been tricky since the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) entrenched itself in the region. Since August of this year, the political image that was projected was one that magnified division between two factions within the organization. One of the factions was under Getachew Reda and the other one was under Debretsion Gebremichael.
It appeared as if conflict between the two groups was inevitable to the point that the region’s security forces under Tadesse Worede had to issue a warning. Despite Getachew was the de jure interim president in accordance with the Pretoria agreement, the Debretsion faction was strongly demonstrating a sense of entitlement and went to the extent of “removing” Getachew Reda as the Interim president of the region. Fourteen other members of the interim administration were also removed.
Yesterday, something unexpected happened. Getachew is exiting the position as interim president without the need to announce resignation. In a statement he announced on his social media page, he stated that Tadesse Worede will be acting interim president of the region.
The decision is in effect as of October 29, according to a brief letter that Getachew Reda wrote. No explanation is given why Getachew had to do that. There is no indication as to when Tadesse Worede’s power as acting president is ending or whether Getahew will be returning as interim president.
It was Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that named Getachew Reda as interim president of Tigray as per the Pretoria agreement which ended the war between the TPLF and the Federal government. At this writing, the Federal government did not remark on Getachew Reda’s decision to name Tadesse Worede as acting president.
The new twist among the power players in Tigray has triggered speculation that the Getachew’s decision could be an outcome of a political arrangement within the organization.
What is known so far is that Getachew;s decision came just a day after a reported closed meeting with Debretsion.
“There is nothing like a close conversation,” Getachew Reda wrote on his social media page on Tuesday, and shared a picture of him with Debretsion Gebremichael and one other person (whose name is undisclosed) between them. He also gave credit to those (he specifically referred to ethnic Tigreans) who were working to mediate – the two groups. There are reports that the meeting took place last week.
Some who claim to be close to politics in the Tigray region of Ethiopia tend to see no meaning in it. They say “there is nothing [agreement] on the ground.”
The TPLF was reportedly divided in August over the 14th congress of the organization and registration with the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. But the basic cause is believed to be, as many tend to do so, the Pretoria Agreement.
Tadesse Worede has not remarked about his appointment as acting president of the Tigray Interim Administration.
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