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Ethiopia: Leadership Crisis Boils Over in CUD
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The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
15 December 2007
Posted to the web 17 December 2007
Bruck Shewareged
Hailu Shawel, chairman of the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), this Tuesday wrote a letter to the party's Supreme Council in which he suspended five leadership members. He accused them, among other things, of engaging in divisive acts which he said weakened the country, the party and the struggle in the democratization process and added that they would remain suspended until a final decision is given on the accusations leveled against them following an investigation by a committee comprising of impartial members of the Supreme Council.
The five leadership members whom Hailu suspended include Birtukan Mideksa, Berhanu Nega, Gizachew Shiferaw, Hailu Araya and Biruck Debebe [Kebede].
In his statement, Hailu stressed that future actions that should be undertaken by CUD should be limited to securing the [certification for the] party's legality and release of imprisoned party members as well as opening CUD offices that had been closed.
Hailu's accuses his former colleague and fellow inmate Dr. Berhanu Nega of fomenting the division within the party.
The two men have been at loggerheads with each other ever since their release from prison in July 2007. Dr. Berhanu has made statements repeatedly calling for "democratization" of the party leadership while Hailu Shawel has accused him of insubordination and incitement against the leadership.
Recently, Dr. Berhanu openly stated on Pal Talk that the party leadership, which is now divided into the two men camp, must go on separately on their own. He said that it is now unnecessary and useless to try to bring reconciliation between the two groups. He defined "reconciliation" as not spotling at each other and explicitly ruled out sitting together, sorting their problems and start working together like before.
Regarding Berhanu's statement on Pal Talk about the need for going on their separate ways, Hailu said Berhanu's "hidden agenda" to divide the party into two has come out in the open.
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Hailu said that right after their release from prison efforts should have been made to call for the party's Supreme Council meeting and strengthen the party's leadership but instead Berhanu's faction had started spreading divisive statements about "imprisoned" and "unimprisoned" members which left the party's leadership weakened.
Hailu also blamed Berhanu's group for holding illegal meetings. He cited as an example the failure to extend an invitation to him to attend a CUD meeting in Washington DC even though he was in the city at the time.
His letter also accuses this faction of opening an account illegally for an individual which have led to embezzlement of the party's fund. Moreover, Hailu accused them of acts of defamation against senior members of the party.
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