Addis Abeba — The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has re-elected Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) as its chairman during the just concluded 14th Congress, held in Mekelle, Tigray's capital for the last seven days.
The Congress, which faced a boycott by key executive members, also saw significant leadership changes within the party.
In a notable move that laid bare the growing schism within the party, the Congress replaced Getachew Reda, the deputy chairman of the party, with Amanuel Assefa, the former head of the Tigray region's justice bureau and chief of the Interim Administration President's office. Amanuel was the chief secretariat of the Congress.
The suspension of Getachew Reda, who also serves as the president of the Tigray Interim Administration, and other key figures from the party's executive committee raises questions about the potential impact on their roles within the interim regional administration. However, the TPLF has indicated that these members could be reinstated if they submit formal requests in writing.
Over the weekend, a separate conference was convened by Getachew and several other key members of the party who boycotted the Congress under the theme "Salvation of the People and the Party". In its 11 points resolution, the conference already declared resolutions of the 14th Congress of the TPLF to be "null and void."
At the start of the Congress, the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has also declared the Congress and its outcomes illegal by for non-compliance with its bylaws.
During the congress, the TPLF also elected a new nine-member executive committee, with only three members - Debretsion, Fitlework Gebre Egziabher, and Dr. Abraham Tekeste - retaining their positions from the previous committee elected into office during the 13th congress of the party in September 2018. Notably, former executive members, including Ambassador Addisalem Belema and Getachew Asefa, former Chief of Ethiopia's spy agency, were demoted from the nine-member executive to the 45-member Central Committee.
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TPLF's 14th Congress also resulted in the election of 45 Central Committee members and a nine-member Party Control Committee.
But it remains unclear whether and/or how the suspension of Getachew from the party affects his position as the president of the interim administration of the region appointed by PM Abiy Ahmed following the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities agreement between the federal government and the TPLF that ended the two-year brutal war in the Tigray region. One day before his appointment by Abiy, the Central Committee TPLF elected Getachew, to lead the incoming interim administration. Getachew received 18 votes out of the 41 members of the central Committee.
