Saturday June 20, 2020
Mediators from the elder’s council say no major problem between leaders at the Federal government, and Tigray regional state
Chairperson of Elders Mediation Council, Professor Mesfin Araya
Ethiopian Mediation Council chairperson and his deputies had a press conference on Friday in the capital Addis Ababa.
Rumors that were circulating in social media regarding the Mediation Council’s stay is negative and incorrect, Professor Mesfin Araya and his deputies (Haile Gebreselassie and Pastor Daniel Gebreselassie) said – as reported by the state media Ethiopian News Agency.
Rumors on social media claimed that the mediators were mistreated – something that the Council has dismissed as wrong.
The stay in Mekelle was “good,” they said.
The council also disclosed that it has formally requested the Federal government of Ethiopia and Tigray regional state leaders to resolve the difference between the two levels of government.
A 43 members team of the National elder’s mediation council traveled to Mekelle, Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, on June 16 to approach TPLF leaders with the aim to resolve differences with the Federal government under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s leadership.
The council said the mediation process was started much earlier, but it was interrupted by the Coronavirus situation in the country and the subsequent state of emergency the Federal government declared in April 2020.
“There is no problem with both parties. Their problem is that they could not sit down and discuss their differences,” chairpersons of the mediation council said.
Furthermore, they said that if they hold talks there is a possibility for them to work in agreement while maintaining their differences.
Meanwhile, the Tigray regional state has not reversed its decision to conduct an election in August 2020. National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) chairwomen, Birtukan Mideksa, said when she appeared on state TV sometime in May that only that Board has the constitutional power to organize elections.
Getachew Reda, TPLF spokesperson, remarked this week that there is no constitutional provision that prohibits the region from conducting elections and if the region conducts its own election, the relation with the Federal government will be like Somali warlords