The Ethiopian Parliament elects the Foreign Minister as the country’s new president

MADRID 7 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Ethiopian Parliament has elected the current Foreign Minister, Taye Atske Selassie, as the country’s new president, replacing Sahle-Work Zewde, whose mandate expired at the end of the month amid his rift with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In a message published on the social network

Selassie – Foreign Minister in February and former Ethiopian ambassador to the United Nations – thanked Ahmed for the appointment, who explained that one of the purposes of the change is to “consolidate the institutions.”

The country has a parliamentary system that leaves most powers in the hands of the prime minister and Parliament, which is why the position of president is largely symbolic. Sahle-Work, who was Ethiopia’s first president, replaced Mulatu Teshome Wirtu after the president resigned.

Sahle-Work has received criticism for not addressing sexual and gender violence in the context of the conflict that broke out in November 2020 in the country between the Army and the Tigray Popular Liberation Front (TPLF).