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Meles Zenawi’s puppets take their seats in Parliament

Hailemariam Dessalegn, Abadula Gemeda and other puppets were summoned to Ethiopia’s fake parliament yesterday to officially “elect” their {www:puppet-master} Meles Zenawi as prime minister for another five years. VOA reports the daytime realty show as follows:

(VOA) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been sworn in to another five year term at the opening of a new session of parliament. Mr. Meles is expected to begin his term with a government {www:reshuffle} .

Honorable [Ato] Khat-addicted {www:despot} Meles Zenawi has been been appointed as prime minister of the unDemocratic Republic of Ethiopia.”

With those words spoken by Speaker of Parliament Abadulah Gemeda, Mr. Meles officially began his fourth term in office. By the time this five year term is over, the former Marxist guerrilla leader will have been in power nearly a quarter of a century.

His deputy chairman puppet at the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Hailemariam Dessalegn, hailed the prime minister as an international {www:statesman} and leader of the revolution that overthrew the pro-Soviet dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. He spoke in Amharic through a translator. “Our country Ethiopia is changing at a very fast rate and in international forums the man has played a critical role to make sure the rights of Africa are ensured,” he said.

[Solomon Tekalign could not make it to the parliament in time to sing “qindibu.”]

Among Mr. Meles’s first acts is expected to be a fundamental reorganization of his government, possibly as early as Tuesday. Deputy EPRDF chairman Hailemariam is said to be in line for a senior post, but there has been little {www:speculation} in the local press about who may be named to which prominent positions.

{www:Lawmaker}s Monday said even government insiders were only informed of the list at the last moment.

The EPRDF Tigray People Liberation Front and its allies control 545 of the 547 seats in this parliament, in sharp contrast to the last parliament, where there were more than 150 opposition members. Of the remaining two seats, one is held by an independent, the other by Girma Seifu, the lone winner from main opposition Medrek front.

When asked what he hoped to accomplish in his role as voice of the opposition, his answer was blunt. “Nothing. If things continue like this, you can do nothing,” he said.

The opening of the new session has given rise to strong speculation about the {www:imminent} release of opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa. Birtukan was among dozens of opposition activists sentenced to life in prison after the disputed 2005 elections, but she is the only one still behind bars.

She has been named a prisoner of conscience by rights groups, and was listed as a {www:political prisoner} in the most recent US State Department human rights report.

Mr. Meles hinted at the possibility of Birtukan’s release last month at a public forum in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

A {www:clergyman} who has been allowed to see Birtukan in prison said Monday he was aware of negotiations for her release. When asked if he knew when it might happen, he said, “call me tomorrow.”

32 thoughts on “Meles Zenawi’s puppets take their seats in Parliament

  1. Elias,
    What happened to the ethics of journalism? You may not be a professional journalist or someone with relevant capacities but still dosen’t require genius to figure out that its wrong to call a leader of a great country with 80 million people a ‘khat addict’.
    Its perfectly OK to oppose the government and fight for its removal but name callings from someone who run a popular opposition website like you is much disheartening.
    Elias, can’t you disagree respectfully?I hope you can and do a lot better.
    I understand you try to trash the PM and his government but trashing him by extention means trashing Ethiopia,the country that you claim to fight for.It won’t make you more patriotic denying the status he deserves.
    After all,you can’t deny the fact that he is one of the most respected leaders in the world.
    No wonder then,the tarnished image of the nation has been restored ever since his arrival to power.

    Anonymous replies:

    @Selamawi … Yes he is Addicted to Khat .. so what the reporter wrote is correct information … you can criticize Meles Zenawi itself for doing it!! do not deny the fact! …. and of all the things about Meles, you are worried for him being called “Kami”, for heaven’s sake Selamawi!

  2. More than ever, i felt sorry about the fate of my country. I saw what dictatorials regimes do at their very last stage. What will happen after five years?

    everybody knows the previous parliament was by far better than this new parliament. And so we can imagine that the next parliament will be the worest.

    So, what we are waiting for?

  3. Haile Mariam Desalegn is mimicking those Colombia University professors sach and shitz who are a complete embrassement to the University. hail mariam desalegn and et al are the palace dogs they have to bark whenever they see their master sneezes otherwise they will not get their next meal.

  4. I wonder sometimes what ppl care? Look what “Selmawi” wrote. u care about how elias portrayed ur blood-suck’n crime-minister a khat-addict & u moan about it.
    If u ‘ve gut to cry & ask z right Q…then do it for righteous mind reason.
    *when ppl slaughtered on addis street & those crime perpetrators didn’t face justice.
    * when ppl voice stolen in broad-light & all z opposition thrown to jail.
    * when one of the bright star of opposition leader face life sentence for apparently no reason but to cripple the democracy process.
    * when z country run yr to yr in deficit & heavily reliant on foreign aid.
    * when our kids lack proper education.
    * List goes on & on….I wonder if u have heart & one moment to say why all this to our beloved country???

  5. I have mixed feeling about the reign of Ethiopia’s PM Meles Zenawi. I remember when his party took power in the ninties, he was young ,energetic and idealist. He was determined to change the terrible news about his beloved Tigray and as a consequence of that of Ethiopia as a whole. Leading a small family is a hard task as all of us who are head of hoseholds are fully aware of, we can imagine how hard it can be to lead a country with so many different languages and culture. The PM has evolved from an idealist to a pragmatist. Now after 22 years in the leadership postion he is becoming older, tired and pragmatist. I give him a lot of credit for not resorting to killing to solve his political problems as his predecessor Mengistu did.. Also he has made not individuals, but poverty and illiteracy as Ethiopia’s number one enemy.

    I hope and believe that the PM understands Ethiopia lacks checks and balance in the set up protecting the country from excecsses of individuals using their political power to harming the country and it’s citizens. I hope the legacy of the PM will be the one who changed Ethiopia for good. I pray for PM’s good health and clear headedness to do the right thing. GBY

  6. I second Selamawi. When I check for Ethiopian news on ER like a dozen times a day it is always for balanced perspective and seasoned journalistic views. I think Elias is losing that edge every passing day.

  7. Selamawi,
    Stfu! He is no fu*cking leader of the Tigray, let alone a leader of my country. I am getting sick and tired of people like you trying to justify the unjustifiable. Now, go buzz off bozo where you belong!

  8. I do not support drug-addicted individuals at leadership position, too. But may be some of them are more responsible than unqualified politicians and journalists.

  9. Melese = Prime Minister
    Aba Dula = Speaker of the house
    Hailemariam Dessalegn = TBA
    Azeb = well Azeb is Azeb.

    Nothing changed they just playing Musical chairs with Meles as a conductor.

  10. I would love to say some thing about disagreement which is nice when to innocent and good persons discus about any thing but when it comes againest Meles(the ethnofasist)who has killed,torture,Harased and jaield so many ethiopians should never get any kind of respect.I would never read if any body who tells me he is the PM of my mather land Ethiopia I rather want to be told the truthe That every ethiopian knows he is noy elected to be honest he is not even an ethiopian thats why we are loosing our land to Sudan,Eritiria and etc.He is the murderer who should be treated like one.God bless ethiopia.Death to TPLF and hodams.I dont think the western media called hitler at the leader of German they calle him the dictator.

  11. ‘khat addict’
    yes,this is the perfect expressive title.
    from the very begnng he promised to feed the Ethiopian people 3* per a day with in 5 years.now ,at the end he promised to succeed a transformation plan with in the same period of time.he promised last month at CU that this was the last term for his power. now he elected for another (five years) term.etc. all these are the side effects(results)of “MIRKANA”(Khat)
    Abo Ela yimechih. don’t give your ears to
    messengers. not to yahoo but to Meles messangers.

  12. He sworn to keep killing the country while his loyal donkeys in here and there praising and elevating him as their holly man
    His hands are very ugly and are very similar to the devils hand.
    Criminal Meles is possessed by the evil spirit. If you see his hands it wont take you too long to realize that this man is evil
    Criminal Meles God damn you, you are DURYE, LEBA AND DEREK.

    Elias you are doing a great job in exposing the true face of this animal. We really appreciate your effort and struggle. We will support you bro

  13. #1 Selamawi,

    You must be kidding absolutely!

    Are you not ashamed deep down to your bones and insulting the intelligences of this forum in defending your master and saying that calling such a ruthless one man totalitarian brutal highway robber a khat- addict is impolite?

    How many journalists and media persons have the dictator killed, removed from jobs, jailed, expelled from homes, communities and country? And you think that calling such an imaginable master criminal human rights violator a khat -addict is to hard.

    Why do you want Elias to be a home slave like you and the so called despot Meles’s absolute rubber stamp current parliament for a man who enslaved, robbed, impoverished, dehumanized and reduced the 80 million proud Ethiopians to a hopeless none entity of desperate beggars living on international handouts?
    Do you know the fact that now days the name “Ethiopia” generally means the land of the beggars.

    All these after some 20 years of the dictator’s brutal misrule and bad governance where his closest friends and family members are made to swim in mountains of material and financial abundances.

    As I see it from the outside, ER’s popularity is not based on being a toothless puppet bull dog licking the dirty toes of a globally known master criminal human rights violator, but in defending all those whose whose voices are being 100% suffocated and their natural human right being brutally violated.

    “Oh shame, where is thy blush?” ~William Shakespeare wrote centuries ago.

  14. Elias, would you please commit suiccide?
    Most Ethiopians feel good about their country after you dead.You are the most destructive ” journalist” of ethiopia of present time.

  15. It is a great shame for all Ethiopians of good manner that the benevolent people of Ethiopia are governed by barefaced liar for a quarter of a century.
    The guy( Meles Z.)prepared his loyal persons and appointed them beforehand so that he could be endorsed as a “prime minister”. He is ambitious enough to stay in power for another thirty years unless and otherwise people power bring him to fall.
    Now he has acquired the full power to reshuffle, to fire and hire in every institutions be it business, industry, academics,finance,military,etc.
    Meles is using the Ethiopian treasury, capital and resources to corrupt and buy people in inland and in abroad,foreigners as well as native people.
    So what must be done to avoid any harm haunting on the sky of Ethiopia?
    I leave the solution to activists and fighters.

    God save Ethiopia forever!

  16. thank you so much Elias for fixing the news as it supposed to be….you are always the man! it is true that tplf criminal and terrorist group leader is crime minister meles and his HODAM puppets…

  17. Selamawi!
    This Khat addicted blood sucker dracula is not the leader of the 80 million Ethiopians. He is the killer of the 80 million Ethiopians. May be he is leading his narrow minded Tigreans, not the others. Elias! please find more stronger term to discribe this ‘murderer of the century’ than the term ‘Khat addicted’.

  18. The problem is you in Ethiopia and you are a wolf Woyaner you will never be a Sheep(Selamawi)but just try with your an ugaly cheap metod old trick.You destroyed our home already and we know full you will never came on your well sense.
    The only way to get out you of this road are just to fight you untill we covared power cheer into Arat Kilo by the people of Ethiopia.
    Teagist Mesfin

  19. Selamawi,
    I saw your comment about the ethics of Journalism and a call for to disagree respectfully. Alas! save your breath brother as Elias is a rude,unrefined and insenate person who does not care about ethics. The only person he talks with respect is the other brutal dictator of eirtrea his role model.
    Elias could not learn how to respect people at this age as he was ill-bred person from the outset “Balege Yasadegew” If he got some lesson let him read an article posted by the title NETSA YALWETA YENETSANET TAGAY’

  20. These junks like Meles and Co came with a torn jacket and a body resembling like anorexic and now they are Billioners.Wey Agere Ethiopia.Tigrians please stand up.Meles is destroying the country in your name.

  21. I have a question for Selamawi and other EPRDF supporters: What is the difference between EPRDF Central Committee and the Parliament?
    Such an arrangement can only happen in the world of addicts. “Khat Addict” is very appropriate for Meles. He doesn’t deny it. He loves it. That is why he creates fictitious scenarios and forces us to believe. He has a reality of his own which is basically derived from a consciousness in the Khat addict world.
    I heard Solomon, Kindibu, on a video clip shouting in support of Meles. He was saying “Bye bye poverty – bye bye dihinet”. It is true that he might have a reward for what he is doing. That might have helped him and his fellows in saying “Bye bye to poverty”. He doesn’t look into the 80 million citizens suffering under the hardship of Meles’ rule. This can only happen to Khat addicts. So, it is not only Meles but his blid supporters like Selamawi and Solomon are Khat addicts.
    Elias: keep up your aggressive journalism. Things that should not be tolerated need not be tolerated. Well done!

  22. Dear Elias,
    I am neither EPRDF member nor a supporter or Tigrean for that matter.
    It is also true I am not in the opposition camp either.
    I am simply a humble citizen watching the players of both camps fight from the sideline.
    Then again you come to the fore-front of the fight with this popular website of yours.Running a website with many frequent visitors must be a huge responsibility.One of your them must be to set a good example to your vistors so we follow your steps.
    Remember,every citizen has a right to fight its government if it oppresses its subjects and that includes you.Infact its a noble thing to fight injustice and oppression.There are so many things to do that including sacrificing your own precious life but name calling is not one of them.You have been calling people that you are at odd with all kinds of names ever since your arrival to the spot light.Name calling dosen’t take the fight even a step farther but rather make the people question the integrity and credibility of the news you are posting not to mention it makes you less professional.
    I strongly urge you to stick to the substance and issues at hand that people care about but not name calling.
    If there is a website that I admire most,it will be the ‘www.awate.com’.This website is one of the most frequented website in the Eritrean society and it belongs to the ardent supporters of the opposition groups.There was no one time though,the team went out of its way to call Issaias names that infact he deseved most.They always use the word Mr president and its not that they respect him but the position he is holding rather.The position leaders hold belongs to the people and it must be respected.
    Elias,
    I admire your tenacity despite the fact you still need to learn the 101 of politics or decency for that matter.

  23. it is clear that for Ethiopian peopel and others countries that Birtuka Mideksa will realease after Woyane garanted 2010 fake election ,But one thing is clear Truth is the winner she have standing for human wright and Democracy.She is suffrring but the frut is still reflecting all over the world.She is elected as a leader of democracy and humanwrigt in Ethiopia more than 80 millions of peopels heart.

    God bless you and your famliy and Ethiopia.

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