There will be a live teleconference interview with former Kinijit Vice President Lidetu Ayalew this coming Saturday, August 12, at 9 PM EST.

Ato Lidetu Ayalew is a historical figure who has a lot to say about the on going Ethiopian politics. He is one of the few individuals who created the May 2005 Ethiopian political tsunami. After the May 15 elections, and particularly after the four parties that made up the Coalition for Unity and Democracy merged to form a unitary party, Ato Lidetu and some of his allies engaged in a bitter intraparty battle that led to his suspension and later withdrawal from the coalition.

Ethiopian Review has been highly critical of Ato Lidetu’s conducts during the infighting, because the main points of contentions were technical in nature and could have been solved through negotiations. If Ato Lidetu and friends thought that they were treated unfairly by the other officials of CUD, their grievances could have been addressed at a later time. As a young politician, he should have stepped back. Because he didn’t do that, he became a tool for the Meles regime.

ER rejects the accusations by some that Ato Lidetu is a Woyanne. It is unfortunate that Woyanne took advantage of his falling out with the other Kinijit leaders, and after he quit Kinijit, Woyanne continued to use him for its sinister propaganda.

As a politician who had a major role in forming Kinijit and mobilize the people of Ethiopia against the Meles dictatorship, it is ER’s hope that Ato Lidetu will reconcile his differences with Kinijit leaders and come back home where he belongs.

Please send your questions or comments to Ato Lidetu Ayalew.

The live teleconference interview is available for ER sponsors only. But the audio file will be posted on Sunday. To attend the teleconference, please send email to [email protected]