Leaderships of the CUPD in exile has finally exploded

The opposition in shreds
Indian Ocean Newsletter No 1199
Leaderships of the CUPD in exile has finally exploded under the weight of its divergences. The friction within the leadership of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP, opposition) in exile has finally led to its collapse. This has led to division within many of its support committees in North America and other countries. Major Yosef Yazew and his partisans (Moges Biruck, Seyoum Solomon, Solomon Bekele etc) accuse their rivals Berhanu Mewa and Andargatchew Tsige of working for the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF, governing coalition).

To prove their case they point out that Berhanu Mewa’s plastics factory in Addis Ababa is still in operation and that Andargatchew’s sister is the wife of the Minister Tefera Walwa. In turn, the Berhanu/Andargatchew faction accuses Yosef Yazew and his friends of embezzling funds, hence justifying their decision to exclude them from the leadership of the CUDP in exile.

Yosef Yazew is supported in Addis Ababa by a CUDP leader, Hailu Shawel, while his rivals in the Diaspora tend to be supported in Ethiopia by Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Berhanu Nega.