Comprehensive dialogue hailed as promising long-term solutions to political tensions, but format is criticizedBy Addis GetachewADDIS ABABA, EthiopiaEthiopia’s ruling party is meeting Wednesday with the nationally registered main political opposition for a dialogue aimed at long-term stability. Accordingly, about 23 opposition parties sat in discussion with the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) at the office of the government whip in a closed session. “The move is excellent for bringing about durable solutions in the country,” Chane Kebede, head of the Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP), a major opposition party, told Anadolu Agency. But he added, “We did not expect the dialogue to be hosted by the ruling party as it turned out to be. With a ruling party presiding over a political dialogue, the idea of equivalence concerning political parties as practiced in any democratic state would be undermined.

Source: Ethiopian News January 18, 2017 10:35 UTC