UJDP Negotiations Fall Short of Success

By Gubae Gundarta

The dispute between the two groups of Unity for Justice and Democracy Party (UJDP), a faction to which Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam belongs and Engr. Gizachew’s group that is heading the party at the moment, did not come up to scratch.

Yilma Yifru, who has been playing the role of a mediator, told Sendeq Newspaper that peacemaking efforts which began last September could not come to fruition for it was impossible to bring the conflicting parties to a state of total agreement on certain matters of concern. He said the endeavor was dropped when Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam officially announced on the 31st of January this year that he had given up on the negotiations.

Yiliqal Getinet who had been heading the committee of four representatives from Prof. Mesfin’s side indicated that the arbitration efforts formally began in September last year in the hope that a common ground would be found for the two groups to come together again. “A committee was set up to undertake the dialogue,” he noted. “In order to move the process forward common arbiters and missives have been prepared and agreed upon on our side.”

Following the drafting of a different document by the other side, it was impossible to restore the previous unanimity. General Assembly was to be convened as one way of delving into the prevailing irregularities. However, this did not materialize because they did not come to terms as to how it should be arranged. Yiliqal blames Engr. Gizachew’s group for deliberately diverting attention to individual cases thereby bringing the overall process to a grinding halt.

It was Yiliqal Getinet, Debebe Eshetu, Seid Ibrahim, Tamerat Tareqegn, and Sileshi Feyisa who represented Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam’s group for the last five months.

Attempts to talk to Engr. Gizachew on the latest development were unsuccessful.

Sendeq, Amharic weekly