Ethiopia’s Parliament Elect First Female President

Ethiopia’s parliament has elected a senior diplomat in the person of Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president, the proceedings of the process were showed on state television, strengthening another shift in the country’s political system from Abiy Ahmed the Prime Minister.

Sahlework Zewde, emerged the first female president after President Teshome submitted a letter of resignation on Wednesday to the country’s parliament.

Meanwhile, according to the media reports, Teshome’s resignation comes after a political Cabinet reshuffle by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that began last week and has seen half of the country’s ministerial seats occupied by women.

The Prime Minister appointed 10 female ministers, making Ethiopia the third country in Africa, after Rwanda and Seychelles, to achieve gender parity in their cabinets in the recent time.

This took place because the office of the Prime Minister leads Ethiopia’s government and policy base on their constitution.

Teshome, who is currently 63 years, took office in 2013 and had often spoken for a more democratic and inclusive government in the Horn of Africa country, which has faced political upheaval and unrest for many years.

According to the media report, the Ethiopian parliament’s two houses converged extraordinary session on early Thursday to approve the resignation request by Ethiopia’s President Mulatu Teshome.

Sahlework Zewde is present working under UN Secretary-General and she is a special representative of UN Secretary-General to the African Union.

As of the time of this report, she has been elected to replace Mulatu Wirtu Teshome, who tendered his resignation to parliament earlier on Wednesday.

This confirmation led to her becoming the fourth president since the ruling EPRDF coalition came to power.

Sahlework Zewde accepted the appointment quoting that “When there is no peace in the country, mothers will be frustrated. Therefore, we need to work on peace for the sake of our mothers,”

Although, the presidential position is a ceremonial one in Ethiopia, is the prime minister who is the head of state, holds executive power.

Abiy’s the chief of staff also expressed feelings through twitter handle quoting below;

“In a historic move, the two Houses have elected Amb. Shalework Zewde as the next President of Ethiopia. “She is the first female head of state in modern Ethiopia,” Fitsum Arega, Abiy’s chief of staff, said on Twitter. “In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalizes women as decision-makers in public life.”

According to Teshome statement, he is departing one year ahead of his term ending, because he wanted to be part of change and reforms.

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