AEUP, UDJ sign a pre-merger agreement

Gizachew Shiferaw (Eng.) and Abebaw Mehari

AEUP, UDJ sign a pre-merger agreement

The All-Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP) and Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) parties signed a pre-merger agreement last Sunday at the AEUP office located around Tewodros Square.

The presidents of both parties said that the agreement would pave the way for the total union of the parties.

The new party will have a new name and also a new emblem based on the agreements of the two parties.

UDJ’s President Gizachew Shiferaw (UDJ) and AEUP’s President Abebaw Mehari told the meeting that the merger would be finalized within a period of one month and that the new party’s general assembly will convene some 400 members.

After a statement that the two presidents gave on the signing ceremony, Engineer Gizachew told The Reporter that they had not yet decided whether they would participate in the coming year's national elections. He noted that since the AEUP and UDJ are in the process of merging it is difficult to say anything about the election at present.

They said that the talks between the two parties for the merger had been going on for the past four or five years. 

During the signing ceremony, violence erupted at the gate of AEUP by some AEUP members who demanded first to fix the internal troubles of the party before going on to the signing of the agreement.

However, AEUP's President Abebaw Mehari said that individuals who were not members of the party were not in a position to argue over such issues and accused the ruling party of organizing the troubles and sending individuals to create chaos at the signing ceremony.

As a result of the violence some were injured. A member of the coalition committee and head of UDJ’s finance department, Tsegaye Alamerew, suffered severe physical injury and AEUP’s higher official Demelash Kasaye was also manhandled. 

The two individuals who caused the violence were seized and the UDJ’s public relations head, Habtamu Ayalew, told The Reporter that inside the pocket of one of the individuals a receipt for a monthly payment to the Addis Ababa EPRDF's office was found. 

He added that the individuals were released after they admitted their wrongdoings and asked for forgiveness.

When asked by The Reporter why they did not press charges against the individuals, he said that they didn’t think they would get justice on the matter.