Azeb Mesfin arrives in Rome; Sebhat Nega back on the TPLF saddle

Ethiopian Review has received information that Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi’s wife, Azeb Mesfin, went to Rome, Italy, last night. Two days ago, we had reported that she received an Italian visa.

It is believed that Azeb left the country to escape from Sebhat Nega whom she forced out of the ruling party’s top leadership in 2009 [read here]. She also kicked him out of his chairmanship of the multibillion-dollar conglomerate named Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) around the same time.

Ever since Meles Zenawi’s absence in the past two weeks, Sebhat Nega has been trying to come back as the TPLF kingmaker. It was Sebhat who engineered Meles Zenawi’s rise to power and he was the second most powerful figure in the ruling party until he was humiliated and kicked out by Azeb.

Sebhat is said to have the support of key TPLF leaders, including Tsegaye Berhe, Abay Woldu, Gen. Se’are Mekonnen, and Getachew Assefa, among others.

Sebhat Nega has no interest to replace Meles Zenawi, according to observers, but he wants to restore his honor and reclaim his status as the kingmaker.

Although Meles’s choice as the next TPLF chief is Berhane Gebrekiristos, Sebhat is vehemently against it, our sources said.

In the midst of all this power struggle inside the ruling party, the regime currently has no leader. The so-called “deputy prime minister,” Hailemariam Desallegn, is a puppet with no power. He is currently in China to attend some meeting. That could be an excuse for him NOT to get caught in the middle of a potentially bloody power struggle among his TPLF masters.

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