ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – NOVEMBER 22: Birtukan Mideksa speaks to media after the handover ceremony at the Parliament in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on November 22, 2018. The Ethiopian parliament on Thursday appointed Birtukan Mideksa, a law professional who returned from exile a fortnight ago, to lead the electoral board. (Photo by Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Ethiopia Trusts Opposition Chief, Mideska, to Head Electoral Body
Ethiopian Parliament has chosen a former exile, judge and leading opposition figure, Birtukan Mideska, to head Ethiopia’s electoral board.
This is marking another significant appointment of a woman to a key public office in the Horn of Africa.
Mideska only returned to Ethiopia earlier this month after seven years in exile in the United States.
Ms. Mideska was sentenced to life imprisonment after the disputed 2005 elections.
Now the former judge will oversee the country’s elections in May 2020.
She faces a key challenge in restoring faith in an electoral board that has long faced accusations of being manipulated by the state.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has instituted wide-ranging reforms including making peace with neighbouring Eritrea, freeing political prisoners and welcoming back armed opposition groups that were once in exile.
He has appointed women to half the ministerial posts in his cabinet and last month parliament elected the country’s first female president – Sahle-Work Zewde.
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