ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 8 — The two houses of the Ethiopian parliament on Monday appointed Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie as the new president.
The appointment followed the end of the term of current President Sahle-Work Zewde after six years of service as the country’s head of state.
The newly-appointed president was sworn in Monday before members of Ethiopia’s House of Peoples’ Representatives (HoPR) and House of Federation as the new leader of Africa’s second most populous nation.
With a diplomatic career spanning three decades, including his role as Ethiopia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Atske Selassie has served as the country’s foreign minister since February this year until his new appointment.
Prior to his appointment as the country’s foreign minister, he also held the position of foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Zewde was elected as Ethiopia’s first female president in October 2018.
In his acceptance speech following his appointment, Atske Selassie expressed his strong commitment to serving Ethiopia and its people, with a particular focus on fostering national unity and togetherness.
“Deep foresight and patience are the poles of Ethiopia’s endurance. Hence, it is necessary to move forward by moving away from distractive ideas,” he told members of the Ethiopian parliament.
He also stressed the collective responsibility to maintain national harmony to tackle socioeconomic and governance challenges while preserving recent positive achievements.
Atske Selassie also called on Ethiopians from all walks of life to exert concerted efforts towards the realization of the country’s development aspirations.
Addressing a joint session of the two houses, Atske Selassie said the government is striving to achieve 8.4 percent economic growth in the current fiscal year starting July 8. To reach this goal, efforts are being made to address foreign currency shortages, curb inflation, and build a resilient agricultural sector that can withstand the impacts of climate change.
He noted that Ethiopia achieved 8.1 percent economic growth last fiscal year, significantly reducing inflation and creating job opportunities for over 4 million people.
“The government will focus on expanding mechanized agriculture, creating a favorable investment climate, substituting imported commodities, implementing macroeconomic reforms, and improving tax and non-tax collections to meet the target,” the new president said.
Atske Selassie also highlighted Ethiopia’s deepening diplomatic relations with China, which have been elevated to an all-weather strategic partnership. He emphasized that Ethiopia’s engagement with China continues to gain momentum.
He said that Ethiopia’s diplomatic influence in multilateralism has strengthened with its recent entry into the BRICS mechanism earlier this year.
Ethiopia, which operates under a parliamentary political system, grants its president largely ceremonial powers. These include granting amnesty to prisoners, officially opening the annual sessions of the parliament’s two houses, receiving foreign ambassadors, and presenting the country’s annual objectives to the parliament.
In contrast, the prime minister serves as the head of government, with the party or coalition holding at least 51 percent of the seats in the HoPR, the parliament’s lower house, forming the government.(Xinhua)
