Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres; 9 May 1955 – 20 August 2012, born Legesse Zenawi Asres) was the Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1995 until his death in 2012. From 1989, he was the chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front, and the head of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Frontsince its formation in 1991. Before becoming a prime minister in 1995, he had served the president of the transitional government of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995...
NationalityEthiopian
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth8 May 1955
CityAdwa, Ethiopia
CountryEthiopia
While all democratic systems are works in progress, ours started rather late and therefore has a longer distance to cover. But democratic transformation for us is not mimicking some facets of Western governance. The focus has been on building institutions of democratic governance.
I think the Eritrean government is aware that any full-scale invasion of Ethiopia along the lines of 1998 could turn out to be suicidal... And we will not respond to any provocation short of all-out invasion. We are already engaged in a much more fruitful war - against poverty.
We believe democracy cannot be imposed from outside in any society. Democracy is the expression of a sovereign people.
The... provisional government unwaveringly believes that it can solve all the present problems together with the broad masses of Ethiopia. However, we can do this only if all the people come out in unison to implement our planned undertakings.
After Nigeria, we are the second biggest black African nation. We are the headquarters of the African Union. We are the only African country that has never been colonized. This is perhaps the last surviving African civilization.
An oversupply of national sentiment is not the problem in Somalia. The problem is a lack of it. The problem is an oversupply of sub-sub-clannish attitude.
I am not worried that the Egyptians will suddenly invade Ethiopia. Nobody who has tried that has lived to tell the story.
Over the years, I've come to recognize that democratization in Ethiopia is not just a matter of choice. It's a matter of national survival. I am deeply convinced that we either democratize and have a good chance of surviving, or if we fail to do so, we disintegrate.
Out of 60 CUD control committee members, the government decided to arrest only 25 suspected of being involved in violence,
I regret the deaths but these were not normal demonstrations. You don't see hand grenades thrown at normal demonstrations,
I have no problem talking to anybody so long as it helps the purpose of peace.
They will not be released and they are accused of engaging in insurrection... they will have their day in court.
The EU report speaks for itself. The statement in my view shows that the mission has turned out to be something worse than a farce, ... We shall in the coming days and weeks see what we can do to expose the pack of lies and innuendoes that characterise the garbage in this report.
As a person, I have never been discourteous or nasty to anybody. I may have stood my ground a bit too directly, a bit too firmly, and I believe I have, over a number of years, learned to be a little less direct.