September 2, 2005
Ethiopian Review

The Ethiopian Democratic Unity Party (EDUP-Medhin) central committee met all day and night yesterday to come to an agreement on whether to hold the party's general assembly that is scheduled for Sep 17, ahead of the CUD merger on September 24.

EDUP-Medhin is one of the four parties that make up the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), which was created in February 2005.

After a long, heated debate, the EDUP central committee decided with a 16-13 vote to hold the general assembly.

The debate started when the leadership proposed that the scheduled EDUP general assembly be canceled since the party will no longer exist after September 24, when the CUD becomes a unitary party.

Previously, it was expected that the current EDUP top leaders will continue in the CUD-central committee, but lately, there is a growing frustration among the rank and file members who are saying that the EDUP top leaders are not representing the majority's view in the CUD council.

There is also a widespread resentment toward the top leaders who agreed to the proposal that EDUP would send only 18 representatives to the 60-member CUD central council, while the much smaller parties, Kestedemena and EDL, who have a handful of members and were created just a few months ago, can send 12 representatives each. They are concerned that the new CUD leadership will be filled by new comers whose stands are not well known to the public, while those who have been at the forefront of the struggle for several years will be sidelined. Many are also puzzled by the rush towards merger, while the public's focus is on getting back their stolen votes.

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