Late in the evening, the Central Committee of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has reportedly chosen Getachew Reda, an Executive Committee member of the party, to lead the incoming interim administration of the regional state. Three sources close to the matter stated that Getachew received 18 votes out of the 41 members of the central committee.
This decision is a part of the November 2, 2022 Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed in Pretoria, South Africa between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (GoE), which provides for the establishment of an inclusive Interim Regional Administration (IRA). The IRA will replace the Tigray regional state local government that was elected on September 2, 2020.
Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), the current leader of the Tigray region, was elected as the region’s presidency after receiving overwhelming support by the regional parliament after the regional council election, which the federal government rejected as unlawful. However, sources say that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has declined to accept the TPLF’s recommendation for Debretsion to continue in his position of leadership through the IRA, which has led to the Central Committee’s decision to vote on a new pick in Getachew, a member of the negotiating team from Tigray, as TPLF’s preferred official to lead the incoming IRA.
Getachew Reda, a former professor of Law at Mekelle University, is one of the senior officials of the EPRDF government and had served, among others, as communication minister of the federal government. It remains to be seen whether he will get the green light from the federal government.
