Ethiopian ruling party, opposition draft agenda for talks

Ean 25, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Members of the opposition and the ruling party Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) yesterday drafted an agenda that would enable them to discuss national issues jointly.

Sources told the Reporter in its Amharic edition, that representative of the EPRDF in parliament and the government representative in parliament, Minister Shiferaw Jarso, and senior representatives from opposition parties yesterday afternoon meet at the House of People’s Representatives and discussed the agenda of the next meetings.

Based on this, the ruling party and opposition parties are expected to hold consultative meetings on fundamental national issues soon.

The Reporter tried to talk to members of the opposition parties, but declined to comment on the issue.

The government accused the main opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP), of inciting the violence in a bid to foment a coup d’etat through protests against the May 15 elections, and has arrested the group’s top leadership.

Almost all the CUDP leadership are among a group of 131 opposition supporters, journalists and others facing treason and other charges.

(The Reporter/BBCMS/ST)