Backgrounder: Who is Abiy Ahmed, new chairman of Ethiopia's ruling party

ADDIS ABABA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Council of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia's ruling party, on late Tuesday elected Abiy Ahmed as the party's new chairperson.

Ahmed (PhD), who is also chairman of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), is expected to be the next prime minister of the East African country as the outgoing Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's resignation was accepted by the party last month, days after a crippling strike in parts of Ethiopia.

The confirmation of Abiy Ahmed as the new chairperson of EPRDF and soon to be new PM ends more than a month of political uncertainty ever since Hailemariam Desalegn offered his resignation on February 15.

WHO IS ABIY AHMED

Ahmed, 41, former Ethiopian Minister of Science and Technology, is the current chairperson of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), which represents Ethiopia's largest Oromia regional state.

Ahmed replaced the former chairperson of OPDO, Lemma Megerssa, as Chairman of OPDO on February 22. OPDO is one of the four member parties of Ethiopia's ruling EPRDF, which represents Ethiopia's largest Oromia regional state.

Ahmed, who is from Ethiopia's largest ethnic group - the Oromo people -, has PhD in Peace and Security, Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Management and Leadership and earned first degree in Computer Engineering.

Prior to serving as the Ethiopian Minister of Science and Technology, Ahmed had served as the Director General of the Federal Science and Technology Center of Excellence.

Ahmed, who has also a military background in the Ethiopian defense force, had also served as the Deputy Director of the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA).

Within the Oromia regional state administration, where he is currently serving as the Chairperson of OPDO, Ahmed had previously served as the head of the Urban Development and Housing Bureau of the regional state administration.

AHMED AS THE NEW PM

As the four EPRDF coalition members and its affiliate parties currently control all active 547 seats in the Ethiopian parliament, Ahmed's appointment as the next Ethiopian Prime Minister is expected to be approved by the Ethiopian parliament in the next few days.

Analysts are currently tipping Ahmed's election to the premiership position to end, or at least reduce, the recurrent mass anti-government demonstrations in parts of the East African country, particularly in Ethiopia's Oromia regional state where Ahmed has a strong support.

The mass anti-government demonstrations in the Oromia regional state had particularly forced the Ethiopian government to impose a six-month state of emergency rule.

Ahmed, who is relatively the youngest contender to the party's leadership position at the age of 41, is also backed by the East African country's younger generation. Enditem