Challenges for Ethiopia’s new leader (International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank)

In a country long dominated by its major ethnic groups - most recently the Tigray people, like Meles - Hailemariam notably comes from the minority Wolayta people, from the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, where he was president for five years.
A close ally of Meles as deputy prime minister and foreign minister since 2010, Hailemariam was elected deputy chair of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), after the party's fourth win, a landslide victory in 2010.
But within the EPRDF, some of the most influential figures hail from the northern Tigray region, members of Meles's ex-rebel group turned political party, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
“Many see (Hailemariam) as a figurehead, part of a gesture by Meles and the ethnic Tigrayans to give more prominence to other ethnic groups,” said Jason Mosley of Britain's Chatham House think-tank.
But the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank suggests Hailemariam's appointment may be “window dressing, designed to placate potential critics, while the Tigrayan TPLF elite keep real power.”
Hailemariam - in Ethiopian tradition, known by his first name, meaning “the power of Saint Mary” - is also a Protestant, the first to lead Ethiopia, and unlike the majority of Ethiopia's Christians, who follow Orthodox traditions.
But others say Hailemariam's position outside the Tigray power base could in fact prove a strength.
Instead, Hailemariam, who studied civil engineering in Addis Ababa, was completing his master's degree at Finland's Tampere University when Mengistu fell.
“We are well aware that development, evenly applied, decreases the probability of political exclusion, social disruption and misery. No one should be ignored. All must be part of the country's democratic decision-making process.”
Like Meles, Hailemariam has praised Ethiopia's close ties to both the West - most notably Washington - and to China, a key trade partner.
Speaking at the opening of the US embassy in Addis Ababa in 2011 he praised the “long-standing and time-tested relationship” with Washington, while he told Beijing's state broadcaster CCTV in July that Ethiopia's “cooperation with China is a win-win approach.” - AFP