ADDIS ABABA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's ruling party Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) will kick off its meeting on Tuesday to elect new party chair.
The EPRDF Council is expected to pick new party chairperson, who will serve as the next prime minister of the East African country as the outgoing Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's resignation was accepted by the party last month, days after a crippling strike in parts of Ethiopia.
According to state media Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC), EPRDF's Council, which will discuss on reports of the Executive Committee of the party, is "expected to fill the leadership gaps after weighing up the reports."
Desalegn, former chairman of the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), took over premiership after the death of Meles Zenawi in August 2012.
Ethiopia's ruling party is a coalition of four parties that are Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and SEPDM.
EPRDF office head Shiferaw Shigute said last week that the meeting had been delayed due to priorities to restore the country's peace and stability.
In addition to endorsing its new chairperson, Ethiopia's ruling party is also expected to elect members for vacant positions following the conclusion of the party's executive committee's meeting, according to Shigute.
Rumors over differences among EPRDF's four member parties have been circulating over the past few weeks after some 88 members of the Ethiopian parliament, which is exclusively dominated by EPRDF and its affiliates, had voted against the recently approved 6-month state of emergency rule.
Shigute, however, downplayed the rumor, insisting that "no individual or party member had opposed the importance of the state of emergency."