Record Number MPs Vote against Daniel Kibret's Place in Media Board

Mar 12 , 2020.

Daniel Kibret, an advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), has earned a place in legislative history for receiving the highest number of votes against his nomination as a director of the board of the state-owned Ethiopian Press Agency.

Out of the 285 members present today, 126 MPs voted against his nomination to continue serving as a director of the state-owned Ethiopian Press Agency. There has not been such a large rebellion registered in parliament since 1995.

The administration presented nine directors before parliament for confirmation, including Awelu Abdi, as board chairperson of the Agency. Awelu's, a member of parliament himself, received a no-vote from 20 MPs.

Awelu has an academic background as a mathematician and is currently pursuing post-graduate studies in economics. Awelu was an advisor to the president of the Oromia Regional State, the deputy director of the Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), and the head of the Oromia Jobs Creation Office.

Other nominations to the Agency were also approved, including Obang Metho, Manyazewal Endeshaw and Wodajeneh Meharene (PhD). The most resisted, however, was Daniel's nomination because some MPs argued his religions bias would stand in the way of him representing all religions in the country.

PUBLISHED ON Mar 12,2020 [ VOL 20 , NO 1037]