Meles holds talks with SADC delegation

Addis Ababa, May 2, 2012 (WIC) - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi held talks on Monday with a delegation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) led by Tanzanian Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Bernard Membe.

Membe told journalists afterwards that the aim of the meeting was to discuss the election of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission scheduled to be held at the upcoming AU Summit in June, in Lilongwe, Malawi.

SADC has decided ahead of the elections in the coming June that South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma be the region’s sole candidate for the post, he said.

According to a senior Ethiopian government official who attended the meeting, Prime Minister Meles on the occasion expressed his desire to see a candidate that unifies the continent.

The delegation also presented a message sent from Angolan President, Edwardo Dossantos to Prime Minister Meles regarding the upcoming AUC Chairperson election.

According to ERTA, Prime Minister Meles is a member of the Committee formed following the AU Summit held in January in Addis Ababa to facilitate the election of AUC Chairperson to be held in the coming June.

It is to be recalled that the contest held last January between incumbent AUC Chairperson, Jean Ping and South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma for the position was postponed as none of the candidates had been able to secure the two-thirds mandatory vote.