Egypt's Sisi Welcome İn Ethiopia: Desalegn

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has asked to visit Addis Ababa, a senior Ethiopian official said Monday.



Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn added that he not only told the Egyptian president that he was welcome to visit, but that he was welcome to visit the country "any time" in the future.  



He told The Anadolu Agency that Egyptian media reports about the lack of Ethiopian interest in a visit to the country by the Egyptian president were not true.



Desalegn, at a press conference in the Ethiopian capital, said such reports were mere "media hype."



Relations between Cairo and Addis Ababa started to improve noticeably soon after al-Sisi came to power in June.  



Relations had deteriorated against the backdrop of Egyptian fears that a Nile dam now being built by Ethiopia would affect Egypt's traditional share of Nile water.



Addis Ababa has sent numerous assurances to Cairo over the dam, saying the project was important for its national development. Cairo, however, has clung to a colonial-era Nile water-sharing treaty that Ethiopia describes as "outdated."



Recently, al-Sisi – who has repeatedly stressed his country's good relations with other African countries – said he was ready to go to Ethiopia and address the country's parliament.



-Hope floats-



The Ethiopian premier, for his part, said his country would not lose hope in helping South Sudan's warring rivals – currently engaged in peace talks in the Ethiopian capital – to reach a settlement.



"We never lost hope and will continue to have hope that the negotiations will be concluded in good faith with good results," Desalegn said.



"It's true there is no clear agreement [yet] between the negotiating parties in terms of the structure of governance that they have to pursue during the transitional government of national unity," he said.



This did not mean, however, that talks had broken down.



A third round of talks between South Sudan's warring rivals was called off on Sunday due to the Christmas holidays.



The fledgling African country descended into chaos a year ago when a group of army officers – backed by sacked vice-president Riek Marchar – attempted to stage a military coup against President Salva Kiir, according to Kiir himself.



Desalegn said the two parties who had adjourned for consultations in Addis Ababa would eventually return to the negotiating table.



"We will see the report and I think, as usual, we will push them to take the right track," the Ethiopian prime minister said.



-Existential issue-



Desalegn hailed multiparty democracy in his country, which is bracing for general elections in May of next year.



"We have a constitutional system where multiparty democracy is mandatory," he said. "Democracy and multiparty democracy are existential issues for the country, [which is] multiethnic, multi-religious and multicultural."



He noted that Ethiopia was a country in which there were many competing interests.



The Ethiopian prime minister added that his government was keen to see multiparty democracy flourish.



"There is no way the government can backtrack from democratic discourse and multiparty democracy," he asserted.



There are more than 90 political parties in Ethiopia, according to Desalegn, which, he said, enjoyed the right to operate legally.



"The ruling party enjoys an advantage in every country," the prime minister said.



"Even though this is a fledgling democracy that needs to be improved every day, we have enough room for parties to exercise their rights," he added.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Addis Ababa