Competing Political Parties Pledge Solidarity on Dam

Addis Ababa, May 28/2020( ENA)Ethiopia’s competing political parties have expressed their commitment to the ongoing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the negotiations.

Ethiopian Parties Joint Council, in collaboration with the Office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation, held yesterday a high level conference aimed at creating national consensus on GERD.

Council Chairman, Musa Adem said on the occasion that the dam will cement the political and social integration of the country beyond generating power.

GERD is one of the key issues about which political actors take a common stand and would not disagree, he noted.

He stressed that political parties in Ethiopia are at a crucial juncture when they need to come  together and defend the country's sovereignty. “GERD has been a symbol of unity and sovereignty. It is high on our list of priority.”  

Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew and Water, Irrigation and Energy Minister Sileshi Bekele briefed the leaders of the political parties on the negotiations as well as the construction of the dam.

Gedu reaffirmed Ethiopia's stand not be governed by a colonial treat and legacy that denies its rights against the right to develop its water resource on the Nile River.

Accordingly, negotiation on equitable utilization of the water resource is imperative that all political parties of the country should support, he noted.

Sileshi, who stated that the overall construction of the dam has reached 73.3 percent, added that Ethiopia will start filling the dam in July,2020 .