Endelkachew Makonnen
Endelkachew Makonnen | |
---|---|
Prime Minister of Ethiopia | |
In office 1 March 1974 – 22 July 1974 | |
Monarch | Haile Selassie I |
Preceded by | Aklilu Habte-Wold |
Succeeded by | Mikael Imru |
Personal details | |
Born | 9 September 1927 |
Died | 23 November 1974 | (aged 47)
Political party | Oxford University |
Prime minister
The
All of these actions were made to restore order and help reestablish the legitimacy of the regime in the eyes of the general population. However, as Keller notes, this would have been difficult even in the best of times. Although he had support amongst the older, well-connected members of the military, younger radical elements in the armed forces began to work against him from the moment he took office. Some believe this was Endelkachew's motivation for seeking alliances with moderate military officers with bases of support, such as
That same month, 12 or 16 members of the AFCC under the leadership of Colonel Atnafu Abate left that body and called for a meeting of representatives from all of the military units in Ethiopia at the headquarters of the Fourth Division, which was convened 28 June. This new committee became what was to be known as the Derg.
Arrest
The critical event that doomed Endelkachew's administration occurred on 26 June 1974. On that day, a group of conservative members from the Chamber of Deputies petitioned the Emperor for the release of some of the officials that had been imprisoned for corruption. Numerous writers[who?] agree with Keller's judgement that this act "was seen as a clear indication that ruling politicians had no intention of bringing these individuals to justice". The new military committee acted swiftly, arresting 50 more alleged culprits from the ruling classes on 30 June. Within the next two weeks 150 more members of the former government, the current government, the provincial administration, the nobility, and the Imperial family (Iskinder Desta, the Emperor's grandson) were arrested.[4]
Despite continued attempts to retain power, Prime Minister Endalkachew was arrested on 22 July 1974, and the Derg asked Lij
Previous posts
Lij Endelkachew had previously served in a variety of diplomatic and political posts. He was Ethiopian Ambassador to Britain, and later
Notes
- ^ Edmund J. Keller, Revolutionary Ethiopia (Bloomington: Indiana University, 1988), p. 176.
- ^ According to John Spencer, Alem Zewde was his cousin, thus presumably inclined to support Endelkachew. (Spencer, Ethiopia at Bay: A personal account of the Haile Selassie years (Algonac: Reference Publications, 1984), p. 337)
- ^ Keller, Revolutionary Ethiopia, pp. 182f
- ^ Keller, Revolutionary Ethiopia, pp. 183f
- ^ Keller, Revolutionary Ethiopia, p. 184
- ^ Marina and David Ottaway, Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution (New York: Africana, 1978), p. 61