By EthiomediaVideo
ADDIS ABABA – A congress of the Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party set to meet at the Imperial Hotel on November 28th was cancelled when a group of uninvited expelled members tried to crash the meeting.According to sources, the disruption was led by Professor Mesfin Woldemariam.
The expelled members appeared just before the meeting of over 200 party officials who had come from various parts of the country was to begin its proceedings. When the octogenarian Professor Mesfin and his supporters showed up at the hotel, it was expected that they would seek an opportunity before party officials to make their case.



Instead, the expelled members confronted the UDJ organizers at the hotel, taunting them into a fist fight, and blasting them with verbal abuse. According to eye witnesses, Professor Mesfin refused to vacate the meeting premises and showed his determination to escalate the confrontation unless he and his group of supporters were allowed to enter the meeting hall on their own terms.
A number of cameras from state-run ETV and ENA were strategically located at the hotel to capture video footage of the anticipated showdown. UDJ officials noticing the rare state media attention, and in an attempt to defuse the situation, decided to call off the meeting and left the hotel, leaving the professor and government media crew behind.
The appearance of state-run media at an opposition party meeting was a welcome surprise even though they completely ignored coverage of a major event on November 24 when two political heavyweights - former President Negasso Gidada and former Defense Minister Seeye Abraha - joined the popular opposition UDJ, locally known as Andenet. Birtukan Mideksa, the 37-year-old UDJ Chair and first female party leader in Ethiopian history, remains in prison following her arrest last December on allegations that she had denied receiving a pardon.
Before adjourning the meeting, UDJ officials sought the help of police from the Gerji station but were ignored.
UDJ officials further indicated that following procedure, they had notified in writing the Addis Ababa City Administration about their planned meeting at the hotel and obtained a permit for the event. They also notified the local police station and hand-delivered a copy of the permit two days earlier.
Professor Mesfin and a few other members of the council were expelled from the party in August this year. The UDJ officially informed the Police and the National Elections Board about the expulsion the following month. This was done as a precautionary measure and prevent unnecessary confrontation in the future by the expelled members of the party.
One observer on the scene said that the whole affair seemed to be a set-up: “Someone was hoping for a violent confrontation between the professor's group and UDJ officials. That would give the police an opportunity to show up in riot gear and haul everybody from the hotel to jail.”
A few months ago, UDJ meetings in the towns of Adama and Debre Markos were disrupted by hired thugs of the ruling EPRDF party. Another opposition group, Arena Tigrai, which is countering the ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front in Tigrai region, had its meeting nearly disrupted by thugs associated with the regime.