Ethiopian ex-president, ex-minister join opposition

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - A former Ethiopian president and a former defence minister have joined the same opposition party, strengthening it against a government accused of suppressing critics before national elections in May.

Negaso Gidada, president from 1997 to 2001, and Seye Abraha a former rebel leader who became defence minister for four years from 1991, joined the Unity for Democracy and Justice party (UDJ) on Thursday.

The UDJ is part of an eight-party coalition called Medrek, or the Forum, that most Ethiopians view as the most significant threat to the government at the ballot box. The UDJ's leader Birtukan Mideksa, 36, has been in prison since last December.

"Our joining the UDJ sends a signal that we have to work hard for the unity of the country and the Ethiopian people," Negaso told Reuters, adding that if Ethiopian political parties were not ethnically diverse then the country could split.

Ethiopia has about 80 ethnicities and parties have traditionally been formed along ethnic lines. UDJ leaders now come from the three most prominent groups.

Seye was jailed for corruption in 2001 after falling out with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and, after his release in 2007, he became a vocal opponent of the government, which has been in power for nearly 20 years.

"POLITICAL PRISONERS"

Meles and Seye come from the Tigrayan ethnic group, who make up just 6 percent of the population but dominate politics.