Hailemariam Desalegn, 1965–, Ethiopian political leader. Trained as an engineer, Hailemariam held various positions at Arba Minch Univ. (1989–2000). A member of Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), one of the four parties in the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), he served from 1995 to 2008 he served in the House of Federation and on the regional council for the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, and was the regional council president from 2001 to 2006. In 2008 he was first elected to Ethiopia's House of Peoples Representatives, and later served (2010–12) as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs under Meles Zenawi. Chairman of the SEPDM from 2002, he became vice chairman of the EPRDF in 2010. On Meles Zenawi's death in 2012 he became acting prime minister of Ethiopia, and subsequently became prime minister and EPRDF chairman. Ongoing unrest that began in 2015, primarily involving the Oromo and Amhara, led him to resign those posts and as SEPDM leader in 2018.
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