Ethiopia's ruling coalition completes transition after Meles

Ethiopia's ruling coalition re-elected Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn

as chairman on Tuesday, completing a smooth transition after the death last year of his predecessor Meles Zenawi who kept a tight grip on power for 21 years.

Hailemariam, 47, was appointed premier in September, a month after the death of Meles, who was praised for steering economic growth into double figures but drew criticism from his opponents and rights groups for squeezing out dissent.

Meles's death raised questions about whether his Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnic and regional based parties, would hold together or could come under strain as groups jostled for influence.

Opponents say there is infighting behind the scenes, but there was no indication of major rifts in the four-day meeting of the congress in the northern city of Bahir Dar. Some delegates questioned government policies before a 180-member coalition council voted behind closed doors for Hailemariam.

"The transition has gone smoothly - the first peaceful transition in the history of modern Ethiopia," said J. Peter Pham, director of the U.S.-based Michael S. Ansari Africa Centre at the Atlantic Council think tank.