EPRDF council elected Hailemariam Desalegn as the leader of EPRDF and will become Prime Minster of Ethiopia after sworn in the Parliament. The council also nominated Demeke Mekonnen Minister of Education and head of Amhara National Democratic Movement, as his deputy.

Bereket Simon will give press conference shortly.

We will keep on updating this page when we get more information. Stay tuned.

Statement from EPRDF website.

Official says Ethiopia's ruling party has named as its leader acting Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who took over after the death last month of longtime leader Meles Zenawi.

As chairman of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front, Hailemariam, 47, will almost certainly be confirmed as the country's prime minister. Bereket Simon, Ethiopia's communications minister, said Saturday that Hailemariam would be sworn in soon, perhaps in a few weeks. It remains unclear exactly when this will happen.

Hailemariam's ascension to the ruling party's top leadership signals that he is not just warming the seat for someone else and that influential party officials are keen to respect the wishes of Zenawi, who picked Hailemariam from obscurity and made him foreign minister and deputy prime minister.