Johannesburg (People's Daily) - Ethiopian parliamentarians on Thursday unanimously appointed, for the first time, a woman, Sahle-Work Zewde, as the president of the country, after the resignation of Mulatu Teshome. 

File photo: AFP

On Wednesday, Mulatu Teshome, an alumnus of Peking University, decided to resign, after holding the post since October 2013.

The Ethiopian parliament opened a special session on Thursday. In a unanimous vote, Ethiopian lawmakers picked career diplomat Sahle-Work Zewd, 68, to replace Mulatu Teshom, who resigned in unclear circumstances.

Sahle-Work Zewde becomes the fourth head of state in Ethiopia since the adoption of the 1995 constitution. This law provides for a president to be elected for up to two six-year terms. She was until then the special representative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the African Union (AU). Previously, she was ambassador to France, Djibouti, Senegal, and the Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (Igad), the East African regional bloc. 

The Ethiopian government is trying to enhance gender equality. In the new cabinet of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, half of the posts are held by women.

Sahle-Work Zewde is the second female president in the history of Africa, and the only woman currently holding that post.