Hailemariam Desalegn, who was appointed Ethiopia’s acting prime minister on the death of long-time ruler Meles Zenawi last month, will be formally sworn into office on Friday, officials said. “The party council felt that an extraordinary session should be held on Friday...the two officials, the two chairs who have been appointed, will be sworn in,” government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said on Wednesday, referring to Hailemariam and his deputy. On Saturday, Hailemariam, 47 and a water engineer by training, was elected to the head of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front. Hailemariam comes from the minority Wolayta people, from the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region.