Ethiopia's parliament has elected Mulatu Teshome to be the country's new president for a six-year term, replacing Girma Wolde-Giorgis.

"Following the opening of the new parliament, a joint session of the House of Representatives and House of Federation elected Ambassador Dr. Mulatu Teshome as the President of Ethiopia," the foreign ministry said in a statement issued on Monday, AFP reported.

He served as Ethiopia’s ambassador to Turkey until his appointment. He has also served as Ethiopia's ambassador to China and Japan as well as Ethiopia's minister of agriculture.

"I feel honored to be the fourth president of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia," Mulatu said after taking the oath of office, and vowing to fulfill "the country's development strategies."


The outgoing Girma Wolde-Giorgis first took the post in 2001 and was reelected in 2007.

In Ethiopia, the office of presidency is a largely symbolic and ceremonial post and real power rests in the hands of the prime minister.