(Sendek newspaper) Girma Seifu, the MP representing the largest opposition party in Ethiopia accused the

 Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's ruling party of being "too soft" on Egypt.

 According to local media, Mr. Seifu said Ethiopia should not "waste time" defending its right to build the GERD dam since the new Nile basin treaty permits developments in all upstream nations without notice to Egypt.

The opposition MP also accused the ruling party of not priortizing irrigation projects along the Nile river since millions of Ethiopian people need food more than electricity. He suggested building "five irrigation projects alongside the Blue Nile to benefit Ethiopian farmers. "

Mr. Seifu said current negotiations with Egypt are meaningless unless Cairo proposes to pay Addis Ababa billions of dollars annually to compensate the Ethiopian peoples' loss of economic productivity from not utilizing their Nile resource for irrigation and electric power. He also claimed the hydro-dam will help Egypt and Sudan since more electricity for the Ethiopian rural population will reduce deforestation from charcoal use and increase rainfall to the nile.

In the unlikely case of an Egyptian military attack on the dam, the MP recommended the Hailemariam government to keep all options open; including full blockage of the river's flow, attacking the Aswan dam and other targets inside Egypt as well as using chemical contamination as last resort to make the water flowing downstream to Egypt "unusable."

A spokesperson for the ruling party rejected any escalation of the conflict and expressed confidence in finding a peaceful solution.

 "We are embarking on a period of mutual cooperation,” Amr said. “We’re looking to the future

 and I think the future will be very good for both of us.”