Following the fall of the Derg in 1991, the then Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Abuna Merkorios, was dethroned in circumstances that remain under dispute. Patriarch Abune Merkorios and his supporters maintain that he was forced from office by the new EPRDF-led government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and its supporters, while his opponents maintain that the Patriarch abdicated following numerous protests against him by the faithful. His attempt to reverse his abdication was refused by the Holy Synod of the Church which authorized a new Patriarchal election. Abune Paulos was elected in 1992, and Abune Merkorios and his supporters went into exile, establishing a rival synod in the United States. The enthronement of Abune Paulos as Patriarch was fully recognized by all the canonical Orthodox Christian Churches, including the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Patriarchate in Alexandria, Egypt.