Ethiopia’s four-member ruling coalition party – Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front,( EPRDF), is gearing up for the upcoming elections scheduled for 2020. As a major step towards consolidation, it has announced its merger into one single party. The announcement was made at an Executive Committee meeting held recently. The decision will be placed before the EPRDF’s 180-member council for its approval shortly. According to political observers, the council that meets every six-months is expected to endorse the unification. The idea of the Ethiopia Prosperity Party, EPP, is one of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s internal reform efforts to streamline the coalition’s decision-making structure.
The structure of the coalition till the announcement, consisted of four main parties and five other satellite parties. The four main parties included The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF),The Oromo Democratic Party, (ODP)The Amhara Democratic Party, (ADP).andThe Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement, (SEPDM).The Front also has satellite parties across the five other regions such as the Somali Democratic Party (SDP), parties representing the Afar, Gambella, Beinshangul Gumuz and Harari Regional States.
Fikadu Tessema Political and Civic Affairs head, EPRDF, said that the objective of the merger was to build a democratic and inclusive system in line with the current situation in the country. only the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, TPLF, was opposed to the merger plans, he added. The ruling Front has announced its plans to hold elections as scheduled, despite the protests from opposition parties and the rising inter-ethnic clashes.
