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· Ethiopia will hold the parliamentary election on June 5, according to the electoral board of the country. The news assumes importance as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeks to quell political and ethnic violence in several regions
· There are complaints from growing number of people that Abiy has been postponing the elections due early last year to continue in power
· While Abiy merged three main parties in 2018 to form the Prosperity Party, Tigray region, which mostly ruled the roost in the country, refused to join.
Ethiopia will hold the parliamentary election on June 5, according to the electoral board of the country. The news assumes importance as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeks to quell political and ethnic violence in several regions. There are complaints from a growing number of people that Abiy has been postponing the elections due early last year to continue in power. But Ethiopian government sources assert that the elections were postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Abiy founded the Prosperity Party, a pan-Ethiopian movement by merging three political parties. The country has a federal system
with 10 regional governments. There are border disputes among these regional governments causing boundary disputes and unrest. Unlike what happened in Tigray region, most of the unrest are at low levels; but can trigger at any point of time.
The troubles that broke out in Tigray region had attracted world -wide attention when thousands of people died and close to a million fled to other countries in the midst of fighting between Federal and regional forces. Tigray in September held its own elections in September against the dictum of the Federal Government, which was declared null and void subsequently.
The national elections of Ethiopia were postponed on the ground that it coincided in the midst of the pandemic. For nearly 30 years or so, before Abiy Ahmed assumed the office of the prime Minister, Ethiopia was ruled by a coalition of four ethnically based movements dominated by the party from Tigray. They were autocratic regimes, where right to dissent was almost unknown. During this time, there were bloody protests, which had taken a heavy toll of lives. While Abiy merged three main parties in 2018 to form the Prosperity Party, Tigray region, which mostly ruled the roost in the country, refused to join.
