Since the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took power in 1991, elections were held regularly. With the exception of the 2005 election, none have been competitive. Abiy was appointed by the EPRDF as Prime Minister in April 2018 after three years of anti-government protests, promising a series of political reforms, including a credible multi-party election in 2020.
The state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Ethiopian parliament, the House of People’s Representatives, (HoPR) hasapproved a new electoral bill. The Bill has been under review since Prime Minister Abiy came into power in April 2018.The Bill was passed in an extraordinary session convened to discuss and debate the law. The revised law of political parties registration and electoral ethics has been adopted unanimously by Ethiopia’s parliament, much ahead of the expected Elections next year.
The ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF which currently holds all seats in the parliament has expressed its readiness to organize the polls on schedule. The core demand of the opposition parties have been for electoral reforms. Opposition parties argued that their proposed amendments to the bill were ignored by the ruling party. One of the main amendments in the Bill is increasing the number of signatures required to register a national political party to 10,000, from 1,500. Regional parties will need 4,000 signatures, against the current 750 to get registered. The move it was argued will create an environment where political parties can merge and form a front.
A new head of the electoral board has been appointed and international partners including the European Union have pledged financial support to help the electoral process.
Prime Minister Abiy launched a series of political reforms after taking charge last April. These included lifting bans on several parties, releasing political prisoners and journalists, and welcoming back exiled rebel groups. But an attempted coup in June this year and rising ethnic violence across the country has undermined hie efforts raising doubts over the EPRDF’s ability to ensure security and whether the election will be held.
