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Thepolitics of Ethiopia are theactivities associated with the governance ofEthiopia. The government is structured as a federal parliamentary republic with both aPresident andPrime Minister. The legislature is multicameral, with a house of representatives and a council. The termpolitics of Ethiopia mainly relates to the political activities in Ethiopia after the late 20th century when democratization took place in the nation. The current political structure of Ethiopia was formed after theTigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) overthrewdictatorPresidentMengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. A general election was held in June 1994 and Ethiopia has maintained a multiparty political environment until today.
The government of Ethiopia is structured in the form of afederalparliamentaryrepublic, whereby thePrime Minister is thehead of government.Executive power is exercised by the government whilelegislative power is vested in theParliament. TheJudiciary is more or less independent of the executive and the legislature. There are 12 ethnically basedadministrative regions and two self-governing administrations; the capital cityAddis Ababa andDire Dawa.
Thepresident of Ethiopia is elected by theHouse of Peoples' Representatives for a six-year term. The prime minister is chosen by the parliament. The prime minister is designated by the party in power following legislative elections. The Council of Ministers, according to the1995 constitution, is comprised by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Ministers, various Ministers and other members as determined and approved by the House of Peoples' Representatives. At the current time, this includes the 20 members ofCouncil of Ministers.
TheFederal Parliamentary Assembly has twochambers: theHouse of Peoples' Representatives (Yehizbtewekayoch Mekir Bet) with 547 members, elected for five-year terms in single-seatconstituencies; and theCouncil of the Federation (Yefedereshn Mekir Bet) with 110 members, one for eachnationality, and one additional representative for each one million of its population, designated by the regional councils, which may elect them themselves or through popular elections.
The president and vice president of theFederal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of Peoples' Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits candidates selected by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council to the People's Representatives for appointment.
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In May 1991, a coalition of rebel forces under the nameTigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF)overthrew thedictatorship ofPresidentMengistu Haile Mariam.[1] In July 1991, the TPLF, theOromo Liberation Front (OLF), the Ogaden National Liberation Front, Western Somali Liberation Front,Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO),Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and others established theTransitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), which consisted of an 87-member Council of Representatives guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. Since 1991, Ethiopia has established warm relations with the United States and western Europe and has sought substantial economic aid from Western countries and theWorld Bank.
In June 1992, the OLF withdrew from the government;[2] in March 1993, members of theSouthern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition left the government. TheEritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), an ally in the fight against the Mengistu regime, assumed control ofEritrea and established a provisional government. Eritrea achieved full independence on May 24, 1993.
PresidentMeles Zenawi and members of the TGE pledged to oversee the formation of a multi-party democracy. The first election for Ethiopia's 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995. Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections. There was a landslide victory for theEthiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).[3] International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so.
The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995. The first President wasNegasso Gidada. The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles promoted a policy ofethnic federalism, seemingly devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically based authorities. Ethiopia today has nine semi-autonomousRegions of Ethiopia that have the power to raise and spend their own revenues.
In 2004, the government began aresettlement initiative to move more than two million people away from the arid highlands of the east, proposing that these resettlements would reduce food shortages.[4]
The ruling party, EPRDF was declared a winner by the election board in 2000, and then again in 2005 amidst protests and riots that led to the death of many Ethiopians. Hundreds of political leaders–some of whom were elected to parliamentary positions– were arrested in connection with these protests.[5] The incumbent president in 2013 wasMulatu Teshome who resigned in 2018.
Human rights organisations have raised concerns over the well-being of some of these prisoners. However 8,000 prisoners have already been freed.[6]
On 5 August 2016,protests broke out across the country and dozens of protesters were shot and killed by police over the following days. The protesters demanded an end to human rights abuses, the act ofland grabbing by the ruling party members and relatives of the higher officials,[7] the master plan intended to expand Addis Ababa onto surrounding zones of the Oromia region including the farm land of oromo people (special zones of oromia around Addis Ababa),[8] the release of political prisoners, a fairer redistribution of the wealth generated by over a decade of economic growth, and a return ofWolqayt District to theAmhara Region.[9][10][11] The events were the most violent crackdown against protesters inSub-Saharan Africa since the Ethiopian regime killed at least 75 people during protests in theOromia Region in November and December 2015.[12][13]
In the wake of significant unrest, the TPLF lost control of theEPDRF, with Prime MinisterHailemariam Desalegn, announcing his resignation as head of the EPDRF in 2018.Abiy Ahmed, who had become Prime Minister after winning the EPDRF leadership elections in April 2018 subsequently dissolved the EPDRF.[14] He replaced it with theProsperity Party, a coalition which includes all former members of the EPDRF but notably excluded theTPLF.[15] This kickstarted a period of growing tension between the government and the TPLF, which culminated in theTigray War that began in 2020.
TheEconomist Intelligence Unit rated Ethiopia an "authoritarian regime" in 2022.[16][needs update]
In the2015 general election, Opposition parties lost the only seat which they still held in theHouse of Peoples' Representatives. TheEthiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies won all 547 seats.[17]
Political pressure groups include the Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy in Ethiopia (CAFPDE)Beyene Petros and the Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Coalition (SEPDC) [Beyene Petros].
The coalition ofopposition parties and some individuals that was established in 2009 to oust at the general election in 2010 the regime of theTPLF, Meles Zenawi's party that has been in power since 1991, published a 65-pagemanifesto in Addis Ababa on October 10, 2009.
Some of the eight-member parties of this EthiopianForum for Democratic Dialogue (FDD orMedrek in Amharic) include theOromo Federalist Congress (organized by theOromo Federalist Democratic Movement and theOromo People's Congress), theArena Tigray (organized by former members of the ruling party TPLF), theUnity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ, whose leader was imprisoned), and theCoalition of Somali Democratic Forces.
Ethiopia held its thirdgeneral election in May 2005, which drew a record number of voters, with 90% of the electorate turning out to cast their vote. While the election was deemed by the European Union election observer team to fall short of international standards for fair and free elections, other teams drew different conclusions. The African Union report on September 14 commended "the Ethiopian people's display of genuine commitment to democratic ideals";[18] on September 15, the US Carter Center concluded that "the majority of the constituency results based on the May 15 polling and tabulation are credible and reflect competitive conditions".[18] The US Department of State said on September 16, "these elections stand out as a milestone in creating a new, more competitive multi-party political system in one of Africa's largest and most important countries."[19] Even the EU preliminary statement of 2005 also said "...the polling processes were generally positive. The overall assessment of the process has been rated as good in 64% of the cases, and very good in 24%".[18]
The opposition complained that the ruling EPRDF engaged in widespread vote rigging and intimidation, alleging fraud in 299 constituencies.[20] The ruling party complained that the main opposition party CUD's AEUP sub party had engaged in intimidation.[21] All allegations were investigated by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia in cooperation with election monitors, a process which delayed the release of the final results. In June 2005, with the results of the election still unclear, a group of university students protested these alleged discrepancies, encouraged by supporters of the Coalition for Unity opposition party, despite a ban on protests imposed by the government. On June 8, 26 people were killed inAddis Ababa as a result of rioting, which led to the arrest of hundreds of protesters.[22] On September 5, 2005, the National Elections Board of Ethiopia released the final election results, which confirmed that the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front retained its control of the government, but showed that opposition parties had increased their share of parliamentary seats, from 12 to 176. The Coalition for Unity and Democracy won all the seats in Addis Ababa, both for the Parliament and the City Council.
In February 2006, UK Prime Minister Blair, acknowledging that the EPRDF has won the election, said he wanted to see Ethiopia resolve its internal problems and continue on a democratic path.[23]
With Ethiopia's national election in May 2010 approaching, some opposition groups begun to hint a boycott, accusing the government of stepping up harassment against them. Despite growing claims of "harassment" and "undemocratic actions" perpetrated by the ruling party, the Forum for Democratic Dialogue (FDD), Ethiopia's biggest alliance of opposition political parties declared in October 2009 that it will contest in the scheduled election.
Gebru Asrat, a former ally of PM Meles Zenawi, said that his party's primary efforts were"to engage in negotiation with the government on key election issues" ahead of the election, but he added that the government was reluctant.
FDD insists to engage in a pre-election negotiation on 10 key subjects, among which the issues of access to the media for campaigning, the supremacy of law, the free access of international observers, the establishment of an independent electoral board and a stop to harassment and pressure on opposition members.
The EPRDF won the 2010 elections by a landslide, taking 499 seats, while allied parties took a further 35. Oppositions parties took just two. Both opposition groups say their observers were blocked from entering polling stations during the election on Sunday, May 23, and in some cases the individuals were beaten. The United States and the European Union have both criticized the election as falling short of international standards. Additionally, the EPRDF won all but one of 1,904 council seats in regional elections.
ACP,AfDB,ECA,FAO,G-24,G-77,IAEA,IBRD,ICAO,ICRM,IDA,IFAD,IFC,IFRCS,IGAD,ILO,IMF,IMO,Intelsat,Interpol,IOC,IOM (observer),ISO,ITU,NAM,OAU,OPCW,United Nations,UNCTAD,UNESCO,UNHCR,UNIDO,UNU,UPU,WCO,WFTU,WHO,WIPO,WMO,WToO.
Scheye wrote in 2010 that significant donor resources are being invested insecurity sector reform in Ethiopia because of donor national interest, even though the country's ruling group is ideologically opposed to the core principles of SSR, and showed, at that time, little interest in justice and security sector development.[24]
The Guardian wrote just before the 2015 elections that "..the EPRDF's relations with donors are a crucial factor in maintaining its position. Ethiopia remains structurally dependent on aid, with the country receiving more than $3 billion a year from theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. However, all indications are that external support will remain strong, regardless of electoral openness. Ethiopia is a key partner for countries concerned about security in the region, especially the US, UK and the European Union."[25]
A group ofEthiopian royalists continue to operate TheCrown Council of Ethiopia as agovernment in exile.
