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From the moment the general elections were postponed due to the global pandemic, COVID-19, the Tigria People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has been insisting that the federal government stick to the original calendar and hold the elections. general. The subsequent June decision of the Joint Chambers to postpone the elections led the ruling Tigray party and the State Council to hold regional elections unilaterally.
Although the disagreement between the federal government and the Tigray region was intensified mainly by electoral issues; Lack of confidence in the new leadership, the lack of a clear transitional framework, ideological disputes, and the unification of the ruling coalition party into a single party were some of the fundamental differences that led to the current tension between the two.
The TPLF was one of the first groups to oppose the extension of the mandate of the current executive and legislative bodies without elections, due to the pandemic. This was followed by the TPLF announcing that elections should be held in due course before the end of September. The TPLF argued that the extension granted by the Chamber of the Federation (HoF) amounts to issuing an unconstitutional lease on the terms of those in office.
On June 17, 2020, the Tigray regional government formed an electoral commission to supervise the organization and procedures of the long-awaited elections. This was the first executive step taken to hold the elections, despite fierce opposition from the central government. On August 4, 2020, the HoF asked TPLF to immediately suspend the electoral process. TPLF refused and announced that it will go ahead with its election.
Under such harsh conditions, the regional elections were held on September 9, 2020. It was not a surprise to many, to say the least. The move was preceded by other events, especially in recent months, which affirmed the serious breakdown in the relationship between the TPLF and the federal government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) and his newly formed Prosperity Party (PP). .
The choice is a first for Tigray in terms of substance and process. As a process, commentators generally praised the Tigray government’s willingness to negotiate with opposition parties on issues such as the ratification of new electoral systems or procedures and a new code of ethics. Likewise, the result of this negotiation process has been praised. The way the electoral commission was elected, a mixed electoral system was introduced, and commentators viewed positively the fair division of financial and media resources between political parties.
This progress in democratization in Tigray is remarkable considering the region’s poor democratic record, including deeply flawed elections, and a one-party politics that has been on display. In addition to expanding political space, commendable efforts have been made to build democratic institutions.
To this end, 2.7 million people who registered to vote in the elections went to 2,672 polling stations to cast their vote. According to the commissioner of the regional electoral commission, turnout in the elections was more than 98 percent.
However, there were also some groups that questioned the fairness of the election. Nathanael Tilahun, assistant professor of law at Coventry University, is among those skeptics.
“The actual electoral process may have been relatively free. But that is a very narrow angle to measure whether an election is free and fair. The TPLF has been cracking down on all kinds of dissent for the past few years, the main critical opposition parties were either banned from participating in the elections or chose not to do so due to the relentless repression they were suffering, ”he said. The reporter via email interview.
“Furthermore, it is a mockery of democracy to think that it could result in one party taking all but one seat on the regional council; Was it really a ‘free choice’? Thus, the legitimacy of the election as a democratic exercise is poor, because it did not take place in an environment of political openness. In my opinion, this election was not a vote for political leadership anyway, but a vote to affirm self-determination, ”he said, questioning the goals of the regional election.
Likewise, one of the parties that participated in the regional election and managed to obtain some 93,495 votes, the National Congress of Greater Tigray (Baytona), said that although the pre-electoral period was promising for the realization of the construction of a democracy and a system An all-inclusive politician in Tigray, the election result was against anticipated hopes, and for this, the party blames the TPLF cadres.
Although the regional ruling party, TPLF, was supposed to play its leading role as the leading party in the region, to ensure the development of a democratic system, it was rather “busy blaming and labeling our members and supporters,” which brings a huge deficit in the election process, said the party’s statement issued on September 17, 2020. Aside from such scam, the party further said that its legal observers were denied entry to the polling stations despite having shown the permits granted to them by the regional electoral commission.
“The ruling party cadres were dedicated to providing misleading and false information. Such actions include going from house to house and telling voters that it is impossible to choose anything other than the bee sign (which is the official TPLF election sign). If they chose another, it will be inconsequential, ”said the Party.
In the statement, the party, on the only seat it has won on the regional council, said that if the seat allocation is based on a calculation, the party does not believe it will get any seats. However, since we respect the vote of the public and if there are other legal mechanisms to interpret the law and resolve that the only seat on the council belongs to us, then we will accept the seat.
Apart from this, Kidane Amene, president of Baytona said The reporter that, his party is “sandwiched” in relation to the only seat on the council. “If we say we do not accept the seat, TPLF will launch a smear campaign against us, as it did with CUD in the 2005 elections, and will portray the party as not respecting the decision of the public. On the other hand, if we accept the seat, it is against the methods of calculating the vote. Therefore, we are divided between the two, ”said the president.
According to Kidane, the pre-election period was relatively inclusive. The allocation of airtime to all political parties to reach the public, the distribution of finances and other related activities went smoothly. However, the different measures taken by the TPLF on election dates and post-election period, make the entire process flawed, which brings a huge “political bankruptcy” in TPLF.
One of the main events that took place after the Tigray region pursued the elections unilaterally was the modification of the existing electoral system. To this end, it can be remembered that the The Tigray National Regional State Council, when holding its ninth emergency meeting on August 6, 2020, amended Article 42, Sub-Article 2 of the Constitution. The article deals with the electoral system of the region. Under the amendment, the electoral system has changed to a mixed electoral system from the previous majority vote electoral system.
Consequently, while 80 percent of the seats are allocated to the existing majority voting system, the remaining 20 percent would be allocated to the new system. In this sense, the number of seats in the regional council would increase from its current 152 seats to 190, where the region’s parties will compete for a majority and mixed vote later.
The rationale behind modifying the existing electoral system into a hybrid, according to the vice president of the region, was to incorporate dissident views in the Council and consider the plurality of ideas. However, the outcome of the election does not prove the case; rather it remained the same with the TPLF taking 100 percent of 80 percent, which is 152 seats and 31 seats out of the remaining 32 seats.
In this sense, many have said that the results recorded in the Tigray election show that changing the electoral system per se it is not a guarantee to establish a democratic system and help the opposition win a considerable number of seats. From now on, many have suggested that the process of building a democratic system must begin first and foremost with a political environment that allows for plurality of ideas and creates a level playing field where all actors can be fairly represented.
