Ethiopia: Election of Tigray: Beyond Challenging the Central Government

09/12/2020 Business, Ethiopia



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The Tigray Regional State, on September 9, 2020, held its regional elections that many said were an act of unprecedented defiance of the Federal Government, while the Tigray Election Commission also claimed they were “successful.”

The election came amid mounting tension that gained momentum at the emergency meeting called on September 5 by the House of Federation (HoF) that quietly kept its agenda to approve decisions on the election in Tigray. The way the HoF itself called the meeting, being different in the unusual way, alarmed the Tigray Regional State about a possible decision to intervene in the election by the federal government; Tigray pre-emptively announced that any such move would amount to a “declaration of war.”

The HoF’s decision was not as immediately alarming as expected; however, the upper house still rules that the election is “unconstitutional” and in violation of article 9 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and the result would be “null, non-binding and not applicable. “Regardless, Tigray went ahead to run the election with an estimated more than 85 percent voter turnout before noon, Muluwork Kidanemariam, Commissioner of the Tigray Election Commission in his telephone conversation with Addis Standard.

Muluwork Kidanemariam, Commissioner of the Electoral Commission of Tigray

“The vote went very well, we assume that the vote was successful with more than 97 percent participation of the preliminary estimate; [some] polling stations had 100 percent turnout, “said Muluwork Kidanemariam. According to him, competing parties ran for 152 seats in the 190-seat regional parliament. The 38 restored seats were reserved for distribution among representatives of minorities according to the proportion established by the Commission.

On August 6, the Tigray Regional State Council voted in favor of art. 48/2 to amend the regional constitution to allow minority representations to occupy 20 percent of the regional parliament, while the dominant dominant party will own the remaining 80 percent. The amendment changed the First Past the Post clause in the constitution to a Mixed Electoral System.

“The voting process was completed without any significant obstacles and voters have also shown a greater eagerness to exercise their right by going to polling stations regardless of the inconvenience. A female voter who came from a recent childbirth is one of the perseverance of the people who portray the Counting of votes in all 2,672 polling stations has been completed and her results are also published accordingly. The results and material are being returned to 38 centers in electoral regions.

The Commissioner is proud that various local and international observers from civic societies and the media have been invited and present. “More than enough of them were present at the polling stations as the government tried to suppress the presence of the media by suspending local and international journalists at Bole International Airport just before their departure to Mekelle.” Muluwork said. According to him, the speech delivered by Prime Minister Abiy the night before the elections has aggravated the people’s commitment to move forward to cast their vote. “As such, the people marched to the polling stations starting at midnight in a gesture of maintaining democratic practice regardless of anti-democratic repression,” he said.

Muluwork was referring to an interview broadcast by the national broadcaster EBC, in which Prime Minister Abiy dismissed the elections as “village meetings and conferences” that should not cause “a major headache” for the federal government. , and ruled out any possibility of a military intervention in the Tigray region.

Update: The government of the #Tigray region congratulated the people of Tigray for participating in the sixth round of regional elections, which it said was “peaceful, free, fair and participatory.”

Muluwork Kidanemariam, head of the Tigray Election Commission, said the BBC’s turnout was 97%. The polls are closed. pic.twitter.com/vcnJqCS3Mk

– Addis Standard (@addisstandard) September 9, 2020

For Muluwork, the maximum and highly coordinated effort exerted by the regional government to mitigate and protect the spread of the Coronavirus throughout the electoral process was an important undertaking. “Great attention was paid to the protection of the coronavirus at all levels of electoral activities.” Different stakeholders, such as community volunteers, business owners, healthcare providers, and government agencies, successfully coordinated efforts in caring for the well-being of voters.

Contested by five parties

The parties competing in Tigay registered to compete in the elections were limited to five, as the other prominent opposition parties refused to participate in the elections by call for registration.

In addition to the five parties, three independent candidates: Haile G / silasie, Gebremichael Godefay and Tewolde Woldu, also stood for election in the Mekelle voting district. Muluwork told Addis Standard that they have been exercising their constitutional rights, but did not make significant promotions on what they have or what would benefit society differently. This individual involvement often works best with prominent and influential people in the community.

The five political parties that participated to take seats in the regional government as seen at first glance are the following:

Tigray People’s Liberation Front / TPLF /

TPLF President, TPLF Logo, and TPLF Election Sign

Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) – President

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front / TPLF / is the ruling party of the regional state of Tigray. Once a dominant member of the defunct EPRDF, TPLF is now confined to the Tigray region, but has not abandoned its principles of revolutionary democracy that combines the developmental state model as its mainstay of economic policy. TPLF believes that Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed is beset by a leadership crisis and needs a comprehensive solution through an inclusive national dialogue.

TPLF received 2,590,620 of the total votes cast, making it the first.

National Congress of Greater Tigrai (Baytona)

Baytona Chair, Baytona Logo, and Baytona Election Poster

Kidane Amen – President

The National Congress of Great Tigrai (Baytona) is a nationalist party seeking a Confederation agreement with / within Ethiopia. between independent states. Baytona believes that the concept of a united Ethiopia is impossible with its irreconcilable in the historical and structural constructions of Ethiopia.

Baytona received 20,839 of the total votes cast, coming in second.

Tigray Independence Party (TIP)

TIP chair, TIP logo and TIP choice sign

Girmay Berhe – President

The main political agenda of the Tigray Independence Party is to create a sovereign and independent nation-state from Tigray. TIP seeks secession from Ethiopia. He says he will fight legally in accordance with the FDRE constitution with the goal of achieving his goal through a peaceful political process. The party has opened an office in Mekelle and representative branches throughout the region.