Abiy Ahmed Peace Prize Winner with Military Offensive – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries

Hundreds of people have died. Many are injured. Diplomats in Addis Ababa told the Associated Press (AP). For a week, government forces have been fighting soldiers from the Tigray region of northeastern Ethiopia.

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last year tries to convince the world that Ethiopia is not headed for civil war.

– The unease over the chaos in Ethiopia is unfounded. Operations will end as soon as the criminal junta disarms, says Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The clashes began a week ago after Ahmed accused the military in Tigray province of attacking federal forces. Regional authorities deny it.

The African Union is calling on the parties to enter a ceasefire, Reuters reports.

– It’s about what Ethiopia should be

Ethiopia’s population is made up of many ethnic groups, but lead researcher Jon Harald Sande Lie at NUPI says that this is not primarily an ethnic conflict:

– It follows ethnic divisions, but the main reason for the conflict is political; the ideas of what Ethiopia is and should be. And it’s about the role of the Tigray region in this, Lie says.

Due to the crown pandemic, this spring’s parliamentary elections were postponed until August, then postponed until 2021. It was not accepted by the political leaders of the Tigray region.

– They made their own choice against Abiy and the will of the government. Then a situation of mutual disrespect arose, says Jon Harald Sande Lie.

The government believes it was an illegal election and does not recognize the Tigray regional government.

Here you can read what the NUPI researchers said about Ethiopia when Abiy Ahmed received the Peace Prize.

The world was worried about America

When the world’s attention turned to the American elections, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was given the opportunity to attack Tigray:

– The government introduced a state of emergency there. They closed telecommunications, internet, electricity and roads in the region, says the NUPI investigator.

He says that there are also currents in the region that want independence. According to Lie, Tigray is a tangle for Nobel Prize winner Abyi’s national project.

“Abiy was seen as a prime minister who could unite a divided nation when he was elected in 2018. He embarked on important reform processes and started peace talks with Eritrea,” Lie said.

The dominant party in Tigray, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), saw its position threatened. They withdrew from government cooperation.

Furthermore, much of Ethiopia’s defense team is located in the Tigray region. The fact that TPLF has taken control of this also represents a great challenge for Abyi and the government.

Has dominated for many years

The Tigray region has 6 million people, but it has had a relatively large influence on Ethiopia, which has a total population of 100 million. The TPLF was for a long time the dominant political group in the coalition that led the country.

That changed when Abiy Ahmed was elected leader of the EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front) coalition government. in 2018, it comes from the Oromo people, the largest ethnic group in the country.

– Abiy has national support for his political project, but I don’t think he has support for a military offensive. Most in the country fear a civil war, says Jon Harald Sande Lie.

He says that it is true that there is dissatisfaction with TPLF, but not necessarily with the people of the region, the Tigrinya. Lie points out that most people in Ethiopia perceive the Tigray people as brothers and ordinary Ethiopians.

When Abiy Ahmed received the Peace Prize, she said that it doesn’t just make her work easier.