Ethiopia: constitutional puzzle around general elections

Text by: RFI Follow

The general elections scheduled for August 30 cannot take place, because of Covid-19 and the technical refusal of the electoral commission, official since March 31. But the mandate of the deputies expires on September 30th. How then, so that the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, from Parliament, can still have legitimacy beyond this date? The deputies decided this Tuesday, May 6.

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The subject of current jokes in Addis Ababa is the Ethiopians' sudden passion for constitutional exegesis. Because of the nationalist tensions that have emerged in the country since the coming to power of Abiy Ahmed has now been added the headache caused by the inevitable postponement of the very important legislative elections of the summer.

Faced with the dilemma, the ruling party proposed 4 options: the state of emergency, the dissolution of Parliament, the amendment of the Constitution or the use of a body with the power to interpret the Constitution.

After weeks of debate, Parliament made a decision on Tuesday: this will be the fourth option. The question is referred to the recommendations of the Federation Chamber, the body responsible for constitutional matters.

But in the meantime, political tensions in the Ethiopian Federation have not abated. The Tigray region, led by the party ousted from power by Abiy Ahmed, announced Monday that it would hold the elections anyway. Its leaders accuse the Prime Minister of using the pretext of the pandemic to stay in power, when his electoral base is uncertain.

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• Ethiopia
• Abiy ahmed

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