Ethiopia: election in the regional state of Tigray, contested by the federal authorities

Tigray region in Ethiopia (illustrative image)

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2 min

It is an election day in Ethiopia on Wednesday, but only in the Tigray region, in the north of the country, on the border with Eritrea.

The regional government, in open conflict with the federal authorities of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, decided to hold a legislative poll against all odds, ruling that the official postponement of the election at the national level due to Covid-19 was not that a "pretext" of the head of government to remain in power.

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The Tigray enters the unknown this Wednesday.

For months, the federal authorities, be it Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed himself or the national electoral commission, have demanded that the September 9 ballot not be held.

They denounce an "

unconstitutional

 "

operation 

and

threaten to " 

punish

 " the regional government of the rebel province

.

And yet, in Mekele and in the Tigrayan countryside, we will indeed vote this Wednesday.

A handful of political parties are vying to elect their MPs.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled Ethiopia from the fall of Mengistu to the coming to power of Abiy Ahmed in 2018. And two nationalist parties, which will be watched closely, since they have positions more radical than the TPLF on the question of a possible independence of Tigray.

Addis Ababa's response should be a non-recognition of these elections and no doubt the blocking of federal subsidies in Tigray, which represents half of the province's budget.

Abiy Ahmed recently said that military intervention to prevent the ballot would be " 

foolishness

 ", an opinion that some senior federal army officials are said to disagree with.

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