Challenges Ahead For Ethiopia as 2021 Polls Loom
Ethiopia is set to hold its sixth general election for members of the federal parliament and regional councils on June 5, 2021. Despite the upbeat expectations, the June elections face serious challenges. The's party system is extremely volatile, weak and fragmented. Moreover, the elections will take place amid the upheaval in Tigray, one of the country's 10 federal regions. However, Girmachew Alemu writes for The Conversation that there are many reasons to be optimismistic.
Firstly, several exiled opposition politicians and political parties are allowed to operate inside the country. Secondly, a new electoral law has set out new rules for political party registration. These have had the effect of pushing out a large number of weak and fragmented political parties from the party system. Thirdly, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia is now accountable to the House of Peoples' Representatives, the federal legislative house. And, in a significant compromise between the ruling and opposition political parties, a prominent former opposition politician and political prisoner, was appointed by the House of Peoples' Representatives in late 2018 to lead the board.
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Ethiopia:
Next Poll Could Be More Competitive, But Big Challenges Remain
The Conversation Africa, 8 February 2021
Ethiopia is set to hold general elections for members of the federal parliament and regional councils on June 5, 2021. It will be the sixth such elections, and another chance for… Read more »
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Ethiopia:
No End to War in Devastated Tigray
AfricaFocus, 8 February 2021
"It feels strange to write about a humanitarian crisis in this day and age with barely any pictures, videos or witness testimonies from the ground. But that is what the situation… Read more »
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Ethiopia:
Govt Approves 'First Step' Towards Tigray Emergency Assistance
UN News, 8 February 2021
UN agencies have received approval from the Ethiopian Government for 25 international staff to provide humanitarian assistance inside the country's conflict-torn Tigray region, the… Read more »
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Ethiopia:
Researcher Calls On Ethiopians to Foil Hidden-Hand Enemies' Agendas
Ethiopian Herald, 7 February 2021
Ethiopians should stand in unison irrespective of religious and ethnic differences in a bid to foil the hidden -hand agendas of enemy quarters in relation to Ethio- Sudan border… Read more »
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Ethiopia:
Germany Continues to Deport Ethiopians Despite Tigray Crisis - Advocacy Groups
DW, 5 February 2021
German authorities sent asylum-seekers back to Ethiopia last year despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and the Tigray conflict. Opposition politicians and human… Read more »
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Ethiopia:
Foreign Policy Shift By the New U.S. Administration and Its Impact On Ethiopia
Ethiopian Herald, 7 February 2021
As I have indicated in my pervious contribution, despite the baseless remarks that the election in the US is rigged the four years legacy of Trump's thumped administration ended on… Read more »
InFocus
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Some people in the Tigray region have resorted to eating leaves and others have reported that camps for the displaced have been infiltrated by armed actors , a UN Refugee Agency ... Read more »
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The Ethiopian government says it has arrested suspects who they say are responsible for recent attacks on civilians. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had earlier appointed a national task ... Read more »
The Ethiopian parliament in session (file photo).