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- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is sworn in for another five-year term
- Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the northern Tigray region and hundreds of thousands have faced starvation conditions, UN says, tarnishing the Nobel Laureate’s once glowing reputation of peace 2019.
- This year, some opposition parties, notably in Abiy’s native Oromia region, chose to boycott the elections, complaining that their candidates had been arrested and their offices vandalized.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was sworn in to a new five-year term on Monday, but that step risked being jeopardized by growing concern over the war in the north.
“I, Abiy Ahmed Ali, today in the House of People’s Representatives, accept the nomination as Prime Minister, because I am committed to assuming responsibly and faithfully to the constitution the responsibility that is mine entrusted by the people, “he said during his swearing-in. by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Meaza Ashenafi.
Abiy’s Prosperity Party won a landslide victory in the June election which federal officials have touted as the culmination of democratic reforms he launched when he took office in 2018.
Yet by the time voters voted, tens of thousands had been killed in the conflict in the northern Tigray region and hundreds of thousands were facing conditions of starvation, according to the UN, tarnishing the once brilliant reputation of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
Since then, the fighting has spread to the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara as Tigray has fallen under what the UN describes as a de facto humanitarian blockade, raising fears of a massive famine that has left Ethiopia a synonym for famine in the 1980s.
It is not known whether Abiy’s swearing-in will change the course of the war between government forces and the rebel group Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF), which dominated national politics before coming to power.
Abiy’s office, which accuses the rebels of starting the war last November with attacks on federal army camps, said some conciliation measures like declassifying the TPLF as a terrorist group cannot occur only after the formation of a new government.
“The position has been that any change in approach to the conflict with Tigray forces can only happen after a new government is formed,” said William Davison, senior Ethiopia analyst for International Crisis Group.
International partners like the United States, which have threatened to impose targeted sanctions related to the conflict, “will take a close look to see if there is a change in position,” Davison told AFP.
Ahead of Monday’s ceremony, signs bearing a flower and the words “New Beginnings” were displayed throughout the capital.
A mass rally in Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, attended by dignitaries including the presidents of Nigeria, Somalia and Senegal, was scheduled for the afternoon.
“The road ahead can be daunting, but we won’t tire of it,” Abiy’s senior advisor Mamo Mihretu said on Twitter.
Ethiopia’s relations with the international community deteriorated further last week when the Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of seven senior UN officials, including local heads of the UN agency for the childhood (UNICEF) and its humanitarian coordination office.
Officials left the country on Sunday, UN sources told AFP.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed “shock” at this decision and the UN has lodged a formal protest with Addis Ababa.
Western powers feel “abandoned” by Abiy, a dynamic that will shape foreign relations during his second term, said Cameron Hudson, senior researcher at the Africa Center of the Atlantic Council.
“The West is now probably going to revert to a textbook it knows about (…) push where it can, engage where it needs to and stay on the lookout for better alternatives,” Hudson told AFP.
Abiy was appointed after several years of anti-government protests against the TPLF-led ruling coalition and has vowed to break with Ethiopia’s authoritarian past, in part by holding the most democratic polls the country has ever seen.
The coalition, of which Abiy was a member, had claimed staggering majorities in the previous two elections, which observers said fell well below international standards for fairness.
This year, some opposition parties, notably in Abiy’s native Oromia region, chose to boycott the elections, complaining that their candidates had been arrested and their offices vandalized.
No votes were held in Tigray and races for 83 other federal parliamentary seats had to be delayed due to security or logistical concerns.
Last week, the authorities held elections for 47 of these seats in the Somali, Harari and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) regions.
These results, which will not have a significant impact on the balance of power in Parliament, are expected later this month.
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