Ethiopian Prime Minister asks Tigray region to nominate new leader to ease political tensions

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AP) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asked people in the northern Tigray region to nominate the latest federal government move to weaken political divisions and prevent the war from returning to the war.

The nominee will replace Tigray’s interim president Getachew Reda, whose disagreement with former leader Gebremichael separated the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and led to armed soldiers loyal to Gebremichael taking over the main town.

There are concerns in the region that the political division within the TPLF could lead to a mature civil war, just like that ended after the end of 2022 and signed a peace agreement.

Since last year, the party has been calling for the firing of Reda and others, trying to appoint a new group of recognized candidates and remove him and some cabinet members from party membership.

Earlier this month, armed soldiers loyal to the party took over governments in key towns, including the region’s second largest city, Adigrat, which Reda called a “coup”, and as the conflict escalated, he fled to the capital, Asdis Ababa.

Ethiopian analyst William Davison said changes in leadership may ease internal strife in the near future, but there are still many challenges.

“The new leaders in the region still have no leverage to convince the federal government to restore lost territory in the war, and failure to achieve this is likely to lead to ongoing political unrest within Tigray, and serious contempt for Addis Ababa could lead to new conflicts,” he told the Associated Press.

Ahmed, who used social media posts on X platform on Wednesday to get the name of a potential nominee, has been holding talks with Reda and TPLF’s leadership in Addis Ababa to end the political deadlock.

TPLF Vice Chairman Amanuel Assefa said the Prime Minister’s decision to ask the public to nominate candidates instead of candidates selected by the party violated the Stop Hostage Agreement (COHA).

“We know that the Prime Minister has agreed to the candidate nominated by the TPLF, so if he tries to unilaterally reject it, it will be against Coha,” Assefa told the Associated Press.

The top candidate for the TPLF is the current vice-chairman of the Interim Government, Lieutenant General Tadesse Worede, who he calls a competent and experienced politician and military professional who has served as commander of the partisan military force, the Tigrey Defence Force.

He added: “The other question is how the Prime Minister intends to determine whether the public nomination is provided by the Tigra people.”

Ahmed told lawmakers last week that he hopes the renewal of the interim government term will be extended by one year to coincide with the national elections to be held next year.

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Associated Press journalist Amanuel Gebremedhin contributed to the report.