Opposition party ban a 'threat' to peace deal

Ethiopia's main opposition party has condemned a ban on its activities, saying it posed a ‘serious threat’ to the 2022 peace deal that ended two years of conflict in the northern Tigray region, reports BBC News. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has called for the African Union to mediate with the federal government after the electoral agency revoked its legal status as a party. The party, which governs Tigray and dominated the entire country for many years, was last Wednesday banned for failing to hold a general assembly. The decision follows months of political tensions in Tigray and comes ahead of nationwide elections due to take place by June next year at the latest. The party led a coalition that overthrew the government in 1991 and ruled Ethiopia until 2019 when it was dissolved a year after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had taken power. He then formed a new national party, a move rejected by the TPLF. The dispute culminated in a civil war that saw tens of thousands of people killed and millions forced from their homes in northern Ethiopia before a truce was signed in November 2022. The party runs Tigray's interim administration which was established in 2023 as part of the peace deal, known as the Pretoria peace agreement. But the party has been unable to conduct internal elections because of a split, with two factions laying claim to control of the party. The National Election Board of Ethiopia, which supervises the conduct of political parties, last Wednesday 'resolved to formally deregister' the TPLF on the grounds that it had failed to hold a general assembly. But the party has protested against the move and called on the African Union to put ‘pressure’ on the federal government to suspend the enforcement of the ban.

Full BBC News report