Photo credit : EBCborkena
May 13, 2019
Five Ethiopian opposition parties that have been operating in and outside of the country announced merger on Monday, reported Ethiopian State Media – EBC.
Ethiopian National Transitional Council, South Ethiopia Green Stars Coalition, Omo People’s Democratic Union, Ethiopian people’s Movement, and Ethiopian Renaissance Democratic Organization agreed to unite to achieve their political goals.
The coalition is named Hibir Ethiopia Democratic Party and it vowed to work with other parties to “resolve challenges Ethiopia is facing.”
And the new party will have its founding congress this coming Thursday according to a report by EBC.
News of the merger between the five parties came days after seven other political parties announced merger to form a single opposition party which they named as Ethiopian Citizens Social Justice Party.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration has been asking Ethiopian opposition parties to work together so as to cut down the number of opposition parties in the country which was well over 100 before the merger.
The new party has another distinct attribute in view of the political tradition in the past 28 years; they are emerging as national parties rather than ethnic-based parties.
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