Borkena
Toronto – Council of Benishangul Regional State on Saturday lifted the immunity of Yohannes Tesema, member, and head of the political division of Boro Democratic Party (BDP).
As reported earlier this week, Yohannes was arrested in Asossa after expressed opposition to what his party called unconstitutional changes that the regional council introduced with the aim to increase council seats to 166 from 99. Two other BDP politicians who are also members of the regional parliament opposed the move.
Yohannes, who is a lawyer by profession, was trying to travel to Addis Ababa to lodge a formal complaint at the House of Federation when he was arrested at the airport in Assosa, the regional capital, and taken to second division police station.
However, the government is accusing him of clandestine operation. According to DW Amharic, it was mentioned during the regional council’s meeting that Yohannes was linked to “groups working to overthrow the government by force.” He was also accused of “disseminating a writing with the aim to incite one group of people over the other,” but it was not specified.
The writing was one that Yohannes shared on social media highlighting why his party thinks the proposed change in the council was unconstitutional. His writing was rated highly on social media among Ethiopians.
Yohannes and his party argue the proposed change “undermines democracy and raises questions on the importance of election.”
Mebratu Alemu, BDP public relation, is cited as saying Yohannes was receiving threats for opposing the proposed change in the parliament. “The decision can be an obstacle to peaceful struggle.”
The party has reportedly been under pressure since its three members opposed the proposal at the regional council.
Thousands of ethnic Amhara civilians had been massacred in the Benishangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia after Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister in 2018.
His “Prosperity Party” led administration has been calling armed groups operating in the country to lay arms and resort to peaceful struggle. On the other hand, his government has been widely criticized for making peaceful struggle impossible.
A full scale war has been going on in the Amhara region of Ethiopia since August 2023. One of the guerrilla leaders in the region, Eskinder Nega, used to lead Balderas Party in Addis Ababa, a party that is formally registered with the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE). He abandoned the party and resorted to armed struggle after facing several arrests over activities related to his party work.
The Oromo region of Ethiopia has been experiencing war for over six years now.
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