Borkena
Toronto – 10 major opposition parties operating in the country on Wednesday announced a precondition to take part in the 7th general election which is expected to take place in June 2026.
They called for an end to the conflicts in all parts of the country and the unconditional release of political prisoners as part of the conditions for them to take part in the election.
Ethiopia has been experiencing major conflicts in the Amhara and Oromia region for several years now.
Between 2020 and 2022 the bloody war between the Abiy Ahmed led government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is said to have claimed the lives of well over 60,000 people from Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions.
The war in the Amhara region which started in August 2023 is also said to have claimed thousands of civilian lives and more than four million students are out of school due to the conflict.
In November 2023, a few opposition parties attempted to organize a peaceful demonstration in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to call for an end to the war in the country.
However, the government not only prohibited it but organizers from major parties including the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Party were arrested for months.
The ten opposition parties that released a statement on Monday stated that there is no foundation, whatsoever, for democratic process in the country.
More explicitly, they stated that there are no enabling conditions for the upcoming election that they see no meaning in taking part in it under existing circumstances.
Over the past few months only five or six opposition parties were releasing joint statements to voice resistance to government policies and actions they deem not in the interest of the country. This time the number is bigger indicating the significance of the matter. The parties are now more diverse in terms of region.
The other parties Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), Arena Tigary, Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Medrek, Balderas, Hiber Ethiopia, Ethiopian Social Democratic Party (ESDP), Wolaita National Movement (WNM) and All Sidama People Democratic Unity Party.
Notably, Enat party, Ethiopian Citizens Social Justice Party (EZEMA) and National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) were not part of the call for an end to war. The latter two have been widely criticized for being ruling Prosperity Party cliques despite them denying it. Each of them has a ministerial position in the ruling party cabinet.
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