Ethiopia's main opposition party condemned the ban on its activities, saying it posed a “serious threat” to the 2022 peace agreement, which ended two-year conflict in the northern Tigray region.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) calls on the African Union to mediate with the federal government after the electoral body revokes its legal status as a party.
The party, which ruled Tigray and ruled the country for many years, was banned for failing to hold a convention.
The decision comes after months of political tensions in Tigray and leads the latest national election in June next year.
The party led a coalition that overthrew the government in 1991 and ruled Ethiopia until it was dissolved a year after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took power in 2019.
He then formed a new Kuomintang, a move rejected by the TPLF.
The dispute peaked in a civil war that killed thousands of people and was forced from their homes in northern Ethiopia before the November 2022 armistice.
The party runs the interim government of Tigray, which was founded in 2023 as part of the peace agreement, known as the Pretoria Peace Agreement.
But the party was unable to conduct internal elections due to division, and two factions advocated control of the party.
The Ethiopian National Election Commission (National Election Commission) on Wednesday was “decided to formally imitate” the TPLF, citing its failure to hold a general meeting.
But the party protested the move and called on the African Union to put “pressure” on the federal government to suspend the implementation of the ban.
In a letter to the alliance, the party said the ban “denied the TPLF rights recovered through the Pretoria agreement and posed a serious threat to the basis of the peace process”.
It added that the peace agreement stipulates that both parties recognize each other’s legitimacy and that any political issue should be resolved through dialogue.
TPLF Vice Chairman Ammanuel Assefa told the BBC that the Election Commission’s decision could “damage the “Pretoria Agreement” and “it would be dangerous”.
“It's not just TPLF, it's about destroying people's sacrifice,” Manuel added.
The delay in implementing the terms of the agreement, including the return of about one million people displaced by war, has heightened concerns about fresh violence in Tigray.
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, warned of escalating tensions, saying they had to “no return to violence.”
Other reports from Girlay Gebru
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