Transitional Government of Tigray

Transitional Government of Tigray is a caretaker administration that was formally declared by the House of Federation of Ethiopia on 7 November 2020, in the context of a conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in power in the Tigray Regional State and the federal government of Ethiopia.[1] As of 28 November 2020, the administration, headed by Mulu Nega, plans public consultation and participation in choosing new leaders at the regional and zonal level and preservation of woreda and kebele administrations.[2] Mulu submitted his resignation in late January 2021, stating that his administration was powerless to solve Tigrayans' problems of starvation and sexual harassment by "foreign forces".[3]

Transitional Government of Tigray
ትግራይ ክልል የሽግግር መንግሥት
Provisional Administration
Formation7 November 2020
CountryEthiopia
Legislative branch
LegislatureHouse of Federation
Executive branch
AppointerMulu Nega (PhD)
HeadquartersAddis Ababa

Background
Main article: Tigray conflict

In March 2018 Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, resigned in favour of reforms that intended to lead to sustainable peace and democracy, ceding power to a government led by Lt. Col. Abiy Ahmed.[4][5] Abiy tried to unite all the regional political parties in a single centralized political party. The TPLF, the dominant party in the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), refused,[6] and the Prosperity Party was created as a merger of three other EPRDF member parties.[7] Durig the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Election Board of Ethiopia postponed a federal election planned for later in 2020. The TPLF established its own regional Electoral Board for holding a Tigrayan region election,[8] which the House of Federation (HoF) objected to. The Tigray regional election was held on 9 September 2020 with the TPLF winning all of the seats contested[9][10] and 98.2% of the vote.[11]

On 5 October 2020, the Tigray Region authorities urged federal government officials to resign and join the Tigrayan government. Most of the Tigray House of Peoples' Representatives members resigned.[12] On 7 October 2020 the HoF decided to stop any relationship the federal government has with the Tigray regional state assembly and the region's highest executive body. The HoF cut budget subsidies to the state, banned all federal institutions from sending letters and information to Tigray's higher executive bodies or providing support to their institutions and prohibited the region from participating in national level forums. The Tigray government described this as a declaration of war against the region.[13][14][15]

During November 2020, the conflict between the federal and Tigrayan authorities became a military conflict, with federal forces claiming to have occupied the regional capital Mekelle by late November 2020.[16]

Constitutional context

The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia states in Article 39, 1, "Every Nation, Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession."[17]

Article 62, 9 grants HoF the right to "order Federal [government] intervention if any State [government], in violation of [the] Constitution, endangers the constitutional order."[17][1]

Creation of the transitional government

Abiy Ahmed stated to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation on 4 November 2020 that the Ethiopian National Defense Force, which was camped in the area of Mekelle, was attacked by Tigray Region special forces. The TPLF stated that the attack was pre-emptive.[18] Following this, the Ethiopia government started an operation to take action that it described as aiming to restore the rule of law and declared a six-month state of emergency in the Tigray Region and withdrew the governor of the region. The HoF then allowed the government to intervene into the Tigray Regional state and formed the Tigray Transitional Government.[19][1]

Leadership and structure

As of 21 November 2020, the Chief Executive Officer of the Tigray Transitional Government was Mulu Nega.[20] According to EEPA, Mulu Nega handed in a resignation letter in late January 2021, stating that the transitional administration had no power to respond to "the plight of the people of Tigray who are starving to death and sexually harassed by foreign forces".[3]

As of 28 November 2020, the creation of the government was coordinated by "five people".[2] The Ethiopian news service Borkena stated in late November that "ethnic Tigreans" would lead the Transitional Government.[16]

Mulu Nega stated that the transitional government structure would be defined by a charter to be completed in December 2020 and approved by the Federal Attorney General. As of 28 November, the plan was for regional level and zonal level leadership to be changed, while "maintaining woreda and kebele administrations intact". Public consultations and public participation in "the selection of officials appointed to lead institutions" were planned.[2]

On 15 December 2020, Mulu announced that members of Tigrayan opposition parties, including Arena Tigray, Tigray Democratic Party (TDP) and Assimba Democratic Party (ADP), would be appointed to "leadership positions in the regional cabinet and various high level positions at the regional administration".[21] According to these, Aberah Desta, Chairperson of Arena Tigray, became Head of the Bureau of Labor and Social Affairs[22]

On 16 December 2020, Assefa Bekele, was nominated as the Head of Roads and Transport Bureau by the region's Transitional government.[22]

Powers

Mulu Nega stated that the four main powers of the transition administration would be:

The administration would also be empowered to "actively [implement] tasks assigned to it by the federal government".[23]

Excluded powers

As of 28 November 2020, the resolution of land claim disputes, expected for historical reasons in the "Raya, Telemt and Wolkait areas", were excluded from the planned powers of the transitional administration.[2]

Territorial control
See also: List of zones of Ethiopia § Tigray Region

On 3 February 2021, Mark Lowcock, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that federal Ethiopian authorities controlled about 60% to 80% of the Tigray Region and that forces allied with the ENDF were "pursuing their own goals".[24] On 7 February 2021, Alex de Waal said that "much" of Tigray Region was controlled by the EDF according to United Nations and United States sources, while Ethiopian and Eritrean authorities denied that the EDF had any territorial control in the Tigray Region.[25]

Mi'irabawi Zone

As of 23 November 2020, the conquered Tigrayan town of Humera in Mi'irabawi Zone (Western Tigray) was administered by officials and security forces from Amhara Region.[26] According to a refugee from Humera, Gush Tela, the Fano vigilante youth group took control of a judicial court in Humera.[27]

By 10 January 2021, according to Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA), the zone as a whole was divided by its Amharan administration into Telemt (Tselemti), with May Tebri (May Tsebri) as its capital and Humera–Welqayt–Tegede zone, with Humera as capital.[28]

As of 10 January 2021, the new head of Humera–Welqayt–Tegede zone was Yeabsira Eshete, and the administration was composed of ethnic Amharans, according to EEPA. EEPA stated that ethnic Tigrayan civilians were deported from western Tigray to central Tigray by bus and their houses immediately occupied by Amharans.[28]

Semien Mi'irabawi Zone

On 2 December 2020, Mulu claimed that residents of the kebeles in Shire Inda Selassie, a woreda in Semien Mi'irabawi Zone (North West Tigray), each elected about 20 representatives, who together elected 25 members forming a new Woreda Council. The Council elected five of its members as its Cabinet. Mulu stated that a mayor of the woreda was elected.[29]

Mekelle

On 15 December, the appointment of a mayor for Mekelle was announced by Mulu.[21] The mayor was later named as Ataklti Haile Selassie.[30]

Debubawi Zone

On 16 December 2020, Mulu Nega, CEO of Tigray Transitional Government, appointed Million Aberah as the Chief executive officer of Debubawi Zone.[22]

See also

References
  1. Addisstandard (7 November 2020). "News Alert: House of Federation adopts resolution to establish a transitional government in Tigray". Addis Standard. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. Abdu, Brook (28 November 2020). "Tigray Interim Gov't fears identity questions could hinder its activities". The Reporter (Ethiopia). Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. [66 – 25] January 2021" (PDF). Europe External Programme with Africa. 25 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  4. "Ethiopia prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigns". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  5. "Ethiopia PM Hailemariam Desalegn in surprise resignation". BBC News. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  6. "EPRDF Agrees to Form a United National Party; TPLF Dissents". www.ezega.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  7. "Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed gets a new ruling party". BBC News. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  8. "Ethiopia postpones August elections due to coronavirus". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  9. "Governing party in Ethiopia's Tigray sweeps regional polls". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  10. "Tigray crisis: Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia". BBC News. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  11. "የትግረይ ምርጫ፡ በትግራይ ክልላዊ ምርጫ ህወሓት ማሸነፉ ተገለፀ". BBC News (in Amharic). 2020. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  12. "ህወሓት በመንግሥት ሹመት ላይ ያሉ አባላቱ ቦታቸውን እንዲለቁ ማዘዙን ገለጸ". BBC News አማርኛ (in Amharic). Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  13. Insight, Addis. "Federal Government Cuts ties, Budget Subsidies". Addis Insight. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  14. "የፌደሬሽን ምክር ቤት ውሳኔ "ቅቡልነት የለውም"- የትግራይ ክልል". BBC News አማርኛ (in Amharic). Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  15. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "ለትግራይ "የፌድራል መንግሥት የበጀት ድጎማ ማድረግ አይችልም" የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት አፈ-ጉባኤ | DW | 10.10.2020". DW.COM (in Amharic). Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  16. "Mekelle city liberated from Tigray People's Liberation Front". Borkena. 28 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  17. "Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" (PDF). WIPO. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  18. "Ethiopian military operation in Tigray is complete, prime minister says". www.reuters.com. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  19. "Ethiopian PM Abiy accuses TPLF of camp 'attack', vows response". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  20. Abdu, Brook (21 November 2020). "Tigray interim gov't plans regional, zonal overhaul". The Ethiopian Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  21. "News: Tigray interim admin CEO says Mekelle gets new mayor, urges civil servants to resume work and cautions door-to-door search for unlawful firearms begins today". Addis Standard. 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  22. "ቃና ዜና ቅምሻ (ታህሳስ 7, 2013) | Kana News - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  23. Abdu, Brook (21 November 2020). "Tigray interim gov't plans regional, zonal overhaul". The Reporter (Ethiopia). Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  24. Anna, Cara; Lederer, Edith M. (4 February 2021). "US urges Ethiopia's PM to allow 'immediate' help to Tigray". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  25. de Waal, Alex (7 February 2020). "Viewpoint: From Ethiopia's Tigray region to Yemen, the dilemma of declaring a famine". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  26. "Inside Humera, a town scarred by Ethiopia's war". Reuters. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  27. Akinwotu, Emmanuel (2 December 2020). "'I saw people dying on the road': Tigray's traumatised war refugees". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  28. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 51 – 10 January 2021" (PDF). Europe External Programme with Africa. 10 January 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  29. "Shire Gets New Leadership after TPLF". Ethiopian News Agency. 2 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  30. "Tigray Interim Administration, Residents of Mekelle City Conducting Discussion". Ethiopian News Agency. 25 December 2020. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
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