Ethiopia’s Tigray Blocks General’s Appointment in Blow to Abiy
October 30, 2020 - Written by admin
A brigadier general has been
blocked from taking up a posting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, an
official said on Friday, escalating a dispute between the region and Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government that analysts warn could turn violent.
The military officer flew on
Thursday from the capital Addis Ababa to Tigray for his new assignment but
returned after being informed “his appointment would not be considered
legitimate”, said Getachew Reda, a senior official with the Tigray People’s
Liberation Front (TPLF), the regional governing party.
“Any appointment or troop
movement” is “totally unacceptable” at the moment because the TPLF believes
Abiy no longer has a mandate for such moves, Getachew told AFP news agency.
A defence ministry spokesman did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopian
politics for nearly 30 years before Abiy came to power in 2018 on the strength
of anti-government protests.
Under Abiy, Tigrayan leaders have
complained of being unfairly targeted in corruption prosecutions, removed from
top positions and broadly scapegoated for the country’s woes.
Ethiopia was due to hold national
elections in August, but the country’s poll body ruled in March that polls be
postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawmakers then voted to extend
officials’ mandates – which would have expired in early October – but Tigrayan
leaders rejected this and went ahead with regional elections in September that
Abiy’s government deemed illegal.
Now each side sees the other as
illegitimate, and federal legislators have ruled Abiy’s government should cut
off contact with – and funding to – Tigray’s leadership.
In recent days, tensions have
risen over who controls federal military personnel and assets in Tigray.
Last week Tigrayan officials
denounced a plan by Abiy’s government to reshuffle the military leadership in
the north.
In a report published on Friday, the International Crisis Group warned the standoff between Addis Ababa and Tigray “could trigger a damaging conflict that may even rip the Ethiopian state asunder”.