The Implications of Fractious Central and Sub-National Governments’ Relations for Ethiopia’s Decentralized Federation: The Case of Tigray-Federal Feud
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Date
2021-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
One of the major political developments the country witnessed since the reform government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took power was different parties governing at the center and regional level. Since disagreeing with the merger of the EPRDF and the formation of the Prosperity Party, the TPLF was minimized from central power and went on administering Tigray region; losing its dominance in the country’s central politics. This happened for the first time since the formation of the federation as a result of the constitution enacted in 1995. This trend in the federation resulted in a feud between the state of Tigray and the federal government to later get intensified by different factors such as the postponement of the sixth general elections, the conduct of a regional election in Tigray, as well as the formation of the Boundaries and Identities Commission and Reconciliation Commission at the federal level. This research found out that the root causes of the feud between the two sides were the disagreements in the manner the EPRDF was merged and the Prosperity Party emerged, the power struggle and the sixth general elections, the mishandling of the national reform agenda mainly manifested in the lack of institutionalization of the Eritrean peace deal as well as the resentment from the TPLF side because of blames for all faults during the EPRDF era and mishaps afterwards during the reform period. This feud is destined to affect the center and region relations in the federation as well as lead to a reexamination of the party-state relations in the country. The departure in the narrative of the reform government to move away from the TPLF era marriage of state and party affairs, the promises to deliver this are expected to be acted up on. But this remains pretty much the same and would likely continue to be the same given the results of the sixth general elections. On the other hand, the administration’s commitments to bring about real federalism shifting from the legacy of centralized system through party discipline, the center-region relations in the federation are expected to be rules based and balanced fitting the constitutional stipulation. However, the strong military buildup in the regions as well as the tendency of centralization by the federal government could affect the realization of this aspiration. The study concluded that, the feud with the TPLF will have an impact on the two factors and the remaining sub-national entities could take lessons to challenge the federal government which in some instances threaten the national unity and fate of the federation itself
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Keywords
Decentralization, Federalism, IGR, Party-State Relations