Nardos Tadesse The Constitutionality of the State Council Election that Was Held In the Tigray National Regional State In 2020
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Date
2022-11
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Addis Ababa Unversity
Abstract
Periodic elections are key to a democratic political order and a peaceful transfer of power. They
are instruments of public political participation. However, unforeseen natural and manmade
circumstances may require the postponement of elections. Some Constitutions provide for those
exceptional circumstances and mechanism of postponing elections while others do not. The
COVID-19 pandemic became a reason for postponing the sixth general election in Ethiopia,
which was originally scheduled for August 29, 2020. This decision unveiled a number of political
and constitutional issues with opposing arguments. The disagreements on the decision to
postpone the elections and the accompanying political tensions led to the organization of
elections in the Tigray National Regional State without the approval of NEBE, the only
constitutionally mandated election management body in Ethiopia. The purpose of this study is to
examine the constitutional basis for the state council election that was held in the Tigray
regional in 2020 from the perspectives of the constitutional mandate to administer elections, the
exercise of the right to vote and to be elected as well as the exercise of the right to self determination.