Ethiopia: Speaker of Upper House of Parliament steps down

The Speaker of the Upper House of the Ethiopian Parliament, Keria Ibrahim, resigned from her post on Monday June 8.

The resignation is an apparent protest at the postponement of planned elections in the Horn of Africa country over the coronavirus. Keria Ibrahim accuses the Prime Minister and his government of breaking the law and trying to impose authoritarian power.

The Speaker slammed the door just after a speech by the Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed where he implied that he would remain in power after October, which marks the end of his mandate.

“I can’t be an accomplice when the constitution is being violated, and a dictatorial government is being formed,” she said. “I have resigned not to be collaborator [with] such a historical mistake.”

Speaker Keria Ibrahim is a top official in Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), one of the country’s major political parties that have opposed the postponement. Actually, her resignation mirrors a growing tension between her party and the government.

Ethiopia is in the midst of a double crisis, both constitutional and political. The August general elections were postponed sine die because of Covid-19. The Prime Minister’s term of office ends in October. A situation not provided for in the Constitution.