TPLF chief brands Ethiopia PM 'anti-reformist' at regional rally

Leader of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, TPLF, says Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed could not be labeled a reformist because he was presiding over chaos.

The latest round of ‘attack’ by Debretsion Gebremicheal was during an address at a regional rally held across the northern Tigray region over the last weekend.

Dubbed the ‘Respect the Constitution,’ rally, protesters waved the national and regional flags amid calls for the government to stop alleged targeting of Tigrayans in a corruption and human rights crackdown.

“It is bizarre that a leadership that cannot govern people other than causing chaos and violence is termed reformist, but a leadership that properly governs people is termed anti-reform,” Debretsion is quoted to have said.

PM Abiy who came into office in April 2018 has been tagged a reformist for changing the political, democratic and diplomatic landscape of a country that was stressed by incessant anti-government protests.

The protests which were concentrated in his home region, Oromia, have since cooled amid a raft of reforms strongly hinged on a call for peace and unity. More recent protests in Oromia are demanding government gets a grip on rising insecurity that has led to deaths and displacements.

The November 8 rally was the second such in a matter of weeks. During the first, the Tigray chief cautioned against what he said was a political attack on Tigrayans.

The arrests… targeting individuals accused of corruption and human rights has veered from course and is being used to bring Tigrayan people to their knees,”

“We do not compromise on the issue of rule of law, all of us should be accountable for our actions, but the mass arrests should not be used as a cover for political aims,” Debretsion warned.

TPLF is one of four blocs of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopia Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF. The others are the Oromo Democratic Party, the Amhara Democratic Party and the the Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement, SEPDM.