NEBE dismisses TPLF as political party

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on Monday dismissed the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) as a political party for alleged participation in violence and attempt to dismantle the constitutional order by force.

Accordingly, TPLF which rose as a political party 45 years ago and dominated the Ethiopian politics for more than 27 years has been dissolved as a political party.

The TPLF was formed in 1975 at a time when hundreds of millions of people across Africa and the Middle East were demanding revolution and liberation.

By the end of the 1980s, the TPLF was by far the biggest and most effective among the coalition of Ethiopian armed rebel groups that had united under the banner of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) to fight the ailing Ethiopian regime. On 28 May 1991, TPLF troops backed by Eritrean forces seized control of Addis Ababa, the capital.

Discontent, especially among the two largest ethnic groups – the Oromo and Amhara – threatened the delicate compromise of the 1994 constitution, and representatives of the two communities eventually joined forces to out maneuver the TPLF within the ruling coalition to get Abiy, who is of mixed Oromo-Amharic parentage, appointed as Prime Minister in 2018.

The spark that set light to the tinder came in early November with an alleged raid by TPLF units on federal military bases in Tigray, in which many national army officers were killed and substantial quantities of hardware was seized. Abiy launched his offensive immediately.

It has taken federal troops three weeks to fight their way to within artillery range of Mekelle. Several founding members of TPLF have been either killed or captured. It is unclear whether TPLF’s chief Debretsion Geberemichael and defected military generals are alive in the city.

NEBE said it tried to communicate to TPLF’s Addis Ababa representative who used to serve as focal person for TPLF. However the focal person declined to represent the party anymore and failed to fulfill the requirements set by the board as a precondition to renew TPLF’s license, NEBE said in a statement.

Accordingly, NEBE renounced the legitimacy of TPLF based on proclamation 1162/2011 sub article 98/1/4 of the Ethiopian election law.

NEBE further said former TPLF officials will not be allowed to operate on the behalf of the party any more based on article 99 of the same law.

The board also asked the Federal Attorney General to declare details of assets registered in the name of TPLF. According to NEBE’s statement, TPLF’s asset will be used for ethics education program after all its debts are settled.