The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) said it will not participate in Ethiopia’s next parliamentary election scheduled to take place in June this year.
Chairperson of the front Dawud Ibsa announced OLF’s withdrawal from the election, citing imprisonment of its party’s leaders and members as well as closure of its offices as reasons.
Dawud told DW Amharic service that all OLF’s offices are closed by the government while the free movements of its members are restricted.
“Our members who will be competing, coordinating, and observing the elections are imprisoned and all roads that lead to peaceful elections are blocked,” Dawud said.
He claimed OLF was behind the change in government in Ethiopia back in April 2018.
Once the banned Oromo Liberation Front returned to Ethiopia in September 2019 after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed introduced reforms allowing opposition parties to operate locally.
