This archive report was first published on 22 November 2019.
On November 21, 2019, Ethiopia's ruling coalition took a significant step towards unity by approving the merger of three of its four ethnic-based parties into a single national party, the Prosperity Party, ahead of the 2020 elections.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the decision, stating that the new party would be committed to strengthening and applying a true federal system that recognizes the diversity and contributions of all Ethiopians.
However, not all parties were in agreement. One of the parties boycotted the meeting and vote, condemning the move as rushed and undemocratic.
Getachew Reda, a senior member of the Tigrayan party, which dominated the EPRDF before it appointed Abiy, from the Oromo ethnic group, stated that the prime minister had not consulted the coalition's lower-level cadres.
The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) set up a political system after it seized power in 1991 that gives significant autonomy to nine ethnically-based regions, which control local taxes, education, and their own security forces.
The country's 105 million citizens come from more than 80 ethnic groups, and critics say attempts to impose unity are doomed.
Abiy is hoping his rapid reforms can win over voters alienated by decades of abuse by the ruling coalition before next year's elections.
