Ethiopia: TPLF warns of Pretoria Agreement collapse

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has been accused of derailing the implementation of the Pretoria Agreement, with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) maintaining that failure to recognise its existence would trigger serious threats to national stability.

TPLF's legal status, the party said, was unjustly revoked by the government of Ethiopia four years ago, noting that the implementation of the Pretoria Agreement was explicit about recognition and future participation in electoral processes.

“The Pretoria Agreement is the primary legal document directly linking our organization and the FDRE government,” the statement read. “Denying our legal recognition undermines the very foundation of the peace accord.”

It accused NEBE of “continued political stance that undermines trust under the guise of ‘legal cover’.” The Pretoria Agreement, the party said, revoked the initial stance of the government, with the operations of the party expected to kick-start.

The Electoral Board, which revoked the TPLF’s registration in January 2021, citing the party’s role in armed conflict, maintains that the amended Political Parties Registration Proclamation does not provide grounds for reinstating previously outlawed entities, Addis Standard reports.

NEBE insisted the party must re-register under the current legal framework, a stance the TPLF adamantly rejects, but only after its leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, received a certificate from the Board.

“Our organization never requested to register as a new party,” the TPLF said. “We are demanding the restoration of our previously recognized legal status based on the Pretoria Agreement.”

The TPLF has since maintained that NEBE’s refusal to reinstate its legal status contradicts both the letter and spirit of the Pretoria Agreement. It contends that the Board is “selectively interpreting laws and that new proclamations aimed at re-registering political groups do not apply to it.

During the signing of the Pretoria Agreement in 2023, TPLF requested unconditional restoration of the party’s registration as part of the ceasefire process. However, NEBE is not keen to have the party’s political rights reinstated.

“This may work for other groups like Fano who are not established as a party before,” TPLF stated at the time, “but it can’t apply to us.”

“Perhaps NEBE refers to revoking the certificate it claims to have issued on August 3, 2024, which we never accepted,” the party stated. “Saying it will revoke recognition that was never reinstated is meaningless,” its statement from last night reads.

The TPLF revealed, for the first time, that it had postponed its 14th regular congress in July 2024 after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other federal officials suggested its legal recognition would be restored before the congress was held. However, the party said the promise was not honored.

GAROWE ONLINE