On Friday, the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia said a transitional government has been set up in the northern Tigray region. The decision comes after recent fighting in which federal troops managed to repel rebel forces that dominated the region.
On Sept. 23, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) initiated a major offensive against Tigray government troops. Ultimately, however, the rebel group was beaten back and the regional strongholds – including the Tigrayan capital – were lost. The newly appointed caretaker administration will be in charge of Tigray for six more months after a cabinet decision by the Government of Ethiopia.
The area was unelected under the national political system until the June national elections, where Abiy’s Prosperity Party won unopposed. This interim government’s main objective is to create the political landscape which will enable the National Election Board of Ethiopia to conduct free, fair and transparent elections in the region.
Federal troops have been blamed for deliberately stoking the latest violence in the region by refusing to take any steps towards the peace process led by the TPLF. The current conflict must be addressed by national reconciliation mechanisms, including the Ministry of Peace, to promote the right to self-governance and bring the needed development programmes to the people of Tigray, long delayed.
The recent violence has been linked to a discontent regarding a peace deal signed in 2022. Before that deal, between 2020 and 2022, there was a two-year war of terror, where an estimated 600,000 people were killed by the federal forces with Eritrean soldiers.
In late September, the TPLF joined in an uneasy alliance with many different armed groups that are not in favor of the current government, complicating regional diplomacy. In addition, the rebel group has been seen to have strengthened ties with neighbouring Eritrea, reported to be an area of concern for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to the historically tense diplomatic relations in the Horn of Africa.
