The TPLF has announced the reconstitution of Tigray’s regional parliament, a body dissolved under a 2022 postwar agreement, accusing the federal government of extending an interim administrator’s mandate without consultation. The restoration predates the 2020 conflict and risks exacerbating tensions between Tigrayan and federal authorities. Analysts warn the move could complicate efforts to consolidate peace and resume economic and political reforms.
TPLF Reconstitutes Tigray Regional Parliament, Raising Postwar Tensions
A map of the Horn of Africa, highlighting Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced it has reconstituted the regional parliament in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, restoring a body that was dissolved under a 2022 postwar agreement.
The move, announced in a Facebook post on Sunday, accuses the federal government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of extending the mandate of the region’s interim administrator without consulting Tigrayan authorities. The restored assembly served as the region’s legislature before the outbreak of armed conflict in 2020.
Background
Ethiopia’s two-year war in Tigray, which began in 2020, is estimated to have caused roughly 600,000 deaths and displaced many more. Although active hostilities have largely subsided since the 2022 peace accord, political tensions and a struggle for regional authority have persisted between the TPLF and federal-aligned officials.
Getachew Reda, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and a former Tigray administrator, described the TPLF’s action as “a clear repudiation of the fragile post-conflict arrangement.”
Observers say the parliament’s restoration could deepen mistrust between Addis Ababa and Tigrayan leaders, complicate efforts to cement peace, and slow political and economic reforms aimed at liberalizing one of Africa’s largest economies. The federal government has not yet published an official detailed response to the TPLF announcement.
The development is likely to shape upcoming negotiations over regional governance, humanitarian access, and the pace of normalization in Tigray, where reconstruction and reconciliation remain fragile.
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