Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed: From Nobel winner to war commander
Abiy Ahmed will remain Ethiopia's prime minister after his party won the elections yet again. Since taking office in 2018, he has attracted both strong
Abiy Ahmed will remain Ethiopia's prime minister after his party won the elections yet again. Since taking office in 2018, he has attracted both strong supporters and fierce critics, reflecting his polarizing leadership. Abiy Ahmed is likely to continue his role as Ethiopia's prime minister after his Prosperity Party won another comfortable parliamentary majority in the June 1 elections. The party took nearly 90% of seats. The results were released on Sunday after voting in several polling stations was suspended due to security issues, and no voting took place in northern Tigray for a second consecutive election. Abiy is now awaiting the formality of election by the House of Peoples' Representatives. Abiy burst onto the world stage as a young, dynamic leader of Ethiopia in 2018. But his journey to the top job began long before that. In the 1990s, he had a career with the Ethiopian Defense Force (ENDF), before leading Ethiopia's cyber-intelligence service INSA. He first became known nationally as a politician in 2010, when he rose through the ranks of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO). In 2018, the party changed its name to Oromo Democratic Party (ODP). He was subsequently elected to the House of Representatives, and in 2016 became the Minister of Science and Technology in Addis Ababa. However, he soon returned to his home province of Oromia to serve as head of the OPDO Secretariat. Ethiopia elections 2026: What you need to know To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Abiy wins Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 Abiy Ahmed's meteoric rise came in 2018, when he became one of the nation's youngest-ever leaders.
But it was not just his youth that excited so many, it was also what he represented. Born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in 1976 in western Ethiopia, Abiy became the first Oromo chairman of the ruling four-party coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). His appointment signaled a shift in Ethiopian politics, because although Oromos make up around a third of Ethiopia's approximately 136 million citizens, Tigrayans had dominated the country politically until then. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant party in the EPRDF, had until that point exerted a sizable influence on Ethiopia's political and economic fortunes since the fall of the Mengistu Haile Mariam-led military regime in 1991. The TPLF also controlled the ENDF and intelligence services. But it was Abiy's overtures to neighboring Eritrea, with whom Ethiopia had fought a bloody war between 1998 and 2000 that claimed more than 80,000 lives, that garnered him international attention. He introduced sweeping reforms and promised to accept the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) ruling, which ensured that the border town of Badme would belong to Eritrea. Previous Ethiopian governments had refused to implement the ruling. Airline and telephone connections were established, and the two nations reopened their embassies. The Eritrean leader Isaias Afwerki and his counterpart, Abiy, sealed their 'friendship' by visiting each other's capitals. For his part, Abiy Ahmed capped 2019 by being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His work on the domestic front also drew attention. Political prisoners were released, parties were unbanned, female political participation boosted, repressive laws amended, and Abiy was hailed in Western circles as a new hope for the Horn of Africa.
The BriefWire