August 11, 2024
TPLF Rejects NEBE Registration Certificate, Cites ‘Special Condition’ Issue
borkena
Toronto – The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has once again dominated headlines in Ethiopian news outlets over the past few weeks, this time due to internal acrimony and division—apparently a tactic the TPLF has historically used for political maneuvering. The current division appears to center around organizing a party congress. The faction led by Getachew Reda has repeatedly stated that actions that could lead the Tigray region into another war are unacceptable.
Just days after the TPLF received a certificate of registration from the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE)—which is said to be a registration under “special condition”—Getachew Reda, president of the interim administration in Tigray, claimed that the TPLF submitted a fraudulent document to the board.
Getachew reportedly lodged a formal complaint with NEBE, asserting that the certificate is based on fraudulent documentation. In his letter, he mentioned that “the application that the TPLF submitted to NEBE is not known to the central committee of the organization.”
He argued that no document was signed by the central committee for the purpose of registration and that individuals acted independently, against organization’s practices.
On the other hand, the TPLF is dissatisfied with the registration certificate it received from NEBE. In a statement released on Saturday, the organization claimed that the certificate is unrelated to its demands and does not address the issues it raised with the board.
The TPLF was designated as a terrorist organization in May 2021 after it attacked the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Force, triggering a bloody two-year war.
The TPLF has stated that it does not wish to be registered under the amended proclamation and that its demand was to regain its previous legal status (the status it held before the war that resulted in the deaths of an estimated one million people).
NEBE’s statement earlier this week pointed out that there is no legal provision for the TPLF to regain its former legal status.
The only option for the TPLF is to be registered under the amended proclamation (1332/2016), which stipulates that political entities involved in violence or rebellious activity can only be registered again under “special condition” if a relevant federal government body confirms that they are no longer engaged in such activities. It was the Ministry of Justice that wrote a letter to NEBE in early July 2024, confirming that the TPLF had “agreed” to operate peacefully and legally within the “constitutional democratic system.”
Meanwhile, 14 TPLF central committee members released a statement on Sunday expressing that they will not participate in the upcoming party congress, warning that it could lead to a complicated situation and that those who organized it will bear responsibility for any consequences.
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