Tigray party restores pre-war parliament, jeopardising northern Ethiopia peace – RFI

Tigray conflict

Tigray’s main political party, TPFL, said it was taking back control of the ​region’s government, effectively voiding a peace deal with Ethiopia’s federal government that ended one of the century’s deadliest conflicts.

Issued on: 21/04/2026 – 11:53Modified: 21/04/2026 – 11:53

Residents walk along a road near Wejerat in Tigray, Ethiopia, on 3 March 2026, as tensions between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters raise fears the fragile 2022 ceasefire could collapse.
Residents walk along a road near Wejerat in Tigray, Ethiopia, on 3 March 2026, as tensions between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters raise fears the fragile 2022 ceasefire could collapse. AFP – ABEL GEREZGIHER

By:RFI

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), in the northern region of Ethiopia, surprised everyone on Sunday when it reinstated the local parliament that existed before the 2020 war.

This decision directly challenges the authority of Ethiopia‘s federal government, which considers this parliament illegitimate. It could also fuel the tensions that have been steadily escalating in recent months between Mekele and Addis Ababa.

The ‌TPLF made the statement in a Facebook post on Sunday, accusing Ethiopia’s federal government of violating the Pretoria Agreement, which ended the two-year war in November 2022.

The statement said the government had provoked armed conflict within Tigray, withheld funds to pay regional civil servants and extended the tenure of the interim administration’s president without ​consulting the party.

Fears of renewed conflict drives rising numbers of Tigrayans to flee Ethiopia

A broken deal

The announcement ​prompted the party’s former spokesman and an adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Getachew Reda, to write ⁠on X on Sunday that the TPLF’s statement constituted “a clear repudiation” of the post-war structure created by the Pretoria Agreement.

“The international community must ​act to stave off the threat of a catastrophic conflict in a region that can ill afford one,” Getachew wrote, who served as president ​of Tigray’s interim administration before falling out with the TPLF and being replaced in the role last year.

The 2020 to 2022 civil war fought between TPLF-led forces and Ethiopia’s ​national army killed hundreds of thousands of people through direct violence, the collapse of healthcare and famine, according to researchers.

The war stemmed from ​a breakdown in relations between the TPLF, a guerrilla movement turned political party that dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades, and Abiy, whose appointment as ‌prime minister ⁠in 2018 ended the TPLF’s dominance.

The charred remains of a tank from clashes between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) lie on a road near Gereb Agew, Southern Tigray, Ethiopia, on 3 March, 2026.
The charred remains of a tank from clashes between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) lie on a road near Gereb Agew, Southern Tigray, Ethiopia, on 3 March, 2026. AFP – ABEL GEREZGIHER

The Pretoria Agreement, which ended the war in late 2022, was mediated by the African Union (AU), which called for an interim administration for Tigray, established through dialogue between the two sides, to replace the region’s elected bodies until new elections could be organised.

Despite some progress implementing the deal, it has come under strain in recent months, with armed skirmishes breaking out since January between TPLF forces and ​the federal army and government-aligned fighters.

As Tigray clashes intensify, locals stockpile food and airline cancels flights

New regional ties

In response to ⁠the government’s alleged violations, the TPLF said in its statement it would not only restore the Tigrayan executive and legislature in place of the interim administration but also strengthen friendships with people from neighbouring Ethiopian regions and ​countries.

The federal government has previously accused the TPLF of ​plotting against it ⁠with Eritrea, which won its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The two countries fought a border war from 1998 to 2000.

Widening rift between Eritrea and Ethiopia sparks fear of new conflict

The TPLF and Eritrea have denied working together.

Eritrea signed ​its own peace deal with Ethiopia in 2018, and fought in support of Ethiopia’s army during the civil war in Tigray.

But it has more recently criticised what it views ​as threatening comments by Abiy asserting landlocked Ethiopia has a right to sea access, which could imply an access in or through Eritrea.

Muauz Gidey, a researcher at the Tigray Institute of Political Studies, told RFI that the TPLF’s attitude is fueling “an already explosive political situation.”

According to the researcher, Prime Minister Abiy could respond to this situation by imposing drastic economic restrictions on Tigray, where the humanitarian situation is already dire.

 (with Reuters)