Ethiopian PM reelected despite rebel offensive
Ethiopia’s parliament has re-elected Abiy Ahmed as prime minister for another five-year term, two weeks after armed groups formed an alliance to overthrow his government amid renewed fighting in the country’s north.
Abiy was sworn in on Monday at the inaugural session of the newly elected House of Peoples’ Representatives after his ruling Prosperity Party won a sweeping majority with 438 seats in elections held in June. Addressing lawmakers, Abiy expressed his government’s readiness to confront threats and protect its national interests.
“Getting tripped up by an obstacle once is natural, but stumbling repeatedly is not normal,” he said, urging unity and greater preparedness for domestic and external challenges.
Abiy first became prime minister in 2018 and won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for restoring ties with neighboring Eritrea after two decades of hostility following their 1998–2000 border war. His government fought a two-year war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) from November 2020. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed before a peace agreement was signed in Pretoria in November 2022.
On September 20, the TPLF, which governs the northern Tigray region, and six other armed groups, including the Amhara Fano National Movement and the Oromo Liberation Army, announced the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. The coalition unites former battlefield enemies; Fano fought alongside federal troops against the TPLF before turning against Addis Ababa in 2023.
Fighting has since intensified between federal troops and TPLF forces, which seized airports in Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, and the cities of Axum and Shire, disrupting commercial flights. On September 24, the army said it had killed 272 rebel fighters and wounded 260. Federal troops and allied fighters retook Mekelle and its airport last weekend, while the TPLF vowed to continue fighting. More than 720 patients wounded in the conflict had been admitted to hospitals in Korem, Alamata and Shire as of September 25, according to Doctors Without Borders.
The fighting has also fueled a diplomatic crisis amid allegations that Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan are supporting the armed groups. All three deny the claims. Addis Ababa closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled ten Eritrean diplomats last week, prompting Eritrea to sever ties. Ethiopia also ordered an Egyptian diplomat to leave, and Cairo retaliated by expelling an Ethiopian Embassy counselor.
During his address following reelection, Abiy renewed his pledge to secure maritime access for landlocked Ethiopia through dialogue and mutually beneficial arrangements. That ambition has strained relations with Eritrea over its Assab Port and with Somalia over Ethiopia’s 2024 coastline deal with Somaliland, which Mogadishu condemned as a violation of its sovereignty. A Turkish-mediated agreement later that year eased the dispute with Somalia.
The African Union (AU) has urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to exercise restraint and resolve their differences through diplomatic channels. The AU and UN have also urged federal troops and TPLF forces to halt hostilities and resume talks to safeguard the Pretoria agreement.
