Ethiopia’s Tigray Region Defies Federal Election Plans

On May 4, Ethiopia's Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced plans to organize regional elections in Tigray despite a federal decision to postpone the ballot due to COVID-19. In March, the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed moved to delay August national and regional elections to contain the spread of the virus and has not yet announced a new date. The Tigray government's decision to follow through with the federally postponed elections thus highlights the widening rift between the northern region and Addis Ababa, and could lead to renewed tensions between federalist and ethnic opposition groups in the country....