Military takeover ruled out in Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s defence minister yesterday ruled out a military takeover a day after the country declared a new state of emergency amid the worst anti-government protests in 25 years.

Siraj Fegessa also ruled out a transitional government.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn remains in the post for now after making the surprise announcement on Thursday that he had submitted a letter of resignation to help planned political reforms in one of Africa’s best-performing economies to succeed.

The state of emergency will last for six months with a possible four-month extension, Mr Fegessa said.

The state of emergency, which effectively bans protests, will be presented for MPs’ approval within 15 days. Mr Fegessa said security forces had been instructed to take measures against those disturbing the country, with a special court established to try them.

Ethiopia’s cabinet on Friday said deaths, ethnic attacks and mass displacement were the reasons for the state of emergency.

The announcement followed crippling protests in towns across the restive Oromia region last week, in which demonstrators called for the release of political prisoners and called for government reforms.

Similar protests have taken place across Ethiopia since late 2015, leading the government to declare a state of emergency in October 2016 after hundreds of people were killed. A stampede at a religious event southeast of the capital that month killed dozens of people.

That state of emergency led to the arrest of more than 22,000 people and severely affected business.

Rights groups claim that people were also beaten and subjected to arbitrary detention. The government said those arrested by mistake were released and those who unwillingly took part in the unrest were released after what it described as “trainings”.

The US has responded to the latest unrest by warning its embassy personnel to suspend all travel outside of the capital.

And Ethiopia’s state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting corporate reported that the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, met and discussed political issues with Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu in New York.

Befekadu Hailu, a prominent blogger who has been jailed for his writing, urged Ethiopia’s government to solve the unrest.