Ethiopia declares state of emergency
Council of Ministers acts after resignation of prime minister.
Ethiopia declared a state of emergency, a day after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following months of protests by opponents of his government.
The decision was announced by the Council of Ministers, after it convened a meeting to discuss “safeguards to protect the constitution” amid insecurity in various parts of the country, according to a statement published on the stateowned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corp.’s website.
The declaration cited Article 93 of the constitution, which grants the council “the power to decree a state of emergency, should an external invasion, a breakdown of law and order which endangers the constitutional order and which cannot be controlled by the regular law enforcement agencies and personnel, a natural disaster, or an epidemic occur.”
The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has faced sporadic, often deadly demonstrations since late 2015. A state of emergency the following year failed to curb the turmoil mainly in the Oromia and Amhara regions — home to the biggest ethnic groups who say they’re excluded from political and economic power.
Last month, the government changed tack, announcing the release of hundreds of political prisoners and promising further reforms. Those measures have failed to quell the protests, culminating in Hailemariam’s resignation Thursday.
Ethiopia, Africa’s fastest-growing economy over the past decade, is a key U.S. ally in its battle against al-Qaida in the Horn of Africa. Home to more than 100 million people, the $72 billion economy has drawn investors including General Electric Co., Johannesburg-based Standard Bank Group and hundreds of Chinese companies.
Yields on Ethiopia’s $1 billion Eurobonds due in 2024 fell four basis points on Friday to 6.38 percent, ending six straight days of increases.
The EBC statement didn’t provide further details nor a time frame for the state of emergency. Similar measures in 2016 prescribed restrictions on freedom of speech and association, while codifying many abusive tactics by the security forces, including arbitrary detention, according to Human Rights Watch.
“The last state of emergency in Ethiopia did not stop unrest — just convinced more people that peaceful protest is futile,” Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director of the Africa Center at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, said on her Twitter account. “Now EPRDF is doubling down on its tragic mistake: choosing repression over reform.”