The political framework of Ethiopia

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: President: TAYE Atske Selassie (since 7 October 2024)
Prime Minister: ABIY Ahmed Ali (since April 2018)
Next Election Dates: House of Federation: October 2026
House of People's Representatives: June 2026
Main Political Parties: The ruling coalition in Ethiopia, formerly the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), is now the Prosperity Party, which was formed through the merger of three ethnically-based parties: the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) (formerly the Amhara National Democratic Movement, ANDM), the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organisation (OPDO), and the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM). The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) opted not to join the new party. While the TPLF was the dominant group within the former coalition, Tigrayans make up only 6% of the country's population. Despite this, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is the first leader of Ethiopia from the Oromo ethnic group.

Other notable political parties in Ethiopia include:

National Movement of Amhara (NaMa): a right-wing, Amhara ethnic nationalist party
Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA): a centrist party formed from the merger of several smaller parties
Gedeo People's Democratic Party (GPDP): a party advocating for Gedeo nationalism
Kucha People Democratic Party (KPDP): representing the Kucha ethnic group
Executive Power: The highest executive authority in Ethiopia’s federal government is vested in the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister is elected from among the members of the House of Peoples' Representatives and serves a term that aligns with the mandate of the House. As the Chief Executive, the Prime Minister also chairs the Council of Ministers and serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the national armed forces. The Prime Minister leads the Council, coordinates its activities, and represents it. The Council of Ministers consists of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, various Ministers, and other members as defined by law. Among its duties, the Council formulates and implements economic, social, and development policies and strategies.
Legislative Power: Federal legislative power in Ethiopia is shared between the government and the two chambers of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly: the House of People's Representatives and the House of the Federation. The House of People's Representatives consists of 547 members, each elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The House of the Federation, with a maximum of 153 members, is made up of representatives indirectly elected by state assemblies, also serving five-year terms.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:: 101/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:: Not Free
Political Freedom:: 6/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

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