Press Release (Sept. 8th 2020): OLLAA SUPPORTS FREE, FAIR, AND TIMELY ELECTIONS IN ETHIOPIA

Falls Church, Virginia (September 8, 2020) – The Oromo Legacy Leadership and Advocacy Association (OLLAA) is very concerned about indefinite postponement of constitutionally-mandated elections in Ethiopia by the central government and supports the efforts of the Tigray to take action to meet these constitutional requirements by holding elections in the Tigray region.

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The mandate for Ethiopia’s current government and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will expire in October 2020 as the Ethiopian Constitution requires elections every five years. Dr. Abiy was not elected by the people and was appointed to govern to advance two key goals – to promote reform and conduct consensus elections. He has done neither to this point. There has been no consensus dialogue to ensure the involvement all regional governments and all ethnic groups to set a process and a date for elections. In the United States, federal and state level elections have occurred in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the tragic spread of the virus.

OLLAA supports the Tigray’s effort to put the Constitution, the rule of law and the people of Ethiopia first — and to defend democratic principles by holding regional elections to reflect the will of the people.

OLLAA is an umbrella organization that presents three dozen Oromo communities around the world including in Africa.