Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, has resigned from his dual role in the government, according to state media reports.
The announcement came on Friday, January 26, 2024, without giving any reasons for his decision. Mekonnen had been serving as the Deputy Prime Minister since November 2020, when he replaced former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who also stepped down amid political turmoil.
Mekonnen, who is from the Amhara ethnic group, was also the leader of the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), one of the four parties that make up the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) coalition. The Amhara region has been at the center of a violent conflict between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a rebel group that once dominated Ethiopian politics.
The TPLF accuses Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is from the Oromo ethnic group, of marginalizing and persecuting the Tigrayans and other ethnic minorities. Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for ending a long-standing border dispute with neighboring Eritrea, launched a military offensive against the TPLF in November 2020, after the group allegedly attacked a federal military base.
The war has resulted in thousands of deaths, millions of displacements, and widespread human rights violations, according to international observers. Abiy has also faced accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the Amhara region, where his forces have allegedly committed atrocities against the Tigrayans and other ethnic groups.
Mekonnen’s resignation comes amid growing pressure on Abiy to end the war and engage in dialogue with the TPLF and other opposition groups. The African Union, the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States have all called for a ceasefire and a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
The resignation of Mekonnen, who was seen as a moderate and a bridge-builder within the PP coalition, could signal a further deterioration of the political situation in Ethiopia and the region. It could also create a power vacuum and a leadership crisis within the ADP and the PP, which could affect the stability and legitimacy of the government.
