88
lawmakers in Ethiopia on Friday voted against a nationwide state of
emergency declared by the Council of Ministers in mid February 2017.
Ethiopia's
parliament approved the state of emergency despite unusual opposition
from some lawmakers, in the latest sign of fractures within the
all-powerful ruling coalition.
The
council of ministers made the emergency declaration last month, one day
after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn's suprise resignation amid a
growing political crisis and divisions in the ruling party.
The
six-month decree, which required approval from two-thirds of lawmakers,
has been condemned by several of Ethiopia's allies including the United
States and the European Union.
The
ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) -- and
its associated parties who control all seats in the legislature --
passed the decree with 346 votes in favour.
Of the 547 MPs, 539 were present for the vote.
But 88
MPs voted against the measure, seven voted to abstain and 98 lawmakers
who were present did not vote at all, a shift from the last emergency
decree nearly two years ago, which parliament approved unanimously,
according to the state-run Ethiopian News Agency.
"With
this vote, the (decree) is passed," parliament speaker Abadula Gemeda,
who last year temporarily resigned over "disrespect" to his ethnic group
the Oromos, announced to enthusiastic applause after the tally.
Amnesty International said the decision was "disappointing and irresponsible" and could lead to abuses.
"Under
the last state of emergency, we documented a series of grave human
rights violations," the rights group's secretary general Salil Shetty
said in a statement.
"Aspects of this new declaration abysmally fail to comply with established international human rights principles," it added.
Ethiopia
called a state of emergency in October 2016 after months of
anti-government protests from the country's two largest ethnicities the
Oromos and the Amharas that left hundreds dead and resulted in tens of
thousands of arrests.
The latest state of emergency was declared in the wake of Hailemariam's surprise resignation.
Several
lawmakers with the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organisation (OPDO), the
largest of the four ethnically based parties that make up the EPRDF
coalition, spoke out against the state of emergency.
They
said they feared it would allow federal officials to seize land in their
region, Oromia, and interfere with the work of local administrators.
The
OPDO is expected to make a strong push to have one of their own named
prime minister when the EPRDF begins a meeting, expected in the coming
days, to choose a new leader.
Hailemariam has said he will remain in his post until a successor is named.
AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment