But the federal government - and major opposition parties - agreed to postpone national and regional elections due in August until the COVID-19 pandemic was under control. Tigray, whose leaders dominated the previous administration and have often bitterly denounced Abiy, announced it would hold elections anyway. The Front was a coalition of four ethnically-based parties, including the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Some said they felt persecuted - many former officials who have appeared on trial since Abiy took power are Tigrayan. But in a dynamic playing out all over Ethiopia, the long-ruling regional party is itself facing pressure from more zealous ethnic nationalists.

Source: Ethiopian News September 04, 2020 16:52 UTC