By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Four months after a peace deal that ended the prolonged conflict between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), Ethiopian Parliament on Wednesday voted to remove the TPLF from list of groups designated as terror organisations.
During the voting on Wednesday, majority of the Ethiopia’s 547 lawmakers voted to remove the TPLF from the terror list, while 61 objected, with five abstentions, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation had reported.
This comes 11 years after TPLF was added to the list terror organisations in May 2012.
Wednesday’s decision signposts improving relations between federal officials and Tigray region, a move that will assist in fashioning out modalities for the establishment of an interim government.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics for close to three decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. The Tigray conflict began in late 2020 has killed thousands of persons.
Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a senior TPLF official, told AP that the removal will be a “very good step in moving the peace agreement forward.”
Ethiopia accused the TPLF of starting the conflict by attacking an army base in Tigray, while the TPLF accused the federal government of preparing to strike first.
The peace agreement signed in November has led to the return of communications, banking and other basic services cut to the Tigray region of more than 5 million people. Ethiopia now faces a post-conflict reconstruction bill of $20 billion.
The United States had earlier said it had ascertained that all sides in the conflict committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry in a statement criticized the US statement as “selective” and “inflammatory.”
