Ethiopia’s House speaker resigns

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - Ethiopia’s speaker of the House of Federation Keriya Ibrahim has resigned saying the Constitutional Interpretation option pursued to salvaging constitutional crisis was not constitutional.

Keriya released a recorded video in which she announced her resignation as speaker of the House of Federation, a title she held since April 2018.

Ethiopia has opted to Constitutional Interpretation to salvaging what could have been a constitutional crisis after the election time was delayed beyond the term of the incumbent parliament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has not been a reaction from the government but the House of the Federation in a statement said its speaker resigned on the eve of the day she herself called a meeting.

“We are surprised at the turn of events,” the statement said.

The House of the Federation is a 112-seat chamber of Ethiopia’s bicameral parliamentary system with the House of People’s Representatives having 547 seats.

It is not yet determined as to who will replace Keriya.

She further said: “I cannot cooperate while I am witnessing a dictatorship in the making.”

She hails from the Tigray region and is a member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a party that has been a mover and shaker in the now defunct four-party coalition called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

The EPRDF distanced itself from the ruling Prosperity Party while the Tigray Regional State Government vows to hold election in August despite the state of emergency.