Ethiopian lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of a bill that calls for establishing the country’s first-ever national dialogue commission. 287 votes were polled in favor of the bill, 13 against the bill, and one abstention reported DW News.
“The commission’s establishment will pave the way for national consensus and keep the integrity of the country,” the bill read.
It said that the 11-member Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission will be tasked with facilitating an inclusive dialogue and reconciliation process that would heal wounds, build a consensus on key issues and help the country to solve its complex problems.
The bill was presented to the parliament by the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who had previously vowed to start a credible inclusive national dialogue after his Prosperity Party won a landslide election victory in June.
The commission will work to establish common ground on contentious issues. The body, however, will not at this stage engage in talks with the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front or the Oromo Liberation Army, both of which are fighting the federal army and have been declared terrorist organizations by the Ethiopian government.
Ethiopia, with an estimated population of 119 million, has been marred by ethnic, political, and religious polarization as well as armed conflicts that have threatened the stability of the country.
The war between the Ethiopian federal army and the forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) for more than a year has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of millions.
Ethiopian military forces and its allied forces recaptured swathes of areas in the Amhara and Afar region in recent weeks that were in the hands of Tigray forces since July.
It currently remains unclear if TPLF and its partner in war Oromo Liberation Army would be part of the dialogue.
