Ethiopian political crisis after reform: Causes of Tigray conflict

Abstract

Ethiopian politics usually faces conflicts either to bring change or after the change. A 2018 Ethiopian political reform aimed to sustain peace among Ethiopians. Nonetheless, the conflict has escalated in different regions. Military confrontations campaigned between the central government and the Tigray region frequently. Finally, it occurred between the central government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front in late 2020. Scholars debated the root causes of it. Hence, there is no agreement among scholars regarding the cause of the Tigray conflict. This research explores the Ethiopian political crisis after the 2018 reform focusing on the Tigray conflict causes. The researcher employed a qualitative method and ethnographic research design to study the causes of conflict. The research finding reveals that though the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front Party’s demise, the constitutional crisis, election delay, and the Amhara region’s ambition to annex Tigray Region land to regain the lost territories are the causes of conflict, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front attack on the Ethiopian northern military base was the immediate cause of the conflict. It recommends further research needs to conduct on the consequences of the conflict.

Keywords

• Ethiopia
• political crisis
• reform
• causes
• Tigray conflict