By Staff Reporter
December 17, 2019 (Ezega.com) -- Getachew Reda, an Executive Committee member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said Prosperity Party (PP) is neither recognized by the law nor registered by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia.
In an exclusive interview with the Tigrai Media House (TMH), Getachew said the Prosperity Party does not fulfill the necessary requirements to get registered as a political party and is not eligible to compete in the forthcoming Ethiopian elections.
Early this month, eight members and allies of Ethiopia’s dying ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), signed a document to establish the Prosperity Party in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Three former member parties of Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, EPRDF, and five agar (Ally) parties, as they used to be called during the entire lifetime of the coalition, inked their signature in the capital Addis Ababa officially launching Prosperity Party in Ethiopia.
The umbrella coalition organization EPRDF was composed of four major ethnic-based organizations (except the SEPDM, which including several ethnic groups from the south) and five other support organizations, which are now part of the Prosperity Party.
The TPLF, a party that engineered and dominated the now phased-out coalition, declined to join the new party, alleging that it was formed in a way that violated the political and legal procedures of the EPRDF.
Asked what TPLF will do in the event that the government in Addis Ababa is taken over by the Prosperity Party and continues to rule the country, Getachew said the TPLF will file a lawsuit once the establishment of so-called Prosperity Party is officially announced.
“Prosperity Party is false, made up of liars and without clear vision and direction; it is going forward blindly and full of illusion,” he said
“The surprising thing is that officials of state-run organizations and their employees are being threatened to discuss the Prosperity Party which technically does not exist," he said.
According to Getachew, the prosperity party is engaged in an election campaign ahead of other political parties even if it is not been recognized by the NEBE which itself was made by the premier.
“I don’t think the Prosperity Party will stay long under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy who does not have the will to practice the laws he introduces,” Getachew claimed.
He added: "Among several promises he made before the parliament, the Prime Minister has done nothing but re-establish relations with Asmara. Otherwise, all political decisions taken by the government including the release of political prisoners were made during the leadership of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn."
“It is illegitimate for the government in Addis Abab to be converted into another party after it assumed power in the name of EPRDF,” he argued
The unity of the nation is at risk as our laws and values, which keep the country intact are cracking, which all leaders of the EPRDF are accountable, but the greatest blame will go to the Prime Minister who controls the wheels of power, Getachew concluded.
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