Tigray Advisory Council: Step in the Right Direction or not?

Tigray Interim President Getachew Reda on Thursday signed the regulation for the formation of Tigray Advisory Council (TAC). Is it a step in the right direction?

Formation of TAC is aimed at filling the vacuum created due to absence of Tigray regional council. Tigray held regional election in 2020 and a regional council was formed. But the election was declared null and void by the Ethiopian parliament. After that, war broke out which ended in November 2022 when the warring parties signed Pretoria Peace deal. Under the deal, Tigray agreed to dismantle the regional council formed as a result of November 2020 election.

TAC will reportedly have 105 members from political parties, security institutions, diaspora, Tigrayans living outside Tigray etc. The TAC is set to be formed within 2 weeks. Regional supreme court, regional auditor, media authority, EFFORT ( Endowment Fund for Reconstruction of Tigray ) etc will be accountable to the TAC. TAC will report to the Interim President.

How will TAC chairman and deputy chairman be elected? Will they be nominated by the interim President or elected by members? Opposition parties have been raising questions about the independence of TAC, suggesting that the chairman must be elected by TAC members.

Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the largest and main political party, has been watching the developments about formation of TAC with caution. But TPLF managed to secure lion’s share. 48 out of 105 members will be from TPLF.

Formation of TAC seems to be meant to make decision making inclusive and participatory in Tigray. But the process of formation of TAC needs to be monitored closely? Which criteria will be adopted to choose TAC members? Will TAC recommendations be binding on the interim government or not?

In coming days, Tigray will have to make key decisions. Federal government of Ethiopia is proposing that referendum should be held to decide the fate of disputed territories. Tigray has been resisting this proposal, contending that referendum can only be authorized by Tigray regional council. Can TAC make decisions in place of Tigray regional council?

It would be interesting to see how opposition parties view this development. The opposition parties complain that interim government and TPLF deny due political space to them.

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