November 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, has defended this Tuesday that the peace talks with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) “are beneficial” and has asked “to work hard to avoid problems during the process”.
“In the name of our peace and prosperity, we made the decision to end the war. There is no good war and bad peace. War is bad, regardless of who wins,” Abiy said in an appearance before Parliament, as reported by his office in his account on the social network Twitter.
Thus, he has highlighted that in war “people are killed and funds are wasted”, for which he has argued that “peace is always something desirable”. “Any peace talk or negotiation that guarantees law and order is beneficial,” he said.
“We have discussed, agreed and signed. Now we must keep our word by making our promises come true,” said Abiy, who warned that “if something happens that threatens the existence, sovereignty, unity and national interests of Ethiopia, we will fight against it “.
“Negotiations are beneficial if these components are protected. Peace is not only the absence of war, but the supremacy of the rule of law”, explained the prime minister, who has influenced the cessation of hostilities agreement with the TPLF “seeks to achieve peace, not to settle an internal dispute over borders.”
On the other hand, he has reported that the authorities are delivering humanitarian aid, “rapidly” rebuilding infrastructure and working for “the return of displaced people to their homes”, after nearly two years of conflict that have had their epicenter in the region of Tigray (north).
Abiy has also stated that the law approved to designate the TPLF as a terrorist group does not prevent negotiations with the organization, as reported by the Ethiopian newspaper ‘Addis Standard’. “The approved bill does not say ‘do not negotiate with terrorists'”, he has concluded.
The words of the Ethiopian prime minister have come a week after some contacts were started in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, between senior military officials of the Army and the TPLF to discuss the cessation of hostilities, as confirmed by the African Union (AU), who is carrying out mediation work.
The conflict in Tigray erupted in November 2020 after a TPLF attack on the main Army base, located in Mekelle, after which the Abiy government ordered an offensive against the group after months of political and administrative tensions, including the TPLF’s refusal to recognize an electoral postponement and its decision to hold regional elections outside of Addis Ababa.
The TPLF accuses Abiy of stoking tensions since he came to power in April 2018, when he became the first Oromo to take office. Until then, the TPLF had been the dominant force within the coalition that has ruled Ethiopia since 1991, the ethnically based Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The group opposed Abiy’s reforms, which it viewed as an attempt to undermine his influence.
