Tagesse Chaffo, speaker of parliament, started the second regular session of the fifth year of the federal legislative house on the morning of October 22, 2019, by congratulating Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) for his recent win of the 100th Nobel Peace Prize.
President Sahle-work Zewde had already given a speech setting out the government's priorities for the year to the joint session with the House of Federations, on October 7, 2019, at the opening of parliament. The agenda for the day was to discuss the questions raised by parliamentarians to that speech and to pass a motion endorsing it as the government's programme for the year. The Prime Minister gave detailed answers in the session that lasted for one and a half hours to questions that were raised from 16 of the 375 members that were present.
The question that elicited a long and detailed response from the Prime Minister concerned the coming election. Stating his government’s stand on the issue, Abiy reaffirmed his commitment to have the election as scheduled. He tried to assuage the lawmakers' concerns that the peace and security situation may not be stable enough to hold the election.
“It'll never be possible to have a problem-free election in Ethiopia," he said. “Democracy is a culture that can only be improved by exercising it, not by running away from it.”
He also stressed that he is going full speed ahead with his ambitious project of turning the ruling coalition, the EPRDF, into a single party despite stern opposition. The motion passed with 19 abstentions and, for the first time since 2015, one objection.
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