The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) voted on the contested motion to postpone the 2018 Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa council and local elections shying away from addressing the legality of the decision. The vote postpones the election to next year.
In its regular session today, April 12, 2018, the Parliament passed the motion with a majority vote while seven abstained from voting.
Members of the House contested the passing of the motion on the grounds that the Constitution as well as regional government laws stipulates that both local and by-elections should be carried out every five years.
“How would representatives who have finished their terms be treated after the extension; will their terms be extended?” asked members of the House.
The exact month of the election after its postponement was also another point of departure for the MPs. Some even requested the postponement of votes on the motion to another day to make proper improvements to it.
Despite the questions of legality, deputy speaker, Shitaye Minale, insisted on the vote to proceed and hence seven members abstained from casting their votes.
