Ethiopian premier faces challenges beyond his party

Subject

Ethiopia's political outlook.

Significance

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) voted to affirm the leadership of the young reformist team around Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at its eleventh Congress in October.

Impacts

• The new leadership has questioned the EPRDF’s ideology of revolutionary democracy, but articulating a new direction may prove contentious.
• Tensions between pan-Ethiopian civic nationalism and local and ethnic identity politics may lead to potentially violent flashpoints.
• The different implications of political change across Ethiopia’s regions will prompt divergent stances among locally based political actors.