Ethiopian PM Explains Unpopular Decision of Halting Army March to Tigray

December 24, 2021

We have a plan to win the war on different fronts, says Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed a day after his government ordered Ethiopian forces not to march to Tigray region

Borkena 

“Decisions are based on lasting interest [of Ethiopia] not on emotions,” said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in a message he released on Friday. 

It came after simmering popular anger over his government’s decision for the army not to march to the Tigray region of Ethiopia after clearing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters from the areas they controlled in the Afar and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. 

For many, the decision will benefit the TPLF in order to buy time and reorganise its forces for another offensive against Ethiopia. There are in fact unconfirmed reports that the TPLF started a new offensive in the Western front with the hope to open up routes to Sudan. 

Prime Minister Abiy reiterated what his minister for communication affairs, Legesse Tulu, said on Thursday: “The operation for ‘multinational’ unity has achieved its first objective of clearing terrorist TPLF from Afar and Amhara region.” 

Decision that do not make Ethiopia victorious generate strength to our enemies directly or indirectly; it amounts to allowing terrorist groups extend their lifetime, Abiy Ahmed elaborated in his message.  He painted the decision as something that will avoid a protracted war for Ethiopia. 

Furthermore, he went on to explain the nature of the war Ethiopia is facing, highlighting diplomatic, economic, military and information war, and that his government has plans to reverse the offensive on all fronts. 

About a week before his government ordered the Ethiopian Defence Force to halt their march to the Tigray region of Ethiopia, rumours have been surfacing on social media that the Ethiopian government is planning to negotiate  with the TPLF forces. 

And last Sunday, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremical wrote to the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, expressing readiness to peaceful negotiation to end the war. 

Majority of Ethiopians, based on samples of views expressed on different social media platforms, are not supporting neither peaceful  negotiation with the designated terrorist TPLF or the order for Ethiopian forces to halt military advance to the Tigray region of Ethiopia. 

It seems that TPLF will not face any problems in terms of resources to reorganise its forces. Before withdrawing from the Tigray region in late June 2021, the government spent more than 100 billion Ethiopian birr, as claimed by government authorities, for reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed in a three weeks war and for humanitarian purposes including the supply of food items. Much of it is believed to have been acquired by the TPLF.

Furthermore, Western humanitarian organisations had been delivering food to the region. In fact, the TPLF diverted more than 500 aid trucks that were meant to deliver aid to military purposes. 

Many Ethiopians are asking as to how the government decision is not helping the TPLF – in terms of buying time for reorganisation.