Ethiopia Sets Up Dialog Commission as Civil Conflict Rages

(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia will establish a National Dialog Commission in an attempt to reconcile widening political differences and resolve long-standing disagreements between ethnic groups in the war-wracked Horn of Africa nation. 

The 11-member panel’s tasks include laying a “firm foundation for national consensus and the building of a state with strong legitimacy,” according to a proclamation from the House of People’s Representatives. The commission will convene meetings at regional and federal levels, it said.

Ethiopia’s dissident Tigray People’s Liberation Front fighters have been battling federal troops for the past 13 months. The conflict erupted when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an incursion into Tigray after troops loyal to regional authorities attacked a federal army base and followed months of tension stemming from Abiy’s sidelining of the TPLF, previously the nation’s preeminent power broker. Thousands of people have died and millions are in need of aid. 

Read more: Ethiopia’s Abiy Gains Edge in Civil War as Tigray Rebels Retreat

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.