Ethiopia’s Debretsion says right to self-determination for Tigray not negotiable

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s rebellious Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that has been fighting the central government since November 2020 has issued new preconditions for peace including that the Tigray region be given the freedom to exercise the right to self-determination set in the Ethiopian constitution.

This comes following initiatives carried out by Western countries that call for peace between the former Ethiopian ruling party and the Ethiopian federal government which has designated the TPLF as a terrorist organization and has rejected talks with the group.

Speaking in a televised address from the Tigrayan capital Mekelle, Debretsion Gebremichael, the leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, said time was running out on achieving peace and warned that ‘basic demands’ of the Tigrayans won’t be compromised.

“Time is running out. We all have to know that we can’t remain under blockade and siege,” he said, and went on to assure the Tigrayan public that “the basic demands of the people of Tigray are not negotiable.”

He said the Tigray Defence Forces will remain intact, retain its weapons and will not be reduced to a policing function and also said Tigray will retain the regional borders established by the Ethiopian Constitution.

While demanding for the complete withdrawal of the Eritrean army from the Ethiopian soil, Debretsion said the future of Tigray will be decided through a referendum including through self-determination which he said is provided for in the Ethiopian constitution.

“The Eritrean army must withdraw from all of Tigray – not just the western areas seized at the start of the war,” he said. “The future of Tigray will be decided by Tigrayans through a referendum, up to and including self-determination, as guaranteed by the Ethiopian Constitution.”

He said “The blockade of Tigray must be lifted in all its forms and all those responsible for genocide against Tigrayans must be held to account. The peace initiatives [of the US, EU and African Union] came about because we fought for them.”

If peace failed, and the blockade remained, he warned that Tigray would fight its way out.

“We will pay whatever it takes to break the siege. If it happens peacefully, well and good. If not, we will do it through our struggle and our might. Our readiness should always remain in place. The peace was realized through our might; we will sustain it through our might. If it fails, we will bring about a solution through our might,” he said.