Keywords:
- Delegates back executive presidency
- Critics warn of concentrated power
- Constitutional approvals still required
ETHIOPIA’S national dialogue has backed a proposal to combine the premiership and presidency, opening a possible path to an executive presidency for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed while drawing opposition warnings about concentrated power, AFP reports.
The proposed overhaul would change how Ethiopia organises executive authority, with implications for parliamentary scrutiny, regional representation and leadership tenure. Supporters argue it could strengthen national cohesion, but opposition boycotts and unresolved conflicts have sharpened questions about whose views the dialogue represents.
What would change?
Around 4,000 delegates took part in talks that ended on August 22, 2026, overwhelmingly supporting the proposed executive presidency, according to AFP. Their recommendation has not changed the constitution or created the office.
Under Ethiopia’s existing constitution, the prime minister and cabinet exercise executive authority and answer to parliament. The president is a largely ceremonial head of state. AFP reports that parliament would select the proposed executive president.
On August 13, FSX Business reported that one 500-member working group had recommended six-year presidential terms, limited to two terms. This was a group recommendation, not confirmation of the final conference position.
The current premiership has no numerical term limit. How any new tenure rules would apply to Abiy, including whether previous service would count, would depend on the transition provisions.
Abiy’s majority shapes the debate
Abiy has led Ethiopia since 2018. His Prosperity Party secured an earlier parliamentary landslide in 2021, establishing the legislative dominance that continues to shape the constitutional debate.
The party won another landslide in June, following a subdued election campaign marked by opposition concerns and restrictions on political and media activity.
There are widespread expectations that Abiy would take the new role if it is established, given his party’s parliamentary strength.
Political analyst Befekadu Hailu told AFP the proposal would allow the current prime minister to assume the executive presidency while ‘effectively concentrating power in a single individual’.
Unity argument divides opinion
Supporters say a single presidency could represent Ethiopia’s ethnic communities more effectively and provide a stronger symbol of national cohesion.
Tiglu Melese, secretary-general of parliament’s upper house, told AFP that the change would create ‘a more unified country to overcome the challenges the country currently faces’.
The premiership is already a federal office, despite Abiy’s Oromia constituency. Supporters’ claims about stronger national representation therefore concern the proposed office’s political role.
Delegates also recommended cutting funding for parties organised along ethnic lines in favour of national parties.
Separately, FSX Business reported that the same working group proposed removing Article 39’s reference to secession. That would raise questions about regional rights beyond the party-financing debate.
Article 39 currently protects the right to self-determination, including secession; altering it could change the federation’s constitutional guarantees for communities.
The commission’s published closing statement does not detail either the term-limit proposal or the reported Article 39 change. It describes broad consensus without listing the full recommendations.
Participation remains disputed. Armed groups were excluded and key opposition parties boycotted the dialogue, limiting the range of political actors represented in the talks.
Merera Gudina, chairman of the Caucus of Opposition Parties, told AFP that the process could not secure the country’s two greatest needs: lasting peace and stability, and democratic governance.
Some participants nevertheless welcomed the opportunity to debate competing visions of Ethiopia. Alamrew Yirdaw, a delegate from Amhara, described bringing those perspectives together as an achievement in itself.
Hirut Gebreselassie, deputy chief of the dialogue commission, said she hoped the process would reduce mistrust between communities and gradually resolve disputes about the Ethiopian state.
Conflicts remain unresolved
Armed conflicts continue in Oromia and Amhara, while tensions persist in Tigray despite the 2022 agreement to end hostilities following the devastating northern war.
Disagreements also surfaced inside the conference. Walkouts over the status of Addis Ababa exposed the sensitivity of relations between the self-governing capital and surrounding Oromia.
The Tigray war also drew in neighbouring Eritrea, whose forces did not participate in the Pretoria negotiations, underscoring the conflict’s regional dimensions.
Naga Tesfaye, a peacebuilding expert who facilitated the dialogue, said its recommendations should be accompanied by negotiations involving the government, armed groups and opposition parties to ‘silence the guns’.
What happens next?
The recommendations could reach parliament when it reconvenes in October, although an amendment vote has not been confirmed.
Article 104 provides for public discussion and decision once constitutional amendment proposals meet the initiation thresholds.
Under Article 105, amendments outside protected categories require a two-thirds majority in a joint parliamentary session and majority votes in two-thirds of state councils.
Changes to protected provisions, including Article 39’s rights, require majority approval in every state council and separate two-thirds majorities in each federal chamber.
The next formal proposal would need to clarify how presidential powers, term limits and removal procedures fit together. Those details would determine what changes for the officeholder and how parliament and other institutions could hold the executive accountable.
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