Ethiopia

V

Government

Between 1974 and 1987, Ethiopia was governed by the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), also known as the Dergue, made up of about 80 people, most of whom were members of the armed forces or police. The council came to power following the deposition of Emperor Haile Selassie I on September 12, 1974, when it suspended the revised constitution of 1955 and disbanded the bicameral parliament. In March 1975 it abolished the hereditary monarchy. The council was headed by a chairman, who was the country’s chief government official.

A

Executive and Legislature

The council called for the state to play a leading role in the country’s economy and to establish a specifically Ethiopian type of socialism, with a single, all-embracing political party. The Union of Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations was created in 1977 as the sole legal party, but was disbanded soon after. In September 1984 the Workers Party, a Communist organization, was established as the nation’s only legal political group. A new constitution in 1987 established a republic headed by a president, who was indirectly elected to a five-year term by the national Shengo, a unicameral assembly.

In 1991 the Marxist government was ousted by two allied rebel movements, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF). Under a provisional democratic charter, an elected Council of Representatives chose a president to govern Ethiopia, pending the 1995 general elections. The charter formed the basis of a new constitution, adopted in December 1994 and effective from 1995. A separate government was established in Eritrea, and the province was recognized as an independent republic in May 1993.

The bicameral parliament, which chooses the prime minister, consists of a House of People’s Representatives, with 527 members elected for five-year terms, and a House of Federation, comprising 117 members who serve five-year terms. The president is elected for a four-year term.

B

Judiciary

The judicial system implemented by the PMAC retained aspects of the imperial system. There are criminal, civil, and commercial codes of procedure. There are three main levels of courts, provincial and district and the Federal Supreme Court, based in Addis Ababa.

C

Health and Welfare

In 2004 there were 34,988 people per doctor and the infant mortality rate in 2007 was 92 deaths per 1,000 live births. 4.9 per cent of the country’s national budget was spent on health care in 1999. Average life expectancy is about 48 years for men and 50 years for women.

D

Defence

In the late 1980s the strength of the Ethiopian army was estimated at 313,000; that of the air force at 4,000; and the navy, 1,800. Under the PMAC, Ethiopia was heavily dependent on military equipment from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in its fight against secessionist forces in Eritrea, Tigre, and Oromo; Cuban troops were stationed in Ethiopia from 1977 until 1989. At the independence of Eritrea in 1993, the military assets of Ethiopia were divided with the new country. Following the ending of civil war, Ethiopia’s armed forces were thought to have been reduced to about 182,500 troops (2004 estimate). Prisoners of war were exchanged between Ethiopia and Eritrea during 2002.