Briefing from ROAPE Volume 22 Number 63
Ethiopia Elects a Constituent Assembly

On 5 June 1994, the Ethiopian people went to the polls in the first national election in history to choose a Constituent Assembly. This body was expected to approve a constitutional framework for a new, decentralised political system, which seeks to enshrine the notion of a voluntary union between ethnically-defined regions. It was thus a major departure for Africa in that it starts by recognising different nationalities and even allows, under complicated conditions, for the right of self-determination up to and including secession.