Ethiopia's parliament extends state of emergency by 4 months

Ethiopia’s parliament has renewed a state of emergency that came into force last year following massive anti-government protests in the Horn African country.

According to reports, the legislature on Thursday approved a four-month extension to the measure, which was first declared by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn six months ago.

“The House unanimously voted to extend the state of emergency,” said a report in the state media. 

The report also quoted Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa as saying that the “extension is needed so as to take the prevailing relatively good peace and security situations to the point of no return.”

The extension comes amid continued protests against the government in some remote parts of Ethiopia.

Fegessa said that those continuing the protests seek to take advantage of ethnic disputes in Ethiopia.

“We still have some anti-peace elements that are active and want to capitalize on disputes that arise among regional states of the country,” he told parliament.

Ethiopia declared the state of emergency in October, after months of mass protests in various cities and towns. The measure was relaxed on March 15, preventing police from making arrests or carrying out house searches without authorization from judiciary.

SS