Standing Firm for Peace: The Federal Government’s Unwavering Engagement Against the TPLF’s Relentless War Footing

Addis Ababa, July 31, 2026 (FMC) — Following the historic popular awakening of 2018 that unseated the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) after 27 years of ethnic authoritarianism and systemic maladministration, the Federal Government of Ethiopia embarked on comprehensive national reforms.

While the Ethiopian people decisively dismantled the TPLF’s tyrannical monopoly on power in 2018, the subsequent federal administration—which included leaders and factions that had previously operated under the party’s decades-long dominance—charted a path of reform and sought to integrate the group into a peaceful political framework.

However, this pursuit of stability has been persistently undermined as hardline elements within the TPLF repeatedly rejected legal integration, slid back into insurrection, and engaged in aggressive posturing and bad-faith actions.

From the onset of the political transition, the federal government sought to integrate all political actors into a fair, democratic framework.

Even when the TPLF rejected participation in the Prosperity Party, established an unconstitutional regional electoral commission in 2020, and rejected federal administrative appointments, Addis Ababa exercised immense patience.

The situation escalated when the TPLF leadership launched a coordinated, surprise military assault against the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) on November 3, 2020. Despite mounting a law enforcement operation to defend state sovereignty, the federal government pursued a political solution, culminating in the historic African Union-brokered Pretoria Peace Agreement of November 2, 2022.

Despite the Pretoria Agreement, the federal government’s peace initiatives faced continued internal recalcitrance.

While the administration facilitated the TPLF’s special party registration under Proclamation No. 1332/2024 and launched extensive Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs via the National Rehabilitation Commission, hardline factions breached the peace framework by delaying general assemblies, obstructing the Tigray Interim Administration under President Getachew Reda and later Lt. Gen. Tadesse Worede, and illegally seizing municipal infrastructure.

On the ground, the TPLF engaged in provocative military mobilizations into disputed territories such as Tselemti, Korem, and Alamata, and forged a clandestine *Tsimdo* military alliance with Eritrean authorities to undermine stability.

Through these provocations, the federal administration maintained a measured response via the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), the National Dialogue process, and the extension of the Interim Administration’s mandate.

Economically and socially, the federal government has channeled vast resources into regional reconstruction, restoring critical infrastructure, banking, telecommunications, and humanitarian corridors despite ongoing belligerence.

While the former regime spent 27 years weaponizing identity and engineering structural divisions, the current federal administration has championed grassroots reconciliation, the safe return of displaced persons, and national cohesion.

The contrast remains stark: while the federal government anchors its existence on the rule of law and enduring peace, the TPLF leadership continues to trap its own people in confrontation.