Addis Ababa, August 11, 2026 (FMC) — In Ethiopia’s political history, few groups have a longer record of trading on the name of the people than the illegal Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). It has spent decades struggling to build political legitimacy by presenting itself as the protector and representative of the people of Tigray.
But calling oneself the voice of a people does not, by itself, make one their genuine representative.
The real test is what a political force leaves behind in the lives of the people it claims to serve. And the recent conflict between the illegal TPLF and the Ethiopian government has left a devastating record: loss of life and physical abilities, displacement, destruction of infrastructure, economic damage and a deep erosion of social trust across Tigray and Ethiopia.
When an entire generation has seen its education disrupted by war, when young people have been recruited to fight, when families have been displaced, when property and infrastructure have been destroyed and opportunities for development have been lost, the claim that a group stands for its people becomes little more than a slogan.
People want something far more basic and far more meaningful. They want their children to go to school. They want their families to live in peace. They want lasting security and the opportunity to benefit from development. These are the real measures of political responsibility.
The people of Tigray have had enough. Having learned from the pain of the past, they are increasingly making it clear that they do not want another war. And rightly so. Their shoulders have no room left for conflict and bloodshed; what they need now is peace and development.
At every opportunity, the people are beginning to raise their voices against the repression and incitement of the illegal group, making it clear that enough is enough.
This message has also emerged through peaceful public demonstrations, where participants have condemned the illegal TPLF for pushing young people toward war.
Yet a group that appears unable to sustain its existence without conflict continues to disregard the people’s yearning for peace. The illegal TPLF is once again pursuing cooperation even with historic adversaries, placing the people of Tigray at risk of another war and another cycle of devastation.
Tigray does not need another war. It needs development. Its young people deserve to be directed away from the old politics of confrontation and toward a future built on education, work, creativity and opportunity.
That message rises above partisan politics. It is a timely and fundamental demand of the people themselves: a young person’s life should be built not through a gun, but through education, work and innovation.
For a generation that has already paid such a heavy price for war, peace is not a political luxury. It is the foundation on which everything else—education, livelihoods, development and a dignified future—must be built.