A guide to the Parliament of Ethiopia, by Meheret Ayenew and Tsedey Mekonnen
Fri. 28 Apr 2017
Meheret Ayenew, Executive Director of the Forum for Social Studies in Addis Ababa, and researcher Tsedey Mekonnen set out the history, make-up and role of the bicameral Ethiopian Parliament.
, Director
Dr Ruth Fox
Dr Ruth Fox
Director , Hansard Society
Ruth is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the Society and leads its research programme. She has appeared before more than a dozen parliamentary select committees and inquiries, and regularly contributes to a wide range of current affairs programmes on radio and television, commentating on parliamentary process and political reform.
In 2012 she served as adviser to the independent Commission on Political and Democratic Reform in Gibraltar, and in 2013 as an independent member of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee Review Group. Prior to joining the Society in 2008, she was head of research and communications for a Labour MP and Minister and ran his general election campaigns in 2001 and 2005 in a key marginal constituency.
In 2004 she worked for Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign in the battleground state of Florida. In 1999-2001 she worked as a Client Manager and historical adviser at the Public Record Office (now the National Archives), after being awarded a PhD in political history (on the electoral strategy and philosophy of the Liberal Party 1970-1983) from the University of Leeds, where she also taught Modern European History and Contemporary International Politics.
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Their Ethiopian Parliament Briefing Paper outlines the history of the legislature dating back to its establishment in 1931 by Emperor Haile Selassie I. The paper explores the formal functions of the Parliament, highlights the relatively high number of women members, and explores why multi-party politics has failed to take root and why, as a consequence, parliamentary rule has not been institutionalised.
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