The Tigray Region of Ethiopia gets a new political party, Salsawi Weyane Tigray, that follows social democratic political ideology.
One of the provisional coordinators of the newly established political party, Ablelom Gebremichael, told reporters that Salsawi Weyane Tigray will be working for political, economic and social benefits of the people of Tigray, according to the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency report. The report stated that the new party will accept parts of the constitutions that it believes will benefit the people of Tigray and work peacefully to change the sections that do not benefit the people of Tigray.
The report stated that Tsegazeab Shishay, another provisional coordinator of Salsawi Weyane Tigray, has indicated that the new party will entertain new vision and ideas for the new generation. The report stated that the party will be working to utilize the natural resources of Tigray Region for the benefit of its people and address the class differences among different segments of the society.
Salsawi Weyane Tigray will soon make public its political programs and policies during its general assembly where the leaders of the party will also be elected, according to Ethiopian News Agency report.
Until Arena Tigray, another political party focusing on Tigray people was born as an alternative a few years ago, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been dominant in the ruling coalition – Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) for the past 27 years, was the only political party operating in the region legally.
The TPLF lost its dominance within EPRDF until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is from the Oromo Democratic Party, one of the four members of the coalition, came to power in April 2018. Salsawi Weyane Tigray. If allowed to operate freely in the region, the coming of Arena Tigray and Salsawi Weyane Tigray is expected to provide alternatives to the people of Tigray, who were exposed for long time to only the political narratives of the TPLF, which is revolutionary democracy.