Ethiopia's Abiy sworn in for new term
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was sworn in for a new five-year term Monday, but the milestone risked being undermined by growing alarm over the war in the north.
Abiy's Prosperity Party scored a landslide win in June elections that federal officials touted as the high-water mark of democratic reforms he initiated upon taking office in 2018.
Yet by the time voters cast their ballots, tens of thousands had been killed in the conflict in the northern Tigray region and hundreds of thousands faced famine-like conditions, according to the UN, tarnishing the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner's once-glowing reputation.
Since then, fighting has spread to neighboring Afar and Amhara regions while Tigray has fallen under what the UN describes as a de facto humanitarian blockade, spurring fears of the mass starvation that turned Ethiopia into a byword for famine in the 1980s.
It is unclear whether Abiy's swearing-in will alter the course of the war pitting government troops against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group, which dominated national politics before he took power.
Abiy's office, which blames the rebels for starting the war last November with attacks on federal army camps, has said certain conciliatory measures such as declassifying the TPLF as a terrorist group can only happen after a new government is formed.
International partners like the United States "will be looking at this closely to see if there is any shift in position", William Davison, senior Ethiopia analyst for the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
Abiy's government has come under withering criticism for its conduct of the war, notably from Washington, a longtime ally.
US President Joe Biden in September signed an executive order allowing for sanctions against the warring parties if they fail to commit to a negotiated settlement.
