The National Election Board of Ethiopia dismissed Tigray Regional Council’s request for the Electoral Board to assist the region in conducting its regional election. According to a letter from The Electoral Board, the dismissal is based on legality issues as the region lacks the right to conduct the election. In a letter sent today, the electoral Board stated that no entity other than the electoral Board is assigned to prepare, conduct and announce election results other than the Ethiopia National Electoral Board. 

In the letter, the Electoral Board mentioned that it is not prepared to conduct any election until the uncertainty surrounding COVID becomes clear. Recently Tigray Regional Council has passed a unanimous decision to hold regional elections before September. 

You can read the full Amharic script of the statement below. 

የትግራይ ክልል ምክር ቤት የክልል ምክር ቤት ምርጫ እንዲፈጸምለት ለቦርዱ ያቀረበውን ጥያቄ አስመልክቶ ከኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ የተሰጠ መግለጫ:-https://t.co/XiVWStmRYT pic.twitter.com/h1fByvrBJ0

— Ethiopia Live Updates (@Ethiopialiveupd) June 24, 2020