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2023 South Ethiopia Region referendum

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2023 South Ethiopia Region referendum
6 February 2023
Do you support the organisation of the six zones (Konso, Wolayita, South Omo, Gamo, Gedeo, Gofa) and the special woredas (Burji, Basketo, Ale, Amaro, Dirashe) into one common region?
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 2,398,469 95.22%
No 120,501 4.78%
Valid votes 2,518,970 96.73%
Invalid or blank votes 85,189 3.27%
Total votes 2,604,159 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 2,791,882 93.28%
Results by zone and woreda

On 6 February 2023 a referendum was held in the Wolayita, Gamo, Gofa, South Omo, Gedeo, and Konso Zones, as well as the Dirashe, Amaro, Burji, Ale, and Basketo special woredas of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNP) of Ethiopia, on whether the included areas should leave SNNP and form their own Region.

This referendum follows two previous referendums from 2019 and 2021 in other areas of the then-SNNP, both of which resulted in votes to split off into new regions.

The referendum was tentatively approved, although Wolayita Zone had to rerun voting after it was found that irregularities were present. The approval of the new region in the other zones and woredas was conveyed to the national House of Federation by the SNNP government. The new region's name was set as the South Ethiopia Region. Wolayita Zone reran the referendum successfully in the summer, with a majority also voting in favor of a new region. The House of Federation unanimously voted in favour of the creation of the new region on 5 July 2023.[1][2] The remaining part of the SNNP was renamed to the Central Ethiopia Region.[3][4]

Background

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The Constitution of Ethiopia grants every ethnic group the right to have their own region in Ethiopia. The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNP) previously contained 56 ethnic groups. The ascension of prime minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018, along with his promises for reforms, reignited demands for autonomy by some ethnic groups in SNNP.[5][6] The 2019 Sidama Region referendum saw the Sidama Region split off from the SNNP. A similar referendum in 2021 saw 5 zones and 1 special woreda leave the SNNP and form the new South West Region.[7]

At the end of July 2022, 10 zones and 6 special woredas in SNNP passed resolutions aiming to split off two new states from what remained of the SNNP. These resolutions were greeted positively by the SNNP government.[8] (There were reports that the Gurage Zone was also involved, however it wished to continue with a proposal it had submitted on 26 November 2018 to become its own region.[9])

Map of Ethiopia highlighting the SNNP
The South Ethiopia Region (in purple) following the 2023 referendum and secession, note the territory that split off following the 2019 Sidama Region referendum and the 2021 South West Region referendum (in pink and lighter purple), as well as the Central region that did not have a referendum and did not secede, hence being somewhat of a successor to the former big region.

On 5 August, the SNNP Council submitted the requests to the House of Federation. The Speaker of the House of Federation noted that the House would come to a quick decision,[10] and tasked the National Election Board of Ethiopia with looking into carrying out the referendums.[11] Official approval of the referendum by the House of Federation for the proposal given by from 6 zones and 5 special woredas occurred on 18 August. Specifically, this was for the Wolayita, Gamo, Gofa, South Omo, Gedeo, and Konso Zones, as well as the Dirashe, Amaro, Burji, Ale, and Basketo special woredas. (The simultaneous request, from the Hadiya, Halaba, Kembata Tembaro, and Silte Zones, and the Yem Special Woreda request has not yet been acted upon.)[12] The House of Federation requested the referendum, for a new South Ethiopia Region, be held within three months.[13]

In September the National Election Board submitted a budget request to the House of Peoples' Representatives.[11]

On 10 October the National Election Board announced that a referendum would be held in parts of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region on 6 February, targeting results to be released on 15 February.[7] Campaigning began on 17 October, and voter registration ran for two weeks beginning on 20 December.[14] By 9 January, 2,934,143 voters had registered, and registration for 24 polling stations was extended.[15]

Logistics

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The National Election Board expected to hire 18,885 people, and requested 541,270,104.82 birr to carry out the referendum.[7] 410.1 million birr was given.[16] 5,200 election observers from Ethiopia and elsewhere were expected.[15]

3,771 polling stations were set up, divided into 31 groups.[17] These are expected to see around 3 million voters.[16] Each polling station is expected to release its results over the five days following the referendum.[14] To assist those with reading difficulties, each option on the referendum was also represented by an easily identifiable symbol: a white dove for a vote in favor of a new region, and a hut for a vote against.

Results

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Full results were initially expected on 15 February,[7][18] and partial results were released on 18 February.[19] The National Election Board announced on 20 February that a majority had voted to secede, although the official results from the Wolayita Zone were still pending as the board stated a variety of irregularities occurred before and during the vote. These irregularities are possibly due to a longstanding campaign for Wolayita to become a region on its own. Of the areas with approved results, the largest opposition came from the Gedeo zone.[20] The referendum in the Wolayita Zone was rerun on 19 June,[21][22] and its results were released eight days later.[23]

ChoiceVotes%
For2,398,46995.22
Against120,5014.78
Total2,518,970100.00
Valid votes2,518,97096.73
Invalid/blank votes85,1893.27
Total votes2,604,159100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,791,88293.28
Source: NEBE (summary). Wolayita: NEBE

Result by subdivision

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Subdivision For % Against % Invalid Registered voters Turnout %
Wolayita Zone 752,044 94.77 41,531 5.23 44,938 840,226 99.80
Konso Zone 101,114 98.17 1,890 1.83 2,180 111,561 94.28
South Omo Zone 256,159 97.95 5,364 2.05 5,273 297,948 89.54
Gamo Zone 583,757 98.37 9,682 1.63 8,141 630,340 95.44
Gedeo Zone 241,695 83.79 46,749 16.21 11,941 372,754 80.59
Gofa Zone 243,327 95.19 12,306 4.81 8,471 289,307 91.29
Burji special woreda 28,460 97.38 765 2.62 676 36,123 82.78
Basketo special woreda 27,674 96.07 1,133 3.93 1,098 32,639 91.62
Ale special woreda 22,395 98.19 412 1.81 710 29,950 78.52
Amaro special woreda 90,377 99.76 216 0.24 598 94,233 96.77
Dirashe special woreda 51,467 99.13 453 0.87 1,163 56,801 93.45

References

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  1. ^ "Ethiopia: Upper House votes to form 12th regional state". Africanews. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  2. ^ "News: Ethiopia House of Federation officiates creation of new state in Southern Ethiopia". Addis Standard. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Central Ethiopia, Southern Ethiopia Regional States Established". ENA English. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  4. ^ Account (20 August 2023). "Ethiopia's two new regional states formed : Central Ethiopia, South Ethiopia". Borkena Ethiopian News. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  5. ^ Susan Houlton (18 July 2019). "Ethiopia delays referendum on new independent region". DW. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Vote on breakaway region as Ethiopia faces tests to unity". France 24. 28 September 2021. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d "News: Electoral Board to hold Southern region referendum in February next year". Addis Standard. 12 October 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  8. ^ "News: Ten zones, six special woredas in Ethiopia's Southern state undergo major restructuring to create two more regional states". Addis Standard. 2 August 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  9. ^ "News update: Zonal restructure not agenda for Gurage Zone Council, Zone awaits House of Federation decision on request for own region". Addis Standard. 3 August 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  10. ^ "News: SNNP Council submits zonal, special woredas restructuring to House of Federation; Bu'i city in Gurage zone establishes command post". Addis Standard. 5 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  11. ^ a b "News: Electoral Board requests more than 541 m birr budget to hold referendum in Southern state". Addis Standard. 21 September 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  12. ^ "#Breaking: Six zones and five special woredas to hold a referendum". Addis Standard. 18 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  13. ^ "House Orders Holding of Referendum for Establishment of New Region in SNNP". ENA. 18 August 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Voting Date Set for Referendum to Form New Region in Ethiopia". Ethiopian Monitor. 13 October 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Over 2.9m Voters Registered for Referendum in SNNPR". Ethiopian Monitor. 9 January 2023. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  16. ^ a b "News: Over three million people expected to vote in referendum to form Ethiopia's 12th regional state". Addis Standard. 21 October 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Referendum Starts in Six Zones, Five Special Districts in Southern Ethiopia". ENA. 6 February 2023. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Referendum Result | National Election Board of Ethiopia". Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  19. ^ "የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ በደ/ብ/ብ/ሕ ክልላዊ መንግሥት ሥር በሚገኙ ስድስት ዞኖች (በኮንሶ፣ በደቡብ ኦሞ፣ በወላይታ፣ በጋሞ፣ በጌዴኦ፣ በጎፋ) እና አምስት ልዩ ወረዳዎች (በቡርጂ፣ በባስኬቶ፣ በአሌ፣ በአማሮ፣ በዲራሼ) ያካሄደውን የሕዝበ ውሣኔ ውጤት ስለማሳወቅ". NEBE (in Amharic). 18 February 2023. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  20. ^ "News: NEBE reports majority vote in favor of new region in recent referendum, irregularities in Wolaita zone". Addis Standard. 21 February 2023. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  21. ^ "Board prepares to rerun Wolaita referendum". The Reporter. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Voting date set for Referendum Rerun in Wolaita". Ethiopian Monitor. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  23. ^ National Election Board of Ethiopia [@NEBEthiopia] (27 June 2023). "የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ ምርጫ ቦርድ ሰኔ 12 ቀን 2015 ዓ.ም በ1,812 ምርጫ ጣቢያዎች ላይ ያስፈጸመውን የወላይታ ዞን የድጋሚ ሕዝበ ውሣኔ የውጤት ማረጋገጥ ሥራ ሲሠራ የቆየ ሲሆን፤የተረጋገጠውን ውጤት ይፋ አድርጓል።ዝርዝር ሰነዱ ከታች ተያይዟል።" (Tweet) (in Amharic). Retrieved 16 July 2023 – via Twitter.
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