Ethiopia imposes six-month emergency rule

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia said Saturday that a state of emergency will remain in place for six months, as the authorities banned protests to quell what they termed "chaos and unruliness" despite condemnation from key ally the United States.

The council of ministers declared the country´s second emergency decree in two years on Friday evening, capping a tumultuous week that saw Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn´s surprise resignation, a strike in the country´s largest region and a massive prisoner amnesty. The US embassy in Addis Ababa on Saturday said it "strongly" disagrees with "restrictions on fundamental rights such as assembly and expression."

Saying the declaration "undermines recent positive steps toward creating a more inclusive political space," the embassy called on the government "to rethink this approach." The capital was calm on Saturday, with businesses open and no extra security forces deployed on the streets. Defence Minister Siraj Fegessa told a press conference: "the state of emergency will last for six months, and it must be presented to House of People´s Representatives and approved within 15 days."

The approval is near-certain given that the ruling Ethiopian People´s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its allies control all the seats in the legislature in Africa´s second most populous country. The government had cited "ethnic-based clashes" and "chaos and unruliness" as the reasons for the move.