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The Government and Political System in Ethiopia

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The government of Ethiopia is a Federal Parliamentary Republic. It is led by its Prime Minister who is regarded as the highest officer of the government. The parliament has two chambers who share the legislative powers with the government. Executive powers on the other hand, lie on the government alone.

Ethiopia also has an elected President who serves a term with a maximum of six years. This office has very limited political powers though, thus it is usually regarded as merely a symbolic position. The president is elected into office by the House of People’s Representatives.

The Prime Minister on the other hand is chosen by the party who wins the Legislative Elections. He holds most of the power in the Ethiopian government and he also leads the Council of Ministers of Ethiopia which includes the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Environment, the Minister of Health, and the Minister of Water Resources. Other additional ministers may be included in the Council of Ministers as soon as they are approved by Ethiopia’s House of People’s Representatives.

The House of People’s Representatives is the first of the two chambers of parliament of Ethiopia. It is known as the lower house and it has 547 members all elected to terms lasting 5 years. 22 of this 547 seats are specifically reserved for minority groups.

The second chamber of the parliament of Ethiopia is the Council of the Federation. Its membership is composed of elected representatives chosen by the Ethiopian State Councils. These State Councils have the option however to hold elections for the people so as to give them a more direct hand in choosing their representative to the Council of the Federation.