Ethiopian constitutional referendum, 1987

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A constitutional referendum was held in Ethiopia on 1 February 1987. [1] The new constitution would make the country a one-party state with the Workers' Party of Ethiopia as the sole legal party. It was approved by 81% of voters, with a 96.3% turnout, and was promulgated on 22 February.

Ethiopia country in East Africa

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country in the northeastern part of Africa, popularly known as the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 102 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent that covers a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.

The 1987 Constitution of Ethiopia was the third constitution of Ethiopia, and went into effect on 22 February 1987 after a referendum on 1 February of that year. Its adoption inaugurated the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE).

A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of state in which one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties are either outlawed or allowed to take only a limited and controlled participation in elections. Sometimes the term de facto one-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system that, unlike the one-party state, allows democratic multiparty elections, but the existing practices or balance of political power effectively prevent the opposition from winning the elections.

Contents

Background

The ruling Workers' Party of Ethiopia established a Constitutional Commission in February 1986. In August it presented a draft constitution with 119 articles, which was modelled on the constitution of the Soviet Union and created a one-party state. [2]

Constitution of the Soviet Union

There were three versions of the constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, modeled after the 1918 Constitution established by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the immediate predecessor of the Soviet Union.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For81
Against19
Total14,035,718100
Registered voters/turnout14,570,01196.3
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath

The results were published on 21 February and the constitution came into force on 22 February. General elections were held on 14 June, and the country was officially renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 12 September. [2]

Peoples Democratic Republic of Ethiopia former country

The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) was a communist state that existed in Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991.

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References

  1. Elections in Ethiopia African Elections Database
  2. 1 2 Ethiopia, 1 February 1987: Constitution Direct Democracy (in German)