ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia ’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday asked people in the northern Tigray region to nominate a new leader in the latest move by the federal government to defuse political disagreements and prevent a return to war.

The nominee would replace Tigray’s interim President Getachew Reda, whose differences with former leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, have split the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and led to fighting as armed soldiers loyal to Gebremichael take over key towns.

There are concerns in the region that the widening political split within the TPLF could lead to a full-fledged civil war like the one that ended in 2022 with the signing of a peace agreement.

The party has been calling for the firing of Reda and others since last year, attempting to appoint a new set of its endorsed candidates and removing him and some cabinet members from party membership.

Earlier this month, armed soldiers loyal to the party took over the administrations of key towns, including the region’s second biggest city, Adigrat, in what Reda termed as a “coup” and with escalating conflict, he fled to the capital, Addis Ababa.

William Davison, an analyst on Ethiopia says, the leadership change might ease infighting for the immediate future but many challenges remain.

“The region’s new leaders will still possess little leverage to convince the federal government to restore territory lost in the war and the failure to achieve that is likely to lead to continuing political instability inside Tigray, while serious defiance of Addis Ababa may lead to a new conflict," he told The Associated Press.

Ahmed, who used a social media post on the X platform on Wednesday for names of potential nominees, has been holding talks with Reda and the leadership of the TPLF in Addis Ababa to end the political impasse.

Amanuel Assefa, deputy chair of the TPLF, said the prime minister's decision to ask the public to nominate a candidate instead of one chosen by the party is a violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement (CoHA).

“We know that the prime minister had agreed with the candidate who was nominated by the TPLF and therefore, if he tries to reject it unilaterally, it will be against the CoHA," Assefa told AP.

The TPLF's preferred candidate is the current deputy president of the interim government, Lt. Gen. Tadesse Worede, who he described as a competent and experienced politician and military professional, who served as commander of the military arm of the party, The Tigray Defense Force.

“Another issue is how the prime minister intends to identify whether the public nomination is given by Tigrayans or not," he added.

Ahmed told lawmakers last week that he expects the renewal of the term of the interim government to be extended by a year to coincide with national elections that will take place next year.

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Associated Press journalist Amanuel Gebremedhin contributed to this report.

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