A constitutional referendum was held in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

on 1 February 1987.Elections in Ethiopia
African Elections Database The new constitution would make the country a

one-party A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a Sovereign state, sovereign State (polity), state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The ...

with the Communist

Workers' Party of Ethiopia The Workers' Party of Ethiopia ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ሠራተኞች ፓርቲ, Ye'Ityopia Serategnoch Parti, WPE) was a Marxist–Leninist communist party in Ethiopia from 1984 to 1991 led by General Secretary Mengistu Haile Mariam. The Wo ...

as the sole legal party. It was approved by 81% of voters, with a 96.3% turnout. It was promulgated on 22 February, inaugurating the

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE) () was a socialist state that existed in Ethiopia and present day Eritrea from 1987 to 1991. The PDRE was established in February 1987 as a Marxist-Leninist one-party state upon the adoption o ...

Background

The ruling Workers' Party of Ethiopia established a Constitutional Commission in February 1986. In August it presented a draft constitution with 119 articles. The document, modelled on the

constitution of the Soviet Union During its existence, the Soviet Union had three different constitutions in force individually at different times between 31 January 1924 to 26 December 1991. Chronology of Soviet constitutions These three constitutions were: * 1924 Constitu ...

, created a one-party state under the leadership of the WPE.Ethiopia, 1 February 1987: Constitution
Direct Democracy

Results

Aftermath

The results were published on 21 February and the constitution came into force on 22 February.

General elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

were held on 14 June, and the country was officially renamed the

on 12 September.

References

Ethiopian Civil War 1987 referendums 1987 in Ethiopia Communism in Ethiopia Referendums in Ethiopia Constitutional referendums February 1987 events in Africa {{ethiopia-election-stub fr:Élections en Éthiopie#1987