Medrek ( am, መድረክ), officially the Ethiopia Federal Democratic Unity Forum ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አንድነት መድረክ), is an Ethiopian political coalition founded in 2008 by former defense minister Siye Abraha and former president Negasso Gidada. The election symbol of the party is five fingers. On 2008 election, Medrek won a single seat in the

House of Peoples' Representatives The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. ...

, representing an electoral district in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. This was allegedly due to lack of election transparency. Medrek won 30% of the individual vote nationwide but received only one seat in parliament since Ethiopia's elections are conducted under a single-member plurality voting system.

Background

Medrek was established by the

Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement The Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement om, Warraaqsa Federaalistii Uummata Oromoo, OFDM) was a political party in Ethiopia, created in 2005 by Bulcha Demeksa to further the interests of the Oromo people as an alternative to the armed Oromo ...

(OFDM), the

Somali Democratic Alliance Forces Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somal ...

(SDAF), and

Arena Tigray Arena Tigray or Arena Tigray For Democracy and Sovereignty ( ti, ዓረና ትግራይ ንዲሞክራሲን ንሉኣላዊነትን) is an Ethiopian political party based in the Tigray Region and participating in the Medrek coalition federall ...

(the ''Union of Tigrians for Democracy and Sovereignty'', led by Gebru Asrat), former Ethiopian president Dr. Negasso Gidada, and Siye Abraha, former defense minister. In December 2009, Medrek was joined by the largest opposition party, the Unity for Democracy and Justice, led by Birtukan Mideksa. Due to ideological differences and disagreement on ethnic federalism, the Unity for Democracy and Justice left the coalition after one year of participation. The current coalition members include the

Oromo People's Congress The Oromo People's Congress (OPC) was a federalist and Oromo nationalist opposition political party in Ethiopia. It was founded in April 1996 as the Oromo National Congress by Dr. Merera Gudina, who is its chairman. However, the party licence a ...

led by

Merera Gudina Merera Gudina ( Oromo: Mararaa Guddinaa) (born 5 July 1956) is an Ethiopian professor and politician. He is the leader of the Oromo People's Congress (OPC), a political party representing the Oromo people. The organization is opposed to the previ ...

led by Bekele Gerba, the Ethiopian Social Democratic Party led by Beyene Petros, the Union of Tigrayans for Democracy and Sovereignty (ARENA) led by Abraha Desta, and the Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Dr. Million Tumato. Medrek fielded 270 candidates for the 2015 Ethiopian general election.

Ideology

Medrek supports a social democratic economic model and the current ethnic federalism arrangement that has been implemented in Ethiopia since 1995. Medrek strongly supports preserving Ethiopian unity and sovereignty under the ethnic federal system. Medrek also supports making

Afan Oromo Oromo ( or ; Oromo: ''Afaan Oromoo''), in the linguistic literature of the early 20th century also called Galla (a name with a pejorative meaning and therefore rejected by the Oromo people), is an Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Cushiti ...

Tigrinya (; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions. History and literatur ...

and Somali official languages of Ethiopia alongside Amharic.Medrek announces Afan Oromo as second Official Language of Ethiopia
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References

2008 establishments in Ethiopia Federalist parties in Ethiopia Left-wing political party alliances Political parties established in 2008 Political party alliances in Ethiopia {{Ethiopia-party-stub