The National Congress of Great Tigray ( ti, ብሄራዊ ባይቶ ዓባይ ትግራይ) or Baytona ( ti, link=no, ባይቶና) is a political party in the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray ...

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 ...

Policies

In September 2020, prior to the 2020 Tigray regional election held that month, Baytona aimed at increased autonomy for Tigray Region, to "secure its territorial integrity, promote its language, and preserve its heritage." Baytona favoured Ethiopia becoming a

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

of independent states.

September 2020 election

Baytona won 20,839 votes out of the 2,633,848 votes cast, winning no seats in the September 2020 election. The Tigray Regional Council resulting from the election established a mechanism for minority parties to propose agendas and bills, present motions, propose policy and nominate appointees. Baytona was allotted seven non-voting seats and one voting seat.

Tigray War

In January 2021, during the

Tigray War The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...

, the

National Election Board of Ethiopia The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' R ...

(NEBE) asked Baytona for an "explanation about tsactivities" before taking a possible decision on deregistering the party in relation to its participation in the September 2020 Tigray election, that NEBE considered illegal. On 2 February 2021, Baytona, together with

Tigray Independence Party The Tigray Independence Party (TIP) is a Tigrayan nationalist political party in Ethiopia. Founded in 2020, the party seeks the independence of the Tigray Region. Creation In September 2020, ''BBC News'' described Tigray Independence Party as ...

and

Salsay Weyane Tigray The Salsay Weyane Tigray ( ti, ሳልሳይ ወያነ ትግራይ, SAWET) is a political party in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Policies In January 2021, SAWET's political programme was outlined as follows:Twitter account @salsayweyanetigra ...

, estimated there to have been 52,000 civilian

casualties of the Tigray War Casualties of the Tigray War refers to the civilian and military deaths and injuries in the Tigray War that started in November 2020, in which rape and other sexual violence are also widespread. Precise casualty figures are uncertain. According ...

References

{{Ethiopia political parties Ethnic political parties in Ethiopia Federalist parties in Ethiopia Political parties in Ethiopia