National Movement of Amhara ( am, የአማራ ብሔራዊ ንቅናቄ, translit=Ye’āmara Biḥērawī Nik’inak’ē, NaMA) is a
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
Amhara ethnic nationalist political party created in June 2018 in
Bahir Dar
Bahir Dar ( amh, ባሕር ዳር, 3=sea shore) is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The ci ...
, capital of the
Amhara Region of
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 ...
.
Creation
NAMA was created in June 2018 in
Bahir Dar
Bahir Dar ( amh, ባሕር ዳር, 3=sea shore) is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The ci ...
to defend the interests of
Amhara people
Amharas ( am, አማራ, Āmara; gez, ዐምሐራ, ʾÄməḥära) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly inhabiting the Amhara ...
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 ...
, after
Abiy Ahmed
Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...
became prime minister of Ethiopia and promised the "broadening
fdemocratic space".
Leadership and structure
Desalagne Chanie (or ''Chane'') was elected as the chair of NaMA at its creation in June 2018.
He was replaced by
Belete Molla, who was elected as chair in February 2020 in a meeting that included observers from 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' Re ...
(NEBE).
, NaMA was led by a nine-member executive committee, including Belete as chair. One of the executive committee members,
Christian Tadele, was at the time under arrest as a suspect in the
Amhara Region coup d'état attempt of June 2019.
Political positions
June 2019 Amhara Region coup d'état attempt
In December 2019, NaMA called for the release of its leaders who had been arrested for suspicion of involvement in the June 2019
Amhara Region coup d'état attempt. NaMA stated that the detainees had not been interrogated in relation to the killings that occurred during the attempted coup d'état. NaMA stated that it wants "the real culprits" of the event to be "held accountable".
Massacres
In October 2020, NaMA criticised the federal government for killings of ethnic Amharas in
Oromia Region
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...
,
Benishangul-Gumuz Region and
. NaMA accused the federal government of "demeaning the attacks, hiding evidence and in frequent cases blaming the victims" and regional government officials of failing to stop the attacks and of supporting the perpetrators.
References
{{Ethiopia political parties
Ethnic political parties in Ethiopia
Political parties in Ethiopia