The Tigray Independence Party (TIP) is a Tigrayan nationalist political party 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 ...

. Founded in 2020, the party seeks the independence of 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 is ...

Creation

In September 2020, ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'' described Tigray Independence Party as "a new opposition party".

Policies

In September 2020, prior to the

2020 Tigray regional election On 9 September 2020, the Ethiopian region of Tigray held an election for its state council. The election was considered illegal by the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who postponed the 2020 general election earlier in the year ...

held that month, TIP's main aim was for Tigray to secede from Ethiopia, becoming independent. It described Ethiopia as an "empire".

September 2020 election

TIP won 18,479 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. TIP was allotted five seats.

Tigray War

On 2 February 2021, TIP, together with

National Congress of Great Tigray 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 of Ethiopia. Policies In September 2020, prior to the 2020 Tigray regiona ...

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 Political parties in Ethiopia 2020 establishments in Tigray