Ethiopia's Constitutional Reform Could Consolidate PM Abiy's Already Formidable Power

In Addis Ababa, a nation of more than 80 ethnic groups and unresolved wars is contemplating a constitutional reform that would merge its ceremonial presidency with the prime minister's office — a change that would give Abiy Ahmed the formal architecture to match the dominance he has quietly assembled since 2018. The proposal emerged from a national dialogue of some 4,000 delegates, yet the opposition boycotted the proceedings and armed factions were absent, raising the oldest question in democratic theory: whether legal procedure and genuine popular consent are the same thing. History suggests