The (extra) constitutionality of election postponement in Ethiopia amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Election postponement in Ethiopia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has raised critical constitutional questions that have never been really thought before in the country's constitutional law jurisprudence. This is because the state of emergency measure in Ethiopia, to contain the spread of COVID-19, was in conflict with constitutional deadlines for elections. The constitutional lacuna is complicated by the absence of explicit constitutional provisions that indisputably govern election postponement. Finally, the House of Federation (HoF), Upper House of Ethiopia which is empowered to interpret the Constitution, postponed the planned election indefinitely under the aegis of constitutional interpretation. The decision undoubtedly contradicts the Ethiopian Constitution since the HoF provided superficial analysis and fallacious reasoning and failed to meaningfully grapple with the serious constitutional issues.