The vote itself was peaceful and mostly well-ordered, but the road to the referendum was protracted and bloody
THEY ROSE at dawn, quietly assembling in long queues and clasping their voting cards tightly in their excitement. On November 20th more than 2m people from Ethiopia’s fifth-biggest ethnic group, the Sidama, went to the polls to decide whether to break away to form its tenth semi-autonomous state.
But the road to the referendum was protracted and bloody. After coming to power last year offering greater freedoms, Abiy’s government dithered for months before holding the referendum, which was due to be held in July but was postponed. In the ensuing violence more than 50 people were killed. Since then the whole of SNNPR has been in effect under a state-of-emergency, with the army in charge of security. Dozens of activists were arrested in the run-up to the referendum.
The SNNPR’s future hinges on two factors. The first is how other groups respond to the formation of a Sidama state. Although several demanded referendums a year or so ago none has yet pushed its claims with the force or organisation of the Sidama, notes William Davison of the International Crisis Group, a think-tank. Ethnic elites are engaged in a bargaining process that may still end in a compromise that keeps the remainder of the region together.
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