Cool.
Question I have though is that, from the article, it seems that Ethiopia has both a president and a prime minister? What is the difference between the two in their government? To me, president and prime minister kind of always seemed like interchangeable terms, that like prime minister in the UK is basically the equivalent of president here in the US.
That is an excellent question Nah, as always! From what I have researched Ethiopia is very democratic, and in the present day there are constitutional limits on the authority of both the president and prime minister. The president is the head of the state and has two term limits of 6 years. There is a council of ministers with constitutional authority, and the president is elected by vote of the House of People's Representatives.
The president of convenes with the house to select a nominee for prime minister from its members. The prime minister makes their case, explaining their political platform and the house votes on whether or not he or she will be prime minister
Whereas the prime minister will be chosen from the house, and likely a leader of the political party in power, any citizen of Ethiopia can run for president.
If elected the prime minister recommends a cabinet of his own for the president to name. The president names many officials, including a third of the Superior Judicial Court
The president can open, call and dissolve parliament, approves the legislation they will be shown, and can ask for a bill's reconsideration.
The prime minister attends parliament, must responds to any of their questions and works within the parliment to pass bills. With the authorization of parliament the president enacts the law, ratifies treaties and declares war. The president also can call for a referendum. Everyone works together. Nobody has autonomous power.
The president receives envoys and appears at state occassions, both the prime minister and president travel abroad in delegations representing the country.
The prime minister is not subect to a term limit like the president, the minister is also involved heavily in internal government, diplomatic visits and is the commander-in-chief of Ethiopia's National Defense Force. In several cases the prime minister's signature may also be required for authorization of a president decision. From what I have read though the president is vert honored, the prime minister has more executive power, yet the president holds judicial power,
presides over courts, can pardon and commute sentences, remove regional presidents and councils and can call for a referendums.
It would appear that Ms. Sahle-Work Zewde has plenty to do!
If anyone here is from Ethiopia, and has any corrections to make or other valuable information to share, please do contribute! I'm a westerner, and still have much to learn, but it has all been fascinating for me to learn about.
