Whether it His Majesty, His predecessors, Mengistu, Meles, or Abiy, they all ran the Ethiopian federal government with the goal of maintaining unification of all Ethiopian states. Ethiopia is divided into ten states, and each of them is ethnically controlled, with their own governments that oversee their specific state. The states, or tribes, have fought with each other for centuries, and what is playing out now is no different from the issues of the past. Be it Abiy or His Majesty, the federal government's responsibility is toward the unification of the nation. If a state was allowed to secede it fractures the country, and gives other states the idea that they too could have their own country devoted to their own ethnic identity. The states claim to have offended each other through petty squabbles and border disputes, however, the real enemy in all of theses conflicts is pride and poverty.
I don't think that Abiy or the Tigrays ever imagined that the other side would be willing to allow the conflict to escalate to its current level. What is happening is extremely sad. Abiy feels his hand is forced, and the Tigrays thought they would get away with taking jabs at the federal government. What could a peaceful solution be at this time?
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