<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Ethiopia<nl>Government</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Names:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional long form:</hi> none
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional short form:</hi> Ethiopia
<item>• <hi format=ital>local long form:</hi> none
<item>• <hi format=ital>local short form:</hi> Ityop'iya
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<item><hi format=bold>Digraph:</hi> ET
<item><hi format=bold>Type:</hi> transitional government
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<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> on 28 May 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) toppled the authoritarian government of MENGISTU Haile-Mariam and took control in Addis Ababa; the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE), announced a two-year transitional period
<item><hi format=bold>Independence:</hi> oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world—at least 2,000 years
<item><hi format=bold>National holiday:</hi> National Day, 28 May (1991) (defeat of Mengistu regime)
<item><hi format=bold>Constitution:</hi> to be redrafted by 1993
<item><hi format=bold>Legal system:</hi> NA
<item><hi format=bold>Suffrage:</hi> 18 years of age; universal
<item><hi format=bold>Executive branch:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of state:</hi> President MELES Zenawi (since 1 June 1991); election last held 10 September 1987; next election planned after new constitution drafted; results—MENGISTU Haile-Mariam elected by the now defunct National Assembly, but resigned and left Ethiopia on 21 May 1991
<item>• <hi format=ital>head of government:</hi> Prime Minister TAMIRAT Layne (since 6 June 1991)
<item>• <hi format=ital>cabinet:</hi> Council of Ministers; designated by the chairman of the Council of Representatives
<item><hi format=bold>Constituent Assembly:</hi> elections were held on 5 June 1994 (next to be held NA); results—NA; a major task of the new Assembly will be to ratify the constitution to drafted by the end of 1994
<item><hi format=bold>Political parties and leaders:</hi> Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), MELES Zenawi; Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), Kuma DEMEKSA
<item><hi format=bold>Other political or pressure groups:</hi> Oromo Liberation Front (OLF); Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP); numerous small, ethnic-based groups have formed since Mengistu's resignation, including several Islamic militant groups
<item><hi format=bold>Flag:</hi> three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red; Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, and the colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors