National Movement of Amhara (, NaMA) is a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

Amhara Amhara may refer to: * Amhara people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia * Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people * Bete Amhara, a lordship and later province of medieval Ethiopia * Amhara Province, a historical region of Ethiopia * Amhara Region ...

ethnic nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnostate/ethnocratic) approach to various ...

political party created in June 2018 in

Bahir Dar Bahir Dar () is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The city is known for its wide avenues li ...

, capital of the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Creation

NAMA was created in June 2018 in

to defend the interests of

Amhara people Amharas (; ) are a Ethiopian Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Ethiopian Highlands, Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly the Amhara Reg ...

, after

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali (; ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019. He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Networ ...

became prime minister of Ethiopia and promised the "broadening fdemocratic space".

Leadership and structure

Desalagne Chanie (or ''Chane'') was elected as the chair of NaMA at its creation in June 2018. He was replaced by

Belete Molla Belete Molla (Amharic: በለጠ ሞላ) is an Ethiopian politician who was appointed Minister of Innovation and Technology in 2021, and founder and chairman of the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA), a right-wing Amhara nationalist political p ...

, who was elected as chair in February 2020 in a meeting that included observers from the

National Election Board of Ethiopia The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) () is an autonomous federal government agency which supervises the national elections of Ethiopia. The NEBE was established by Proclamation number 64/1992, and answers to the House of Peoples' Re ...

(NEBE). , NaMA was led by a nine-member executive committee, including Belete as chair. One of the executive committee members,

Christian Tadele Christian Tadele (Amharic: ክርስቲያን ታደለ) is an Ethiopian politician who is a member of the House of Peoples' Representatives (HoPR) in Opposition group, Chair Person of the Opposition Caucus and Chairman of the Standing Committee o ...

, was at the time under arrest as a suspect in the

Amhara Region coup d'état attempt The 2019 Amhara Region coup d'état attempt was an attempted coup d'état against the Amhara Regional government on 22 June 2019, during which factions of the Amhara Region's Peace and Security Bureau assassinated the Amhara Regional President ...

of June 2019.

Political positions

June 2019 Amhara Region coup d'état attempt

In December 2019, NaMA called for the release of its leaders who had been arrested for suspicion of involvement in the June 2019

. NaMA stated that the detainees had not been interrogated in relation to the killings that occurred during the attempted coup d'état. NaMA stated that it wants "the real culprits" of the event to be "held accountable".

Massacres

In October 2020, NaMA criticised the federal government for killings of ethnic Amharas in

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

Benishangul-Gumuz Region Benishangul-Gumuz () is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Er ...

and

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; ) was a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of five ''kililoch'', called Regions 7 to 11, following the ...

. NaMA accused the federal government of "demeaning the attacks, hiding evidence and in frequent cases blaming the victims" and regional government officials of failing to stop the attacks and of supporting the perpetrators.

References

{{Ethiopia political parties Ethnic political parties in Ethiopia