Ethiopian Constituent Assembly election, 1994

Elections for a Constituent Assembly were held in Ethiopia on 5 June 1994 in order to form a body to draw up a new constitution. They were the first elections after the overthrow of the Mengistu regime at the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in 1991, and the first ever multi-party elections in the country; previous elections had either been non-partisan or one-party. The results saw the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies win 463 of the 544 seats. Voter turnout was 87.5%.

The Assembly finished drafting the new constitution in December, and it went into effect in August 1995.

Mengistu Haile Mariam was the leader of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991, during the military dictatorship or the Derg. The Ethiopian Civil War in 1991 ended with the overthrow of the Mengistu Regime. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a rebel group during the Derg, was transformed into the Transitional Government of Ethiopia in May 1991. With help, and money, given by the United States State Department with expectations of "democratic" behavior, the EPRDF was able to choose members of the TGE and how it would be run.Meles Zenawi became Head of State and Tamrat Layne Head of Government.

After gaining power, the anti-Mengistu alliance started removing weaker members of the party from power, creating a new authoritarian system. Under this authoritarian system, rules were based on ethnicity and anyone with opposing ideas were silenced with basic human rights denied by the seemingly unreachable leaders of the TGE.

The EPRDF held a National Conference from 1–5 July during which they adopted a National Charter. This was an interim constitution which established the Transitional Government. The Charter created the posts of President and Prime Minister, an 87-member Council of Representatives and a 17-member multi-ethnic Council of Ministers. The Council of Representatives was to elect the president and oversee transition to a permanent government. The Constituent Assembly was expectation to draw up a new constitution for Ethiopia.

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