2019 Sidama Region referendum
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A referendum on the creation of a Sidama Region was held on
The management of the referendum and its likely centrifugal consequences on Ethiopia's system of
Results
Choice | Votes | % |
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For | 2,225,249 | 98.52 |
Against | 33,463 | 1.48 |
Blank and invalid votes | 18,351 | – |
Total | 2,277,063 | 100 |
Voter turnout | 2,280,147 | 99.86 |
Source: Addis Standard |
The choices on the ballot paper were for the Sidama people to be organized within their own regional state, which was represented by the election symbol of “Shafeta” (traditional Sidama food vessel) and for Sidama to stay in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), represented by the “Gojo” (traditional Sidama hut) symbol. The latter choice got a very small percentage of votes, an expected result given the popularity of the decades-long statehood quest among the Sidama and the lackluster campaigning by the SNNPR.
Aftermath
The result meant Sidama would become Ethiopia's 10th regional state, with its own regional constitution and regional council, enjoying a degree of sovereignty enshrined in Ethiopia's multinational constitution.
The Sidama regional state, the 10th regional state which in Ethiopia would border
The question of what to do about the city of
The Sidama Region officially came into being on 18 June 2020, seven months after the referendum was held.
The successful referendum also resulted in giving hope to other ethnicities belonging to the SNNPR who wanted their own regional state as the Sidama region had done, and led to the 2021 South West Region referendum.
References
- ^ Ethiopia: Sidama's self-determination referendum set for Nov. 20
- ^ "Hope, uncertainty as Ethiopia's Sidama gear up for statehood vote". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved Nov 20, 2019.