[By Bereket Kiros and Teum Mezgebo]
The TPLF rules Tigray with “iron grip”1, like Hamas rules Gaza. The TPLF and Hamas have similar repressive systems. Both the TPLF and Hamas employ stringent measures to suppress freedom and dissent to maintain control over their respective populations. This authoritarian approach often leads to heightened tensions and conflict, as citizens seek to challenge the oppressive regimes. As a result, the leadership’s cycle of violence and retaliation perpetuates, leaving little room for dialogue or reconciliation. Ultimately, the desire for freedom and democratic governance among the oppressed can ignite movements that challenge the very foundations of repressive regimes like the TPLF and Hamas.
However, the demand for change movements in Tigray must navigate a complex landscape of internal divisions and external pressures, which can either bolster or hinder their efforts. In this environment, the quest for democracy, freedom, accountability, justice, equality, and political change in Tigray becomes a fight against the TPLF’s repressive rule and a struggle for unity among the diverse voices yearning for change. The democratic change would find its identity embodied in this strategy because of its inclusive nature, which embraces young and old, women and men, the marginalised, disabled veterans, the less heard, and every person who abides by the rule of law and social justice. Furthermore, this approach acknowledges that poverty, inadequate education and healthcare are not predominantly caused by the people who endure the sufferings at the hands of the TPLF repressive political system.
According to one participant called Al-Natour in the anti-Hamas protests in Gaza today, he told the BBC, “The world thinks that Gaza is Hamas and Hamas is Gaza.” “We didn’t choose Hamas, and now Hamas is determined to rule Gaza and tie our fate to its own. Hamas must retreat.”2 This is a genuine sentiment that reflects a growing frustration among many Gazans, like Tigrayans, who feel trapped by the actions and decisions of repressive regimes that do not represent their diverse aspirations. The majority of Tigrayans believe that the TPLF treats them as its subjects, who are forced to accept its repressive political ideology.
The TPLF authoritarian ideology and its deceptive political system are now exposed, which puts many vulnerable people in a safety net aid, and starvation. At the same time, the TPLF leadership uses Tigray’s wealth and resources for personal use and exploits the people of Tigray by taking away their democratic rights, freedom, and liberty. The people of Tigray learn to realise that the TPLF’s deceptive policy, bad governance, erosion of liberty, and injustice prioritise the leadership’s interests over the national interest of Tigray.
The TPLF must take the lesson from Hamas’s rigid political system, which has been ruling “Gaza with an iron grip”. Now, the Palestinians in Gaza have had enough with Hamas and want it to stop the war and leave Gaza. In the same way, the TPLF believes that “Tigray is the TPLF, and the TPLF is the people of Tigray. Likewise, Hamas also has a similar repressive system as the TPLF, maintaining control over the population and suppressing dissent and freedom. Repressive ideology always leads to mass uprising. If the TPLF does not reconsider its approach and address the discontent of its populace, it may not halt the people of Tigray’s revolution of change that is coming to swamp it like a tsunami. As the situation in Gaza illustrates, a failure to adapt and respond to the people’s needs and demands can result in significant unrest and change by force.
As the situation continues to unfold, it is crucial to recognise the voices of those who seek peace and stability, rather than allowing the narratives of one party to dominate the discourse during the unfinished genocidal war. The TPLF is facing extreme resistance, particularly from the youth. The political dynamic is changing in Tigray, whether the TPLF likes it or not. The public anger is unstoppable against the TPLF for its repression, mass arrest, kidnapping, torture, extrajudicial killings, alliance with Shaibya, mishandling of the genocidal war, and undermining of the Pretoria peace agreement.
Authoritarian leaders never admit they made a mistake, nor do Dr Debretsion and his cliques. We do not believe that concerned Tegaru and responsible opposition party leaders should dismiss any of the above alarming scenarios only because they did not happen before. It is obvious the TPLF is a corrupt and repressive party to the core, and its self-interest to save the party first, as the leadership perceives it, comes before the people of Tigray’s interests and security.
The TPLF leadership is desperately wanting to cling to power in the federal government whatever way it can. Just like any dictator, Debretsion and his cliques will stoop to any low, cheat, lie, threaten, viciously attack and slander their opponents, suppress human rights, and continue to delegitimise their Pretoria peace agreement deceptively. Their enablers, the retired ambassadors and rogue TDF generals [loyal to the TPLF], stood by idly all along and allowed the Debretsion TPLF faction to run wild and commit human rights abuses, jeopardising Tigray’s peace, security and global standing to seek justice for the genocide committed against the people of Tigray.
We can only hope so, but it will be a grave mistake not to take these clear warning signs seriously, and Tigray youth should be aware and prepare to act and defend democracy, freedom and liberty. Confidently, Tigray youth are not naïve enough to assume that their wishes will come true without bitter struggle against the TPLF’s sinister ideology. It is time to put an end to the horrifying injustice and political poison the TPLF is sowing in Tigray, destroying the unity of Tigray.
We also wish the blind supporters of TPLF in the diaspora, retired ambassadors and rogue TDF generals [loyal to the TPLF] must wake up, see and halt their oblivious and blind subservience to a party that has lost its way and dangerously degraded Tigray to the Stone Age and damaged the patriotism of the Tigrayan people on the world political stage.
As the youth mobilise and vocalise their frustrations and demand for change, the potential for a broader movement against the TPLF’s rule becomes increasingly likely to remove it from power by force. This shift could lead to a significant reconfiguration of alliances and power structures within Tigray, as Tigrayans seek to reclaim their freedom, liberty, and good governance and demand accountability for the past and present injustices they have endured.
Pro-democracy and pro-freedom Tegaru must vigorously challenge the TPLF to unmask its cynicism and authoritarian ideology, which is destroying Tigray’s good culture and identity. The TPLF’s repressive ideology, maladministration and corrupt network culture must be defeated and uprooted from Tigray before our people’s freedom, liberty and wellbeing get worse. We ought to make more efforts to free our people from repression and poverty.
The call for transparency, accountability and justice resonates in Tigray, as Tigrayans unite in their shared experiences of hardship and resilience. This collective yearning for justice is likely to foster a renewed sense of solidarity among the populace in Tigray, prompting grassroots initiatives to rebuild trust and promote transparency, accountability, and justice in governance. The TPLF must recognise the importance of change (reform) in Tigray, address past and present grievances and accountability, and move away from repressive political ideology. Otherwise, the TPLF will encounter the same fate as Hamas in Gaza, which can lead to its extinction in Tigray politics.
The demand for change is gaining momentum; the prospect of a more inclusive and equitable political landscape in Tigray becomes increasingly plausible, paving the way for a stable and peaceful Tigray. To free our people from the TPLF repression, all Tegaru must support the demand for change in pursuing a more democratic and equitable Tigray. Our people deserve freedom, peace, security, economic development, and rehabilitation from the genocide trauma. Only through genuine democratic engagement of an all-inclusive interim administration can the people of Tigray hope to navigate the complexities of genocidal war and the implementation of the Pretoria peace agreement to ensure a more stable, peaceful, and prosperous future for Tigray.
References
1,2 BBC news, (2025). Anti-Hamas protests on rise in Gaza as group’s iron grip slips [Online]. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c175z14r8pro (Accessed April 25, 2025).