Glad the NYT is reporting from #Ethiopia, but there are some glaring errors in this piece. In particular, it is necessary to connect statements like these from Jawar to at least a basic understanding of the electoral system, and push back. 1/
Ethiopia's electoral system is a first-past-the-post constituency based model at federal level. For Jawar to 'defeat' Abiy, he would need to either 1) challenge him directly in his constituency, or 2) build a bigger party & get a majority in parliament. 1st seems unlikely. 2/
Jawar has signalled he will launch a new party. But he is also a committed Oromo nationalist. His party won't contest beyond Oromia regional state. Even with every seat in the state, he won't have a majority. So on basic math, this doesn't work. He needs a coalition. 3/
Journalists need to push back on such statements from politicians, not just uncritically pass them on. Piece also erroneously suggests that Jawar helped Abiy get 'elected' PM: Abiy's emergence as EPRDF chair, & by extension PM, was an internal EPRDF process, not an election. 4/
Like I say, great to have NYT & other international media attention. Ethiopia's political situation is fragile & uncertain. Media - traditional & new - are being instrumentalised to an extent not seen before, and this is a double-edged sword. Details matter. Care is needed. 5/5
