Ethiopia’s political landscape may undergo significant changes following a weeks-long national dialogue that endorsed constitutional reforms aimed at creating an executive presidency. The move could consolidate Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s authority over the Horn of Africa’s most populous nation.

Abiy, 50, who has led Ethiopia since 2018, secured a landslide victory in June’s elections amid a government crackdown on opposition groups and media outlets. Following the polls, approximately 4,000 delegates convened for a “national dialogue” over more than a month, concluding on August 22. The assembly examined the country’s persistent ethnic tensions and ongoing insurgencies, ultimately supporting plans to merge the prime ministership—currently the central executive role—with the mostly ceremonial presidency into a single executive presidency.

If approved, the constitutional amendment could be presented to parliament when it reconvenes in October. Observers widely expect Abiy, who did not participate in the dialogue, to assume the newly empowered presidential office, given the parliament’s composition, which overwhelmingly favors his party.

Proponents argue the executive presidency would symbolize national unity by representing Ethiopia’s diverse ethnic groups more fully than the current system, where the prime minister is elected as a member of parliament from Oromia, Abiy’s home region. Tiglu Melese, secretary-general of the upper house of parliament, said the change would help create a “more unified country to overcome the challenges” Ethiopia faces.

The dialogue also proposed reducing government funding allocated to ethnic-based political parties in favor of those with a national platform. However, critics warn these measures risk entrenching Abiy’s personal power, drawing parallels with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who in 2014 expanded his authority by transitioning from prime minister to an executive presidency. Political analyst Befekadu Hailu cautioned that the reforms would “effectively concentration power in a single individual.”

Ethiopia remains fraught with ethnic divisions and armed conflict. Violence persists in the Oromia and Amhara regions, the country’s two most populous states, while fears linger that the civil war in the northern Tigray region, which erupted between 2020 and 2022 and caused an estimated 600,000 deaths, may flare up again.

Opposition figures criticized the dialogue, noting that armed rebel groups were excluded and some key opposition parties boycotted the process altogether. Merera Gudina, chairman of the Caucus of Opposition Parties, said the dialogue failed to address Ethiopia’s urgent needs of lasting peace, stability, and democratic governance.