HAWASA ( Halbeeg News)- The residents of Southern Ethiopia’s Sidama region are voting in a referendum on whether to create a new regional state along ethnic lines.
If the referendum passes as expected, the Sidama will control local taxes, education, security and laws in a new self-governing region.
Polls opened on Wednesday morning local time and will close at 6 pm (15:00 GMT). Preliminary results are expected on Thursday.
The mood in the regional capital, Hawassa, appeared calm as people formed long queues at polling stations at dawn. Overall, some 2.3 million people have registered to vote.
At present, Ethiopia is partitioned into nine semi-autonomous regional states with the Sidama voting for a potential tenth administration.
The constitution requires the government to organize a referendum for any ethnic group that wants to form a new entity.
The dormant Sidama campaign gained fresh momentum after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, took office in 2018 and began introducing a series of political reforms.
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