The president of the Tigray Interim Administration (TIA) has characterized the forced takeover of government infrastructure by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) as “illegal” after TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD) was sworn in as head of a parallel regional administration this week.
The statement from Tadesse Werede (Lt. Gen.) was issued after the TPLF-controlled regional council conducted an executive session in the regional cabinet meeting hall in Mekelle under armed protection.
According to information and images released by regional media streams on Friday, TPLF commenced a meeting inside the Interim Administration’s cabinet meeting hall after declaring itself “elected” earlier this week.
The move follows the TPLF’s rejection of the federal government’s decision to extend the TIA’s mandate for one year to ensure regional stability.
The TPLF leadership opposed this renewal, instead reinstating its pre-war regional council and nominating Debretsion as the regional president, maintaining that the pre-war council holds legitimacy based on previous regional elections, which were held nearly six years ago.
In a social media post on May 8, 2026, President Tadesse Worede described the TPLF’s entry into the cabinet hall as a “destructive movement and the start of a dangerous chapter for the region.”
“I want to express that the body itself, which is attempting to seize the administration’s power by force, is responsible for all-encompassing destruction and danger that befalls our people following this illegal act,” stated Tadesse.
The President noted that the group [Debretsion led TPLF] ignored prior calls to desist and instead utilized armed protection to occupy government infrastructure.
“The body [TPLF] that recently declared itself elected released information and images today showing it has started a cabinet meeting inside the Tigray Interim Administration cabinet meeting hall,” Tadesse’s post read.
The current situation creates a dual-administration claim in Mekelle.
While the federal government previously justified the TIA extension as a measure to facilitate the transition toward permanent elections, observers warn the move to reinstate the former council risks undoing the fragile peace that ended the two year’s war in the region.
In contrast to the Interim Administration’s stance, Sebhat Gebreegziabher, a former member of Tigray’s pre-war regional council currently working with an aid organization near the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, challenged the legality of the federal mandate extension.
He argued that because the TIA resulted from an agreement between two negotiating parties—the TPLF and the federal government—any extension required a bilateral decision at the negotiating table rather than a unilateral decree from Addis Ababa.
He framed the current standoff as a result of the federal government attempting to force subservience rather than addressing the legal and democratic questions raised by the regional council.
