Ethiopians living abroad have launched a coordinated series of international demonstrations under the banner “No Ballots, White Bullets Fly”, pushing back against the country’s upcoming 7th General Election scheduled for June 2026. The campaign, organized by diaspora communities across multiple continents, runs from May 1 through May 23, 2026.
Protesters are rallying around the message that holding a national election is inappropriate while armed conflict continues across several regions of Ethiopia. One of the central chants of the movement, “Our vote will not legitimize tyranny,” reflects the broader sentiment among organizers who argue that the current political environment cannot produce a credible democratic outcome.
Demonstrations are planned in major cities including Toronto, Ottawa, Stockholm, Oslo, Brussels, Paris, Rome, London, Washington D.C., Seattle, Manitoba, and Melbourne, making it a truly global mobilization effort.
At the heart of the protesters’ grievances is the ongoing war in the Amhara region, where conflict between government forces and Fano rebel fighters has persisted for several years. Critics of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration allege that the violence amounts to a systematic campaign against the Amhara people, a claim the government denies. Similar instability is reported in the Oromia region, where the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) continues an armed resistance campaign, and in parts of Benishangul and Tigray, where fresh conflict appears to be developing, a situation that has drawn concern from both the European Union and the United States.
Diaspora organizations and domestic opposition parties have long argued that a free and fair election cannot take place in a country where large portions of the population live in active conflict zones. Several opposition parties have also threatened to withdraw from the electoral process, citing a lack of a level playing field and systemic issues with the process as designed.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s National Electoral Board has announced the registration of more than 50 million voters, a figure that has not been independently verified by international observers.
The global protests reflect a deepening disconnect between the Ethiopian government’s electoral agenda and the concerns of a significant portion of the diaspora community, which was once a major source of political and financial support for the Abiy Ahmed administration during its early years in power.
Source: Borkena Ethiopian News (borkena.com), published May 1, 2026
