The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the oldest armed rebel group in Ethiopia, announced earlier this week that it plans to drop its long-held demands for secession and instead work within the political system.
The OLF's move from insurgent activity to electoral competition is both surprising and significant, explains John Harbeson, an African Studies lecturer at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and emeritus professor of political science at the City University of New York.
"It is a complete 180 from what at least a faction of the OLF has always wanted to do," he said, pointing to the fractured internal politics of the militant movement, which has been outlawed and designated a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government.