Houses put off Census for the third time

Addis Ababa June 11, 2020 (HOPR):- In a joint meeting, FDRE the House of Peoples' Representatives and the house of Federation unanimously approved the proposal to extend the fourth population and housing census for the third time.

During the 16th regular session of the 5th House of People's Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, it passed decisions after consulting on various agendas.

In a separate meeting, the House of Peoples' Representatives discussed on the proposal decision to put off the Fourth Population and Housing Census due to the current #COVID-19 outbreak. Speaker of the house Honorable Tagesse Chaffo, said that the census could not be held for the third time due to the current pandemic and that the census extended for the third time until the country is declared free from the outbreak.

After discussing the agenda, the House approved the proposal decision number 10/2020 by a majority vote of 8 against and 12 abstained.

Likewise, the 1st Special Joint Meeting of the FDRE's People's Representatives and the House of the Federation also discussed extensively on the agenda.

The newly appointed Speaker of the House of Federation, Adam Farah, who led the joint discussion, proposed the proposal to extend the census for the third time since the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

 Honorable Mulu Geberegziabher suggested that extending the census amid the coronavirus pandemic without the reasons for the delay and without adequate research is unacceptable.

Honorable Tesfaye Daba and member of the House of Federation, Honorable Agegnew Teshager, on the other hand, strongly agree extending the Fourth Population and Housing Census, as Covid-19 is a major global and regional serious health emergency.

Following extensive dialogues on the agenda, the proposal for a joint session of the House of Peoples' Representatives and the House of the Federation was approved as decision No 1/2020 by a vote of 5 against 13 abstain and passed by a majority vote.

Translated by #Yared Eshetu