Potemkin Party’s Habitual Denial and Inconsistency

by Weldu Ghebreselasie

In an address to parliament on 3 February 2026, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, accused the Eritrean Defence Forces of committing atrocities during the two-year war in northern Tigray, which ended in 2022.

In a striking volte-face, the Prime Minister alleged that the Eritrean army engaged in “plundering” and “vandalism,” while portraying the federal army as merely “fighting” the Tigray forces. This narrative sharply contradicts the public expressions of gratitude previously extended by Abiy Ahmed and senior Ethiopian military officials to the Eritrean government and people for the hospitality and protection they afforded the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces after it fled into Eritrea following the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s assault in November 2020.

From this revisionist finger-pointing, two implications emerge. First, the Prime Minister implicitly suggests that only federal forces conducted legitimate military operations, while Eritrean forces were present solely to loot and kill civilians. Second, by rhetorically distancing himself from the Tigray war, the Prosperity Party (PP) leadership appears to be attempting to project responsibility for alleged atrocities onto Eritrea in a bid to rehabilitate its standing with the Tigrayan population. Yet it remains a matter of public record that without decisive Eritrean military support, the survival of the PP government during the early phase of the war would have been in serious doubt.

This contradiction is further underscored by Abiy Ahmed’s own statement to parliament on 30 November 2020 that “not a single civilian was killed” during the operation in Tigray. The oscillation between absolute denial and retrospective accusation illustrates a pattern marked by inconsistency, denial, and factual distortion.

Since the emergence of the Potemkin Party’s delusional discourse on “sovereign sea access,” the Prime Minister has increasingly resorted to maligning Eritrea as a convenient external scapegoat for Ethiopia’s deepening internal crises. His recent allegations include claims that Eritrea demolished homes, looted property, destroyed industries, and seized machinery in towns such as Adwa, Aksum, Adigrat, and Shire—claims resurfacing amid reports of renewed insecurity in northern Ethiopia.

The PP leadership’s recent posture toward Eritrea may be interpreted through a combination of psychological patterns and political calculation.

1. Pathological Lying and Narrative Volatility

Pathological lying, or mythomania, is characterized by the habitual conflation of fiction and reality, often accompanied by exaggerated claims, logical inconsistencies, and an apparent indifference to contradiction (Verywell Mind, 2023; Yeditepe Hospitals, n.d.). Individuals exhibiting such tendencies frequently shift narratives to suit immediate political or psychological needs. Abiy Ahmed’s transition from effusive praise of Eritrea’s role in the Tigray war to sweeping accusations of atrocities reflects this volatility. Analysts note that this reversal is less about evidence than about geopolitical repositioning, international pressure, and, more recently, unrealistic ambitions regarding Red Sea access.

2. Political Deflection and Self-Preservation

The PP’s strategy of denial and blame-shifting also serves a clear political purpose: deflecting international scrutiny and domestic accountability for the humanitarian catastrophe in Tigray and Ethiopia more broadly. Since Abiy Ahmed’s ascent to power, Ethiopia has experienced economic contraction, widening insecurity, and state fragmentation. War, displacement, and fear have plunged the country into one of the gravest economic crises in its modern history. The much-vaunted narrative of “reform” has proven largely illusory—rhetoric masking an increasingly militarized and autocratic governance project. Rather than inaugurating a new Ethiopia, the current leadership has presided over its progressive unraveling.

3. Narcissistic Rage and Fragile Grandiosity

Narcissistic rage, a phenomenon associated with fragile self-esteem and grandiose self-perception, often manifests as sudden aggression when unrealistic ambitions collide with reality (Verywell Mind, 2023). When the Prime Minister’s claims of “sovereign sea access” encountered the immovable constraints of international law and state sovereignty, the PP leadership responded not with recalibration, but with escalating accusations against Eritrea and its defense forces.

Externalizing Ethiopia’s internal crises cannot substitute for confronting them. Policy inconsistency and erratic engagement with neighboring states only exacerbate instability in an already fragile Horn of Africa. Persistent denial, distortion, and outright falsehood deepen regional mistrust rather than resolve underlying conflicts. Moreover, oscillating between friendship and hostility on the basis of impulse and expediency undermines the long-aspired goals of peace, cooperation, and sustainable progress in the region.

References

• BBC News. (2021). Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis: What we know.
• Verywell Mind. (2023). What is narcissistic rage?
• Yeditepe Hospitals. (n.d.). Mythomania (pathological lying disorder): Causes and characteristics.
• ABC News. (2026). Ethiopia’s prime minister accuses Eritrea of mass killings in Tigray.
• Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Melanie Klein and psychoanalytic theory.