Tag it:

The Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the House of Federation, or upper chamber (whose 108 members are chosen by state assemblies to serve five-year terms)

The Parliament is bicameral, consisting of the House of Federation, or upper chamber (whose 108 members are chosen by state assemblies to serve five-year terms) and the House of People's Representatives, or lower chamber (whose 548 members are directly elected by popular vote from single-member districts to serve five-year terms).

Of the total 548 seats in the House of People’s Representatives, EPRDF holds 481 seats, other political parties 53 seats, and individual runners 13 seats. There are 42 female members of in the House of People’s representatives. The most recent election was held in May 2000 The seats of both Houses are dominated by the ruling party, EPRDF. According to the Constitution of 1995, the Government pursues a policy of multi-party democracy.

Nowadays there are many opposition parties, the strongest being the Coalition of Opposition Parties, whose members live both inside the country and abroad. The Chair of the Coalition is the Honorable Dr. Beyene Petros. It was created in Washington, in July of 2003 and it is will run in the coming election, determined to unseat the EPRDF, the ruling party.