1994 Ethiopian Constituent Assembly election
Elections for a Constituent Assembly were held in Ethiopia on 5 June 1994 in order to form a body to draw up a new constitution. They were the first elections after the overthrow of the Mengistu regime at the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in 1991, and the first ever multi-party elections in the country; previous elections had either been non-partisan or one-party. The results saw the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies win 463 of the 544 seats. Voter turnout was 87.5%. The Assembly finished drafting the  new constitution in December, and it went into effect in August 1995. Background. Mengistu Haile Mariam was the leader of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991, during the military dictatorship of the Derg. The Ethiopian Civil War ended in 1991 with the overthrow of the Derg, which had governed as the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991. The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a rebel group during the Derg, was transformed into the Transitional Government of Ethiopia in May 1991. With help, and money, given by the United States State Department with expectations of "democratic