FDRE Constitution. The Federal legislative body comprises two tiers of parliament, the House of
Peoples‟ Representatives and the House of the Federation. The political leaders are elected every
five years. The regional governments have a State Council (the highest organ of state authority), a
State Administration (the organ of executive power) and regional Courts. The State Council defines
the region's policy, appoints the executive and judiciary organs of the region, and has legislative
powers covering all areas except those under the responsibility of the central government, such as
defense, foreign affairs, economic policy etc. The State Council plans, approves, heads and controls
economic and social development programs. It drafts, approves and manages the regional budget.
The State Administration is the highest executive authority of regional government. It is elected by
the State Council and includes the Executive Committee members.
The State Administration enforces, as appropriate, the policies, proclamations, regulations, plans,
guidelines and decisions of the central government, and those of the State Council. The
administration manages and supervises the activities of regional offices, zone administration offices
Weredas (district) and Kebeles (the lowest administrative structure) offices. It drafts and submits
economic and social projects to the State Council for approval, and manages the projects once they
have been approved. It also drafts the region's budget, submits it for approval to the State Council
and manages the budget once approved. Multi-party elections also take place at regional and
Wereda as well as national and federal levels.
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