Ethiopia is a parliamentary republic with a prime minister as head of the government and the commander-in-chief of the Ethiopian Armed Forces.

Abiy Ahmed is the third prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, serving since April 2018.

In modern Ethiopian history there have been three chief ministers, including Tafari Makonnen under Empress Zewditu and Betwoded Wolde Tzaddick under Emperor Haile Selassie.

Following the assassination of Abebe Aregai, Imru Haile Selassie served as acting prime minister for only three days.

The revised 1955 constitution of Ethiopia was put into effect in 1961 following the failed 1960 Ethiopian coup d'état attempt.

The 1987 Constitution of Ethiopia named the prime minister as the head of government and the principal advisor to the president of the people's republic.

The last prime minister was Tesfaye Dinka, who fled to the United States in exile following the dissolution of the London peace conference which ended the PDRE and established the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE).

The prime minister coordinated and chaired cabinet meetings with the consultation of the president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia.

The prime minister is nominated among members of the House of Peoples' Representatives and must be approved by two-third majority vote of confidence.

In practice, the prime minister is the leader of the largest party with the highest number of sites in the House of Peoples' Representatives.

The leader of the party must be a member of the House of Peoples' Representatives to be nominated as The Prime Minister Designate of Ethiopia.

The prime minister's security detail is under the command of the Republican Guard, which is a special armed unit of the Ethiopian National Defense Force.

The Counter Military Unit is an élite paramilitary force armed with heavy assault rifles such as Israel-made Tavor-21 and American M4 carbines as well as having snipers, helicopters and armored vehicles.