A lawyer and political theorist by training, Abiye started his media career writing on legal issues of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998–2000) on Ethiopian Reporter, a private weekly newspaper.
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In September 2009, Addis Neger newspaper wrote an editorial believed to be authored by Abiye and his colleague Mesfin Negash that questioned the journalistic value of balance.
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After the Ethiopian general election in 2005, Abiye turned into a vociferous critic of the government, sometimes writing articles riddled with statistical analysis, which he said could prove that the EPRDF might have lost the election.