Ethiopian PM secures new term after his party won parliamentary vote

ADDIS ABABA - Abiy Ahmed will be Prime Minister in Ethiopia for another five years, following Prosperity Party's landslide victory in recently concluded parliamentary polls, whose results were officially declared on Saturday by the National Elections Board of Ethiopia [NEBE].

According to NEBE, Prosperity Party won 410 seats out of the available 436. Dozens of other seats will remain vacant; one-fifth of the constituencies didn't vote because of unrest or logistical reasons. Ethiopia's new government is expected to be formed in October, Voice of America reports.

The vote was a major test for Abiy, who came to power in 2018 after the former prime minister resigned amid widespread protests. Abiy oversaw dramatic political reforms that led in part to a Nobel Peace Prize the following year, but critics say he is backtracking on political and media freedoms.

Abiy also has drawn massive international criticism for his handling of the conflict in the Tigray region has that left thousands of people dead.

June's vote, which had been postponed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical issues, was largely peaceful, but opposition parties decried harassment and intimidation. No voting was held in the Tigray region.

Abiy has hailed the election as the nation's first attempt at a free and fair vote, but the United States has called it "significantly flawed," citing the detention of some opposition figures and insecurity in parts of Africa's second-most populous country.

The leader of the main opposition Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party, Berhanu Nega, lost while opposition parties won just 11 seats. The Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party has filed 207 complaints with the electoral body over the vote.

Popular opposition parties in the Oromia region, the largest of Ethiopia's federal states, boycotted the election. The ruling party ran alone in several dozen constituencies.

The head of the electoral board, Birtukan Mideksa, said during Saturday's announcement that the vote was held at a time when Ethiopia was experiencing challenges, "but this voting process has guaranteed that people will be governed through their votes."

She added: "I want to confirm that we have managed to conduct a credible election."

Voter turnout was just more than 90% among the more than 37 million people who had been registered to vote.

The Voting in the Somali region was delayed until September over security concerns and problems with ballot papers.

And no date has been set for voting in Tigray, where the military has been battling forces loyal to the TPLF.

The Prosperity Party was formed after the dismantling of Ethiopia's former ruling coalition, which had been dominated by Tigray politicians. Disagreements over that decision signaled the first tensions between Abiy and Tigray leaders that finally led to the conflict in the region in November.

GAROWE ONLINE