Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party has won a landslide in parliamentary elections, clearing the way for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to secure another five-year term. The National Election Board said on Sunday that the party won 438 seats, far above the 274 needed for a majority in the 547-member parliament. The new parliament is expected to convene in October and then re-elect Abiy.
The victory came amid accusations of repression, regional violence and a de facto boycott in parts of the country. Voting did not take place in Tigray, and also failed to occur in parts of Amhara and Oromia because of insecurity. In Amhara, fighting continues between government forces and the Fano militia, while Oromia remains affected by a rebellion by the Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA. The election board said turnout was 94 percent among more than 50 million registered voters, but that figure excludes the regions where no vote was held.
Abiy, 49, came to power in 2018 after mass protests against the ruling coalition that had governed Ethiopia for decades. He formed the Prosperity Party in 2019, dismantling the old ethnically based coalition and concentrating power around himself. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for the peace deal with Eritrea, but that image has since been damaged by Ethiopia’s civil war in Tigray, ethnic clashes and wider violence. Critics and rights groups accuse his government of arrests, intimidation and silencing opponents, allegations the government denies.
Reuters also said it could not report from inside Ethiopia after its press accreditation was revoked. The article noted that the parliamentary results do not resolve questions over Abiy’s legitimacy in areas that did not vote. The previous election in 2021 also brought a similar Prosperity Party win under conditions of boycott, violence and partial non-participation. Abiy campaigned as a leader who would restore growth, stability and food security, while Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country with about 135.9 million people, remains a major power in the Horn of Africa and one of the world’s poorest countries by income per person.
