Addis Ababa [Ethiopia], June 22: Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party (PP) of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has come out on top in the country's parliamentary elections held three weeks ago, according to official results published on Sunday. The PP garnered 438 of the 501 seats, the national electoral authority said.
Voter turnout was reported at 94%. Results for the election held on June 1 were originally due on June 11. The electoral authority described the vote as successful despite technical difficulties and unrest in the Amhara and Oromia regions, where armed groups set up road blocks in some areas to prevent people from casting their ballots.
The PP had been expected to win the vote, also due to the low number of opposition candidates allowed to contest. Voting also didn't take place in Tigray, the second time the restive region was excluded from elections since the 2021 vote. Abiy, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, led the country into a bloody civil war in the northern Tigray region that lasted from 2020 to 2022. Some 600,000 people are estimated to have died during the conflict.
Source: Qatar Tribune
