Ethiopia Votes in Landmark Election as Abiy Seeks New Term

(MENAFN) Ethiopians streamed to polling stations Monday in a general election broadly anticipated to extend Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's grip on power, even as political tensions and active conflict in parts of the country cast a shadow over the democratic process.

Polling stations swung open at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), with long queues forming in the capital, Addis Ababa, as voters cast their ballots to elect members of the national parliament and regional councils, local media reported. More than 50 million registered voters are eligible to participate, with the outcome set to determine the makeup of the 547-seat parliament. Lawmakers will subsequently select the country's prime minister and form the incoming government for the next five-year term.

A heavy security deployment was reported across Addis Ababa as election observers urged a peaceful vote in Africa's second-most populous nation.

Abiy's Prosperity Party is widely forecast to secure a parliamentary majority, potentially positioning him for another term in office. Opposition parties, however, have raised alarm over what they describe as a shrinking political space, alleging systematic restrictions on their ability to campaign and reach voters.

Notably absent from the electoral map is the northern Tigray region — home to roughly six million people — which remains excluded from voting as it continues its fragile recovery from a devastating two-year conflict that concluded in 2022.

National reconciliation, post-conflict recovery across Tigray, Oromia, and Amhara, and economic development have dominated campaign messaging in the lead-up to the vote.

Despite strong reported turnout at polling stations, observers have flagged visible signs of voter apathy, with a segment of the population expressing disillusionment with political leadership.

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