By Faith Nyasuguta
The incumbent Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed has won the nation’s delayed polls with a landslide, the election board has announced.
According to the board, the PM’s Prosperity Party secured 410 out of 436 seats, handing him five more years in office.
The elections were not conducted in Tigray, a war-torn region with the majority living in famine conditions.
Some 20 percent of Ethiopians missed participating in the polls following logistical issues and insecurity.
Another set of elections for the affected regions has been set for September 6 but Tigray is yet to be given a date.
The general election had experienced delays following the Covid-19 pandemic that sparked logistical difficulties.
Abiy, the winner of the elections and a Nobel prize winner via a Twitter statement dubbed the vote a “historically inclusive election”.
A fresh government is set to be constituted in October but several concerns have emerged with regards to the integrity of the polls.
According to the opposition parties, government repression against their officials had interfered with their plans to prepare for the vote.
According to Berhanu Nega, his party, the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice, had submitted over 200 complaints following the blockade of their observers by militiamen and local officials.