Abiy’s administration has been accused of human rights abuses against critics and journalists, despite the promise of democracy and peace he made in 2020.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia heads to the polls Monday in an election the ruling party is expected to win with a majority because of a fragmented and weak opposition.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party currently holds more than 500 seats in the House of Representatives and is expected to win a majority in this election, giving him another five-year term.
About 50 million people, out of a population of 130 million Ethiopians, are expected to vote for members of the House of Representatives, but insecurity in the most populous regions, including Amhara and Oromia, is expected to affect turnout.
Ethiopia’s electoral system allows voters to choose their representatives, who then vote for a prime minister. Ethiopians will also vote for members of their local regional government councils.
This year’s election themes include national reconciliation due to fighting in regions such as Tigray, Oromia and Amhara, and there is also a development theme as the government vows to undertake major projects.
Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who helped facilitate peace talks in Tigray, leads 73 observers from the African Union.
Arriving in Ethiopia on Saturday, Kenyatta stressed the importance of Ethiopia’s election to the continent, as the country hosts the African Union headquarters. “Ours is to call for a peaceful situation as Ethiopians are known,” he said.
Abiy’s administration has been accused of human rights abuses against critics and journalists, despite the promise of democracy and peace he made in 2020.
During his tenure, Ethiopia has gone through the Tigray war in the north of the country, where hundreds of thousands of people died as federal security forces clashed with regional forces. A peace agreement was signed in November 2022.
Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for resolving a long-running conflict between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea, although the two countries are currently at loggerheads, with Addis Ababa accusing Asmara of supporting rebel groups to destabilize it.
There are fears the situation could escalate and drag the volatile Tigray region into a proxy war, even as aid agencies warn of a dire humanitarian situation on the ground.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front – the dominant political party in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region – has been outlawed as the party retains control of the regional government and threatens to scrap the 2022 peace deal, which the federal government sees as an attempt to spark another conflict.
For the second time, the region will not participate in national elections, denying it a federal voice in Ethiopia’s 547-seat parliament and pushing it further into the margins amid escalating hunger and conflict, combined with alleged denial of resources by the central government.
Tigray has been excluded from federal representation for the past six years.
These elections are likely to be fair because of “technological advances in the electoral process” and increased public awareness, according to Bayu Samuel, a political analyst based in Addis Ababa.
However, some opposition parties have condemned the ruling party’s unfair advantage.
The election process is “far from being genuine and democratic,” says Mistresilasie Tamerat, the youngest candidate and head of the opposition Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party.
“The system favors the party in power and we cannot act freely (or) meet with our constituents,” she said.
Eyoel Solomon, a spokesman for the main opposition Ezema party, said it is committed to ending ethnic-based politics.
“We have seen citizens attacked because of their identity. We have seen them persecuted simply because they lived in areas that others consider not ‘theirs,'” he said.
With much of the campaign taking place in Addis Ababa, there has been a heavy military presence in the metropolis in recent days.
The vote has dominated local conversation across the city, even though the campaign has been remarkably quiet, with fewer rallies and fewer door-to-door contacts.
The electoral body has declared Monday a national holiday, with government offices closed to encourage citizens to vote.
From the Associated Press
Subscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing arguments provides the latest on ongoing trials, major litigation and decisions in courts around the US and the world, while monthly Under the lights feeds legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.
