Ethiopia holds elections with PM Abiy’s party expected to dominate

Ethiopians have begun voting in parliamentary and regional elections , with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s party projected to win by a landslide, despite significant unrest in much of the country.

More than 50 million people are registered to vote on Monday. However, polling will not take place in the northern Tigray region, where the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has cited “unfavourable conditions” following a 2020 to 2022 civil war and continuing political turmoil.

Abiy, 49, is looking to further consolidate his grip on national politics. He was sworn in as prime minister in 2018, following the resignation of his predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn, after mass protests against the long-ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition; his Prosperity Party won 410 out of 484 seats in parliament in the 2021 elections.

Prosperity Party candidates have campaigned on the government’s economic record, citing improved food security and economic growth in Africa’s second-most populous country, which officials project will top 10 percent in 2026, one of the fastest rates on the continent.

Nearly half of Ethiopia’s 135 million people are aged below 18.

Abiy faces rebellions in two of the country’s biggest regions linked to grievances by different ethnic groups about alleged marginalisation within Ethiopia’s federal system.

In the southern and central region of Oromia, fighting between government forces and the Oromo Liberation Army separatist group has killed hundreds of people in the past few years.

In neighbouring Amhara, the Fano armed group has seized swaths of the countryside since 2023. As a result, voting will not take place in at least eight of the region’s 138 constituencies.