Campaigning in Ethiopia ends ahead of polls ruling party likely to win

Final campaigns have been held across Ethiopia ahead of Monday’s parliamentary and regional polls.

Faced with a fragmented and weak opposition, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling Prosperity Party is widely expected to win a landslide victory.

It  currently holds more than 500 seats in the House of Representatives and is expected to win a majority in this election, securing him another five-year term.

For his supporters, Abiy’s leadership represents stability despite significant unrest across the country. Prosperity Party partisan, Aynalem Bekele, said they had confidence in their leaders.

“Our prime minister is a leader who can lead the world, who has achieved remarkable feats in the global arena and has been honoured with international acclaim,” she said.

She also praised the mayor of Addis Ababa, describing him as “a national icon”, adding that they were “dedicated to building a country for everyone”.

Abiy has consolidated his grip on Ethiopian politics since his appointment in 2018. But he has faced years of violent unrest in several of the country’s ethnically organised regions, including a civil war in Tigray from 2020 to 2022.

Hundreds of thousands of people died during the conflict as the federal security troops clashed with the regional forces.

Eyoel Solomon, spokesperson, opposition Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA) party “ethnic politics” has caused “destructive damage” to our Ethiopia.

“The crises we have witnessed in the past years speak for themselves. We have seen citizens being attacked because of their identity. We have seen them being persecuted simply for living in areas deemed by others not to be ‘theirs’,” he said.

Addis Ababa-based political analyst, Bayu Samuel, said he believed the polls were likely to be fair due to the “technological advancements” and increased public awareness.

But some opposition parties have, however, decried the ruling party’s unfair advantage.

With much of the campaigning 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 campaigning has been unusually quiet, with fewer rallies and little door-to-door outreach.

Some 50 million Ethiopians are due to vote on Monday, but elections will not be held in Tigray because of what the electoral board called "unfavourable conditions" there. Voting will also not take place in at least eight of Amhara's 138 constituencies because of insecurity.

Ethiopia’s electoral system allows voters to select their representatives, who then elect a prime minister. Monday has been declared a national holiday, with government offices closed to encourage citizens to vote.