Ethiopia’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has won a majority of seats the country’s general election, held on 15^th May. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi declared on the evening of 16th May that the EPRDF had won a majority of the parliament’s 547 seats. While nationwide provisional results will be announced by the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on Saturday 21st, results have already been posted outside individual polling stations where counting has been completed. Official results will be announced on June 8th.

Early results indicate opposition parties have made huge gains in Addis Ababa, with some reports suggesting that the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) has won all 23 seats, as well as the capital’s city council, while the EPRDF has claimed victory in regional assemblies in four states, Oromia, Amhara, the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples' State and Tigray. International observers have confirmed that the EPRDF would be returned for a third term, due to the strong support from rural areas.

“We have won the necessary seats to form a federal government; we accept the verdict of the people,” said Prime Minister Meles, adding that the government would work in good faith with the opposition.

The two main opposition groups, the CUD and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) had set a target of jointly winning 185 parliamentary seats – the figure required to block legislation. At present it is not clear whether they have come close to reaching that goal, but after having won the 23 Addis Ababa seats, the CUD has passed the 20 seat threshold required to propose bills.

ENDS