The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia yesterday announced the official results for a further 57 federal parliament seats, bringing the total of official results announced so far to 435.

The breakdown of the results is as follows:

     Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) - 296

    Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) - 109

    United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) - 52

    Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) - 11

    Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front (BGPDUF) - 8

    Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP) - 8

    Gambella People's Democratic Movement (GPDM) - 3

    Hareri National League (HNL) - 1

    Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP) - 1

    Argoba Nationality Democratic Organization (ANDO) - 1

    Sheko and Meznger People's Democratic Unity Organization (SMPDUO) - 1

    Independent - 1

With 296 seats of the total 524 seats contested in the May 15th election, the EPRDF have enough of a majority to enable it to form the next government.

NEBE Chairman, Kemel Bedri praised the active participation of the public in the election and commended the patience they displayed while waiting for the announcement of the results. He called on all parties to honourably and graciously accept the official results, which have been declared after a transparent and inclusive investigations were held in those seats where the results were contested.

Kemal said that investigations had taken place in 178 constituencies, of which the elections would be re-run in 31 constituencies, which would be held on 21^st August 2005, on the same day that elections would be held in the Somali State.

The results from the Somali State election are to be announced on 5^th September.

ENDS