The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced that the national elections will be held on 5^th June 2021.

While outlining the schedule of activities for the polls, the Board disclosed that 45,000 polling stations across the country are expected to be opened in January and that training of poll workers will take place throughout February.

Voter registration will take place between 1^st – 30^th March 2021 and the final results will be announced between 6^th – 28^th June 2021, the Board announced.

The elections were postponed from 29^th August 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

…Discussions held with Political Parties and Civil Society Organizations

On 2^nd December, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held discussions with political parties and civil society organizations in the presence of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE), to discuss the upcoming elections.

The discussions are preceded by a presentation on the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders and an overview of electoral systems.

The highly anticipated and historic election which will be held following the reform of critical democratic institutions is noted as the most consequential election in its demonstration of Ethiopia’s democratization journey initiated in 2018.

Participants of the discussion raised a number of issues including:

• not rushing to elections without putting the necessary foundations in place
• creating an enabling environment
• ensuring the primacy of rule of law preceding the elections
• placement of an election code of conduct for stakeholders including election observers
• stocktaking of legitimate political parties
• engagement of political parties according to the ‘rules of the game’

 …local CSOs invited to observe upcoming elections  

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has invited local CSOs to submit their interest to the board to observe the upcoming general elections.

NEBE said the invitation to CSOs took into consideration that their participation would significantly contribute towards making the sixth general elections free, fair, and transparent.

The board said local CSOs who meet the requirements specified under the observers’ code of conduct can summit their interest within 15 working days starting from 11^th December.