Ethiopia election disrupted in three key regions where rebels active

Voters hold umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun as they queue to cast their ballots outside the Beshale Katla polling station in Addis Ababa, on Monday.MARCO SIMONCELLI/AFP/Getty Images

Voting has been shut down or disrupted in three key regions of Ethiopia, exposing the country’s fractures and fragility at a time when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is touting the latest election as evidence of stability.

Mr. Abiy’s ruling party, the Prosperity Party, is widely expected to win Monday’s parliamentary election in a landslide, repeating its official victory in the last election in 2021 when it captured 89 per cent of the vote.

Most international observers and foreign media were barred from monitoring the election, and several opposition parties faced heavy obstacles in campaigning. In recent years, many opposition leaders and journalists have been harassed, arrested or severely restricted, and hundreds of civil society groups have been shut down.

No voting was permitted at all in Tigray, the northern region with a strong separatist movement and a militia that fought the Ethiopian army to a standstill in a devastating war from 2020 to 2022. Fighting flared again in Tigray in January this year.

A National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) official explains voting procedures to a voter at a polling station in Kechene.MARCO SIMONCELLI/AFP/Getty Images

In another major northern region, Amhara, voting did not take place in at least eight of its 138 constituencies because of armed conflict in those areas. In total, 143 voting stations did not open in Amhara and Oromia regions owing to security problems, officials said. Insurgent groups have waged combat in both regions for years.

Heavy fighting was reported on Monday in many districts of Amhara, where the Fano militia group has taken control of much of the region over the past two years. The Oromo Liberation Army, meanwhile, posted a video of its heavily armed soldiers patrolling a highway in Oromia with machine guns to enforce a transport blockade on election day.

Despite the disrupted voting, Mr. Abiy praised the country’s citizens for resisting “the shouting and threats of enemies” in the election. “The perseverance you demonstrated amid many challenges and hardships, against all odds, was a contribution made for democracy and for the very survival of the nation,” he said in a social-media post on Monday night.

“Through this year’s election, Ethiopians have once again shown the world that they are a people with a rich culture, deep patriotism, and the ability to safeguard the common good,” he added.

Ethiopians began voting on Monday in parliamentary elections, with the party of outgoing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is running for another term, expected to win.MARCO SIMONCELLI/AFP/Getty Images

Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa with about 135 million people, is considered one of the most strategically important powers in the region. It is host country for the African Union’s headquarters and a key player in East Africa and the Horn of Africa, including war-ravaged Sudan, where it has been accused of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in their battle against the Sudanese military.

More than 50 million voters were registered for Ethiopia’s parliamentary election, according to authorities, but it was unclear how many of them had voted by the end of the day.

The voting process was marred by widespread breakdowns of digital verification systems, causing long queues at polling stations. Voting was scheduled to end at 6 p.m. local time, but instead it was extended to midnight so that the queuing voters would have a chance to cast their ballots. The election results will be announced by June 11, officials said.

Mr. Abiy could be waiting to secure an election victory before pushing ahead with potential military conflicts with Eritrea or Sudan, or in the Tigray region, analysts say. His government has vowed to win access to the Red Sea, which could plunge it into conflict with neighbouring Eritrea, a former ally, where key seaports are located.

Mr. Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his efforts to resolve a 20-year border conflict with Eritrea. During the Tigray war, Eritrea sent troops into northern Ethiopia to support Mr. Abiy’s forces, but more recently it has forged links to Tigray’s regional leaders, heightening tensions with the Ethiopian government.