By Bileh Jelan @BilehJelan
Addis Abeba, July 02/2021 – The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) started announcing the results of the long awaited 6th national elections on Monday June 28, 2021. The process of announcing the results however, seems to be far from the expectation of voters and political parties.
The electoral board started releasing the results in its website sequentially and not in Full. So far the results for a total of 12 seats out of 547 seats in the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR), the lower house of EThiopia’s bicameral federal legislative. The results so far are limited to 12 constituencies in two regional states, the Oromia Regional State (10 seats) and the Amhara Regional State (2) seats. Expectedly, all announced seats for Oromia Regional State at the HoPR went for the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) but surprisingly both announced seats for Amhara Regional State at the HoPR went to the opposition National Movement of Amhara (NAMA).
Similarly, results for regional councils have been limited to two regions so far, those being Oromia Regional State (9 Seats out of 537) and Amhara Regional State (1 seat out of 294). Arriving at a total of 10 seats. Subsequently, all nine seats for the Oromia Regional Council (Caffee in Afaan Oromoo) were won by candidates running for the ruling Prosperity Party while the only announced result for Amhara Regional Council went to the opposition National Movement of Amhara (NAMA).
The electoral announcement comes in the backdrop of opposition political parties voicing complaints about the electoral process. Both national and regional parties and most recently a council of Afar opposition parties who participated in elections demanded a re-election citing multiple concerns over the legitimacy of the whole process. AS
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