2021 Ethiopian general election

2021 Ethiopian general election
← 2015 21 June 2021 (most regions)
30 September 2021 (Harari, SNNPR, and Somali)		 2026 →
483 of 547 seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives
274 seats needed for a majority
Registered37 million[1]
Turnout90%[1]
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Abiy Ahmed Belete Molla Berhanu Nega
Party Prosperity Party NaMA EZEMA
Seats won 410 5 4
Results by region
Prime Minister before election

Abiy Ahmed
Prosperity Party

Elected Prime Minister

Abiy Ahmed
Prosperity Party

The 2021 Ethiopian general election to elect members of the House of Peoples' Representatives was held on 21 June 2021 and 30 September 2021. Regional elections were also held on those dates.

The election was initially scheduled for 29 August 2020,[2] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Regional and municipal council elections were also planned to be held at the same time.[4] In May 2020, the sitting House of Peoples' Representatives voted to postpone the election until 2021.[5] In late December 2020, the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said the election would take place on 5 June 2021,[6] before it was further delayed[7] until 21 June. It was the first multi-party election in Ethiopia since the 2005 election.[8]

The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the political coalition that had dominated Ethiopian politics since the overthrow of the Derg regime in 1991, was dissolved on 1 December 2019. Three of its four-member parties, the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) and Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), merged to form the Prosperity Party, which inherited the EPRDF's role as the governing party. The last leader of the EPRDF, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, became the new party's first leader.[citation needed]

Bekele Gerba and Jawar Mohammed, members of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC),[9] were imprisoned on 30 June 2020, following a crackdown by the government after the murder of Hachalu Hundessa.[10] On 19 September 2020, both were charged with terrorism.[11][9] Jawar denied the charges and claimed the arrests were politically motivated.[11] The OFC and the Oromo Liberation Front were planning to participate in the election but withdrew,[12] claiming that the results would be rigged under the Prime Minister.[13]

The election was a landslide victory for the Prosperity Party.[14][15] On 30 September 2021, voting took place in 47 constituencies of the Harari, SNNPR, and Somali regions.[16] The House of Peoples' Representatives confirmed incumbent Abiy Ahmed as prime minister for a five-year term on 4 October 2021.[17] African Union described the election as an improvement compared to the 2015 election and positively overall, urging the government to continue the commitment to democracy.[18]

  1. ^ a b "Abiy's party wins landslide victory in Ethiopia election". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  2. ^ Endeshaw, Dawit (2020-01-15). "Ethiopia sets tentative August date for elections". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  3. ^ "NEBE Says Impossible To Hold Election As Per Scheduled Due To COVID-19". fanabc.com. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  4. ^ "African election calendar 2020". Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa. 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  5. ^ "የህገ መንግስቱ ሶስት አንቀጾች ትርጓሜ እንዲሰጥባቸው በፓርላማ ተወሰነ" [Parliament has decided to interpret three articles of the constitution] (in Amharic). National Election Board of Ethiopia. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Ethiopian electoral board sets June 5 for national polls - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  7. ^ "Ethiopia delays polls again amid security, logistical challenges". Al Jazeera. 15 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Ethiopia to hold delayed elections on June 21 - vote board". Reuters. 20 May 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Ethiopia files terrorism charges against opposition leaders". Yahoo! News. 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  10. ^ "Why Ethiopian gov't arrested Jawar Mohammed, Bekele Gerba". Borkena Ethiopian News. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  11. ^ a b "Jawar Mohammed: Top Ethiopia opposition figure 'proud' of terror charge". BBC News. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  12. ^ "Oromo Liberation Front takes queue after OFC, opted out of Election". Borkena.com. 2021-03-05.
  13. ^ "Ethiopia: Oromo Opposition Party to Boycott 2021 Elections". stratfor.com. December 9, 2020.
  14. ^ "Abiy's party wins landslide victory in Ethiopia election". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  15. ^ "Ethiopia PM Abiy's party wins landslide victory in June parliamentary poll". France 24. 2021-07-10. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  16. ^ Mersie, Ayenat (2021-09-30). "Ethiopians in three regions vote in delayed election". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  17. ^ Endeshaw, Dawit (2021-10-04). "Ethiopian parliament confirms Abiy Ahmed as prime minister". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
  18. ^ "Preliminary Statement: African Union Election Observation Mission to the 21 June 2021 General Elections in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia | African Union". au.int. Retrieved 2021-11-05.