Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party retained its large parliamentary majority in recent elections overshadowed by unrest in Africa’s second-most-populous country.
The party extended its parliamentary majority, securing 90% of contested seats in this month’s general election, which 49-year-old Abiy was widely expected to win. More than 140 polling stations were closed on voting day in the country’s two most-populous regions, Amhara and Oromo — both opposition strongholds — over safety concerns sparked by armed groups fighting the government.
Abiy rose to power in 2018 on promises to heal deep political divisions in Ethiopia — in 2019 he won the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly for his efforts to reconcile with longtime rival Eritrea — but he soon angered politicians from the northern Tigray region, who had dominated the government for decades. He is credited with achieving impressive economic growth, while leading the country during a brutal two-year civil war that ended in 2022. Simmering unrest in several regions has prompted warnings that fighting could boil over into “catastrophic” conflict.