Campaigning in Ethiopia ends ahead of polls ruling party likely to win

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:01]Final campaigns have been held across Ethiopia ahead of Monday's parliamentary and regional polls.

[00:00:07]Faced with a fragmented and weak opposition, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's ruling Prosperity Party is widely expected to win a landslide victory. For his supporters, his leadership represents stability despite significant unrest across the country.

[00:00:24]We have confidence in our leaders. Our Prime Minister is a leader who can lead the world, who's achieved remarkable feats in the global arena and has been honored with international acclaim. This extraordinary leader can lead not only Ethiopia, but also the world. Our honorable mayor is also a national icon, uniquely blessed by grace and capability. We have leaders who are dedicated to building a country for everyone.

[00:00:48]Abiy's consolidated his grip on Ethiopian politics since his appointment in 2018, but has faced years of violent unrest in several of the country's ethnically organized regions, including a civil war in Tigray, which ended in 2022.

[00:01:05]I don't think we need to go far to see the destructive damage to our nation caused by ethnic politics. The crises we've witnessed in the past year speak for themselves.

[00:01:15]We've seen citizens being attacked because of their identity.

[00:01:20]We've seen them be persecuted simply for living in areas deemed by others not to be theirs.

[00:01:26]We believe that our country is an example of how ethnic politics is bad.

[00:01:33]Some 50 million Ethiopians are due to vote on Monday, but elections will not be held in Tigray because of what the electoral board calls unfavorable conditions there.

[00:01:43]Voting will also not take place in at least eight of Amhara's 138 constituencies because of insecurity.