Ethiopia ruling party scores landslide victory in general elections

Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party won more than 400 out of 436 parliamentary electoral constituencies of the June 21 general elections, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced on Saturday.

Ethiopia has 547 parliamentary seats with faulty printing of ballot papers, logistical as well as security challenges forcing the electoral board to postpone voting in 111 electoral districts.

NEBE plans to hold a second round of national elections on Sept. 6 in the rest of the electoral constituencies, except in 38 electoral constituencies located in Ethiopia's war-torn northern Tigray regional state.

In a press statement, shortly after the announcement of the result, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the ruling Prosperity Party plans to use the electoral mandate it is given to focus on growing Ethiopia's economy in the next five years, especially the country's agricultural sector.

Ahmed also said Prosperity Party will work on finding a solution to insecurity problems affecting various parts of Ethiopia.

On June 21, millions of Ethiopians chose candidates from 46 regional and national parties, though Prosperity Party was widely expected to be the favorite to win the polls.

Under Ethiopia's parliamentary government system, the prime minister who is the highest authority of the land is selected from the party that wins the most seats at the federal parliament level and will be sworn in after the parliamentary vote. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )