Ethiopia ruling party wins general elections

Addis Ababa, July 11 Ethiopia's ruling Prosperity Party won more than 400 out of 436 parliamentary electoral constituencies in the June 21 general elections, authorities announced.

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, reports Xinhua news agency.

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced on Saturday that it plans to hold a second round of national elections on September 6 in the rest of electoral constituencies, except in 38 electoral constituencies located in the war-torn Tigray region.

In a statement shortly after the announcement of the result, 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 Ethiop chose candidates from 46 regional and national parties, though Prosperity Party was widely expected to be favourite 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 federal parliament level and will be sworn in after parliamentary vote.