Ethiopians are voting in the first elections since 2015 which will test Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s popularity inside the country.

Ahmed is hoping to win the majority of parliamentary seats in order to maintain his office.

The elections had been earlier postponed in 2020 due to the of coronavirus pandemic.

Ethiopian election 2021: ‘Elections in Ethiopia’ important things to know

Voting is happening across much of the country’s regional and federal, excluding Tigray.

The Somali-speaking regions and some others are not voting too due to insecurity.

Reports say nearly one fifth of the constituencies are not taking part because of insecurity and irregularities.

They include the whole of the Tigray region, where a civil war broke out in November, leading to a humanitarian crisis.

WIA DIS FOTO COME FROM,AFP

Ethiopian election 2021 background:

More than 37 million people are registered to vote, officials say.

The last election in Ethiopia took place in 2015 but not until 2018 before Mr Ahmed took office as Prime Minister.

In 2018, he emerged as the nominee from the then coalition of parties so he never faced any election.

Abiy Ahmed is looking to win the majority for the 547 parliamentary seats.

However, 102 will be uncontested in the June election, including all the 38 seats from the embattled Tigray region.

A former political prisoner who was exiled in the US, Birtukan Mideksa is overseeing Ethiopia’s first parliamentary election.

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