TPLF wins 98% in 'illegal' Ethiopian regional vote

By Tesfalem Araia

In Ethiopia, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has won over 98% of the vote in Wednesday’s regional elections that were deemed “null and void” by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal government.

The Tigray region nevertheless went ahead with the elections, saying it is constitutionally mandated to do so.

National elections in Ethiopia scheduled to take place last month were postponed by the National Electoral Board due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The TPLF will now control the regional assembly after taking at least 152 seats, while another 38 seats will be shared among the other parties, based on recently introduced arrangements.

A new party calling for the secession of Tigray, the Tigray Liberation Party, ranked 3rd in the total vote counts but failed to win a seat on its own.

There were fears there could be military confrontation between the TPLF-led regional government in Tigray and Mr Abiy's government. However, the elections were largely peaceful.

The TPLF was the dominant player in Ethiopia for almost 27 years but has been sidelined since Mr Abiy came to power.

Mr Abiy has rebranded the EPRDF ruling coalition, which was accused of repression, into a new party called the Prosperity Party - without the TPLF.

This article was originally published by BBC News. [Photo: Getty Images]