By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter
Ethiopia, June 22, 2026 - Abiy Ahmed is set to secure another five-year term as Ethiopia's prime minister after his ruling Prosperity Party won a decisive majority in the country's parliamentary elections held earlier this month.
Official results released by the National Election Board of Ethiopia on Sunday showed the Prosperity Party won 438 of the 501 contested seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives, comfortably surpassing the 274 seats required to form a government.
Under Ethiopia's parliamentary system, citizens elect members of parliament, who subsequently select the prime minister. The newly elected legislature is expected to convene in October, when lawmakers will formally reappoint Abiy to office.
The June 1 election was Ethiopia's seventh general election and the second since Abiy came to power in 2018 following widespread anti-government protests that ended the long rule of the former Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition. Abiy dissolved the coalition in 2019 and formed the Prosperity Party as part of his political reform agenda.
The ruling party campaigned on promises of accelerating economic growth, improving food security, and advancing infrastructure development in Africa's second-most populous nation, where more than 50 million voters were registered for the election.
However, the election took place against a backdrop of persistent insecurity and political tensions.
Voting did not take place in the northern Tigray region, which remains politically fragile following the 2020-2022 conflict, while polling was suspended in several constituencies in the Amhara region due to ongoing violence linked to the Fano insurgency.
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Parts of Oromia also continue to experience clashes involving the Oromo Liberation Army.
Opposition groups and rights advocates have raised concerns over the electoral environment, citing restrictions on political activity, arrests of opposition figures, and limited access to some regions. The Ethiopian government has denied allegations of suppressing dissent.
The National Election Board reported that political parties filed complaints concerning dozens of constituencies during the voting process, with some results undergoing verification and review before the final announcement.
Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end decades of hostility with neighbouring Eritrea, now faces the challenge of steering Ethiopia through continued security crises, managing post-conflict reconstruction in Tigray, and sustaining economic reforms amid rising public debt and inflationary pressures.