Ethiopian Electoral Board Sets June 5 for National Polls

Friday, December 25, 2020

Voters queue at a polling station during Tigray’s regional elections in the city of Mekele, Ethiopia, on September 9, 2020. PM Abiy Ahmed's government termed the polls illegal. Eduardo Soteras

Xinhua News Agency

Addis Ababa

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (Nebe) has tentatively set June 5, 2021 as the date for national polls, local media reported on Friday.

Ethiopia will hold a parliamentary election on June 5, 2021 and the results will be announced between June 6 and 28, 2021, reported the state-owned media outlet Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).

The EBC further reported that the Nebe has tentatively set the date for voter registration to be between March 1 and March 30. The list of candidates will be announced between March 31 and April 1.

Nebe has set the date for political parties to present their electoral signs and a decision to be made on the electoral signs to be between January 30 and February 13.

The electoral board was initially slated to hold national polls on August 29, 2020.

Covid-19 fears

However, the Ethiopia House of Federation (HOF), the country's upper house of parliament approved a recommendation in June 2020 to postpone the national elections, citing the health threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ethiopia had as of Friday morning recorded 121,399 Covid-19 cases and 1,882 Covid-19 related deaths.

Ethiopia holds regular parliamentary and regional council elections every five years with the 2015 polls completely won by the ruling coalition Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and allied parties.

The 2021 polls will be keenly watched by local and foreign observers, with the newly rebranded ruling party, now called Prosperity Party (PP), expected to face a stiff electoral challenge from opposition parties.