Abiy's Prosperity Party wins Ethiopian election by a landslide

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party has won a landslide victory in national elections, extending his hold on power for another term.

Voters cast ballots in parliamentary and regional elections on 1 June. According to results released by the National Election Board of Ethiopia, the Prosperity Party won 438 of the 486 seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives where tallies had been verified, giving it almost 90 percent of the seats.

The party had been widely expected to dominate against an opposition weakened by internal rivalries and fragmentation. The win hands Abiy another five years to pursue his economic reform agenda and expand his influence in the wider region.

Voting did not take place in the northern Tigray region, where the election board cited "unfavourable conditions" following the 2020 to 2022 civil war and continuing political turmoil. Parts of the country remain affected by unrest and armed conflict.

Abiy, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who took office in 2018, has overseen sweeping but turbulent change, including market reforms and the conflict in Tigray. Critics say the political space has narrowed, while supporters credit him with ambitious modernisation in Africa's second-most populous nation.