Ethiopia Prepares To Vote As Famine Stalks Tigray

Ethiopia prepares to vote as famine stalks Tigray

Ethiopia is preparing to hold crucial and twice-delayed elections across the country on June 21, despite growing concern over the credibility of the vote as well as a famine in war-torn Tigray

Addis Ababa, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jun, 2021 ) :Ethiopia is preparing to hold crucial and twice-delayed elections across the country on June 21, despite growing concern over the credibility of the vote as well as a famine in war-torn Tigray.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, appointed in 2018 after years of anti-government unrest, craves a popular mandate through competitive elections to cement a promised democratic rebirth in Africa's second-most populous nation.

The Nobel Peace prize winner is pushing ahead with the election despite ongoing fighting and a humanitarian crisis in Tigray, where voting will not proceed on Monday, along with some other restive parts of the country.

Opposition parties in other pivotal regions are boycotting the election, the sixth since the end of military rule in Ethiopia 30 years ago.

All previous ballots fell short of international standards for fairness, and Abiy -- who won early praise for embarking on democratic and economic reforms -- insists that June 21 will mark a departure from the authoritarian past.

"A week from today, Ethiopians we will cast our vote in the sixth national elections, which will be the nation's first attempt at free and fair elections," Abiy posted on Twitter on Monday.

"Go out and vote next Monday... let's make it a positively historic day together!"