Voting in Monday’s general election was suspended in parts of Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara regions due to security concerns, but long voter queues were seen elsewhere, electoral commission head Melatwork Hailu announced.
Conflict in parts of Africa’s second most populous country had already meant that many would not be able to take part in the seventh election since the end of the Marxist military regime in 1991.
In fact, the whole northern region of Tigray, which is trying to recover from a civil war that ended in 2022, has been totally excluded from the poll.
Overall, while more than 50,000 polling stations were operational, 143 failed to open over security issues.
Casting his vote, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has been in power since 2018, praised the country’s progress since the end of the military dictatorship.
“The Ethiopian people have demonstrated that they do not need anyone to advise or lecture them in order to build their state and establish a democratic system,” he said.
The media is tightly regulated in Ethiopia and many organisations, including the BBC, have not been given press accreditation.
Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is observing the poll for the African Union, told reporters that voting was progressing smoothly, the Reuters news agency said.
