Millions of Ethiopians cast ballots on Monday in the country's seventh general election since the end of Marxist military rule in 1991, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party widely expected to secure another sweeping victory. Long queues formed outside polling stations across the capital, Addis Ababa, and in many parts of the country — but voting was suspended in 143 stations in the Oromia and Amhara regions due to security concerns, according to electoral commission head Melatwork Hailu. The entire northern region of Tigray, home to an estimated six million people, was excluded from the poll altogether amid deepening tensions between federal authorities and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation with roughly 136 million people, is holding the vote against a backdrop of persistent internal conflict. Fano nationalist militias in Amhara and rebels from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Oromia — two of the country's most populous states — have continued to fight government forces, with conflict monitoring group ACLED recording more than 9,400 conflict-related deaths in 2024 alone. Tigray, meanwhile, is still recovering from a devastating civil war that ended in November 2022 and is estimated to have killed some 600,000 people. Political tensions there have resurged after the TPLF unilaterally elected a new regional leader without federal consultation.

The electoral landscape has drawn sharp criticism from opposition figures and analysts. Analysts at the Chatham House think tank described the vote as likely to be among the least competitive since Ethiopia introduced multiparty democracy, noting that the opposition is fragmented across more than 40 parties with limited resources, while some leaders are in exile, imprisoned, or barred from running. In dozens of constituencies, Prosperity Party candidates are running unopposed. Abiy's party won 96 percent of parliamentary seats in the 2021 elections. One veteran opposition figure, Professor Merera Gurdina of the Oromo Federalist Congress, told reporters his party was participating only to avoid deregistration under electoral law. The government also declined to accept a European Union observer mission, though observers from the African Union and the regional bloc IGAD are monitoring the poll.

Abiy, 49, came to power in 2018 following widespread anti-government protests and was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for ending a two-decade military standoff with neighbouring Eritrea. He subsequently dissolved the ruling coalition that had governed Ethiopia since 1991 and replaced it with the more centralised Prosperity Party. While supporters credit him with ambitious urban renewal projects in Addis Ababa and economic reforms backed by the IMF and World Bank — the IMF forecasts growth above nine percent this year — critics accuse his government of suppressing dissent, arresting journalists, and driving opponents into exile. Ethiopia ranked 148th out of 180 countries in the 2025 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, and several international media organisations, including the BBC, were denied press accreditation for the election.

Kenya's former President Uhuru Kenyatta, observing on behalf of the African Union, reported that voting was progressing smoothly. Official results are expected within ten days of polls closing. Analysts warn, however, that another overwhelming mandate is unlikely to resolve the country's deeper tensions. As Magnus Taylor of the International Crisis Group noted, Abiy's expected re-election "shouldn't obscure the fact that there are various internal insecurity issues, insurgencies and a risk of a new war in the north." With 147 constituencies reportedly excluded from voting, questions over the election's legitimacy and the further consolidation of political power are likely to persist well beyond polling day.