Ethiopia wraps up vote counting

2010-05-24 11:49

Addis Ababa - Vote counting in all of Ethiopia's polling stations was completed Monday, a day after legislative polls marred by fraud allegations, the electoral board said.

The results still need to be tallied up for provisional national results which are expected on Tuesday and will reveal which party will dominate parliament and be in a position to form a government.

"The counting of the votes is already finished and the results are being announced in the polling stations," commission vice chairman Adissu Guebre Egziaber said.

"We are currently calculating all the figures to come up with a nationwide amount," he explained.

Adissu said the turnout had been high but did not provide a figure. Estimates announced late on Sunday suggested at least 70% of the country's 32 million voters had cast their ballot by mid-day.

The European Union's observation mission chief Thijs Berman on Sunday praised the vote as "peaceful and calm" and the election commission said it had no evidence of fraud but opposition leaders in several regions cried foul.

The last polls in 2005 saw the opposition record its best ever showing but led to violence that left 200 dead and triggered a government crackdown that left its main challengers jailed, exiled or greatly weakened.

- AFP