Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party won the most seats in parliamentary election, the National Election Board said on Saturday, a victory that assures him another five-year term in office.

Abiy's party won 410 of 436 parliamentary seats, National Election Board Deputy Chairperson Woubshet Ayele announced in the capital Addis Ababa. Chairperson Birtukan Mideksa said the board had delivered a credible election.

Abiy hailed the outcome of what he described as a "historic" election – the first time he faced voters since being appointed prime minister in 2018 following several years of anti-government protests. 

In a statement on Twitter, he described it as a historically inclusive election, adding: "Our party is also happy that it has been chosen by the will of the people to administer the country."

The June 21 vote was held in the midst of a grueling conflict in the northern region of Tigray as well as an opposition boycott.

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Abiy's newly formed Prosperity Party faced a fragmented opposition of dozens of mostly ethnically-based parties. The opposition parties Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (Ezema) and the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA) each won less than 10 seats.

Ezema's leader Berhanu Nega said his party had filed 207 complaints after local officials and militiamen blocked observers in the Amhara region and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' region.

Voting in the Harar and Somali regions was delayed until September over security concerns and problems with ballot papers.

No date has been set for voting in Tigray, where the military has been battling forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's former ruling party, since November. The fighting has displaced two million people, and the United Nations has warned of famine conditions in parts of the region. 

(With input from Reuters, AFP)

(Cover: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed casts a ballot at a polling station in the town of Beshasha, Ethiopia, June 21, 2021. /Reuters)