Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Updated: March 31st, 2020
New York (TADIAS) — The highly anticipated 2020 national election in Ethiopia has been canceled for now due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced that it has shelved its plans to hold the upcoming nationwide parliamentary polls on August 29th after an internal evaluation of the possible negative effect of the virus pandemic on its official activities.
“After conducting detail assessment of the impact COVID-19 would have on its operation, NEBE decided to cancel the current electoral calendar and suspend elections operations of the coming national elections planned to be conducted in August 2020,” the Board said.
The 2020 national election was widely expected to be the first formal measure of public approval for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration.
In its announcement NEBE did not provide an alternative date, nor is it clear how opposition parties will react given that the election is constitutionally required in order to renew the ruling party’s governing mandate.
Ethiopians around the world were hoping that 2020 would be the first transparent and credible election in the country’s history. During the last election in 2015 the incumbent party claimed to have won 100% of the vote.
This is a developing story and will continue to be updated.
After conducting detail assessment of the impact COVID-19 would have on its operation, NEBE decided to cancel the current electoral calendar and suspend elections operations of the coming national elections planned to be conducted in August 2020. https://t.co/TJxcf2jn1J pic.twitter.com/EFWqdzGhNN
— National Election Board of Ethiopia- NEBE (@NEBEthiopia) March 31, 2020
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