NEBE Releases Official Results for 307 Federal Seats

8 July 2005

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) announced today official results for 307 federal seats out of the 524 constituencies where elections were carried out on 15 May 2005. The results were released in the presence of representatives of political parties, international observers and the media at the NEBE Headquarters.

The 307 results declared official today include the constituencies which are not contested by any party and those where the complaints lodged have been rejected by the Complaints Review Body (CRB) and the Board after a hearing. The NEBE will announce official results for the remaining 217 constituencies and state councils in the coming weeks.

NEBE Chairman Kemal Bedri said the 26 Complaints Investigation Panels (CIPs) deployed to 140 disputed constituencies in the country are expected to complete their work the coming week. “The Board will give final decisions based on the recommendations made by the CIPs when their work is completed,” he said. “The decisions will include upholding provisional results or ordering re-runs in some or all of the polling stations of a constituency.”

The CRB is also expected to give its recommendation on the 64 constituencies it has been conducting hearings. “If there are any constituencies to be re-considered for investigation, they will be probed by other teams together with the 14 constituencies decided to be investigated earlier,” Kemal said.

Elections for the 23 constituencies of the Somali regional state will take place on 21 August 2005 and results will be announced after a couple of weeks.

The official results released today do not indicate the winner that would be able to form the next government. Out of the 307 official results, the ruling EPRDF has secured 139 seats followed by the two major oppositions CUD, 93 and UEDF 42 seats respectively.

The review and investigation of complaints that had been submitted to the Board on more than 300 constituencies has taken more time than expected to announce all official results on 8 July.

For further information please contact:
Press Officer: Getahun Amogne Tel: 251-9-643738
Assistant Press Officer: Hiwot Alemayehu Tel: 251-9-487576