MEKELE ( HALBEEG NEWS) – Polls have opened today in the Tigray region of Ethiopia to elect representatives and new regional governments.
Some 2.7 million people in the Tigray region are expected to cast their votes at more than 2,600 polling stations, regional election officials said.
Five parties namely the National Congress of Great Tigray (Baytona), Salsay Woyane Tigray, Tigray Independence Party, and Assimba Democratic Party are contesting in the region’s election.
Ethiopia’s upper house of parliament, which mediates constitutional disputes, ruled on Saturday that the polls for regional parliaments and other positions were unconstitutional.
The officials have warned that any intervention by the federal government would amount to a “declaration of war”.
They have objected to the postponement of the national and regional elections, originally scheduled for August, because of the coronavirus pandemic and the extension of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s time in office.
Ethiopian security officials prevented journalists from flying to Tigray to cover the vote.
The non-governmental organizations also said they had been barred from observing the election.
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