President Farmajo Congratulates Abiy Ahmed for a Landslide Victory

President Farmajo has congratulated Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for winning the elections. Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party on Saturday was declared the winner of last month’s national election in a landslide, assuring a second five-year term for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In his congratulatory message, president Farmajo said that Somalia will continue to work with the government of Ethiopia to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and the wider region.

June’s vote, which had been postponed twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical issues, was largely peaceful, but Ethiopia’s opposition parties decried harassment and intimidation. No voting was held in the Tigray region and the date for voting has not yet been set. The military has been battling forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s former ruling party, since November.

Abiy Ahmed now faces international pressure over the war in Tigray and accusations from rights groups that his government is rolling back some new freedoms, which it denies.