Addis ababa: Abiy Ahmed will remain Ethiopia's prime minister after his party won the elections yet again. Since taking office in 2018, he has attracted both strong supporters and fierce critics, reflecting his polarizing leadership. Abiy Ahmed is likely to continue his role as Ethiopia's prime minister after his Prosperity Party won another comfortable parliamentary majority in the June 1 elections. The party took nearly 90% of seats. According to Deutsche Welle, the election results were released on Sunday after voting in several polling stations was suspended due to security issues, and no voting took place in northern Tigray for a second consecutive election. Abiy is now awaiting the formality of election by the House of Peoples Representatives. Abiy Ahmed first gained international attention as a young and dynamic leader of Ethiopia in 2018, but his journey to the top position began long before that. In the 1990s, Abiy Ahmed had a career with the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) before leading E thiopia's cyber-intelligence service INSA. He became known nationally as a politician in 2010, rising through the ranks of the Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization (OPDO), which was later renamed the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP). He was elected to the House of Representatives and became the Minister of Science and Technology in 2016. Abiy's rapid ascent continued when he returned to Oromia to serve as head of the OPDO Secretariat. Abiy Ahmed's rise to prominence reached a peak in 2018 when he became one of the nation's youngest-ever leaders. His appointment marked a significant shift in Ethiopian politics, as he became the first Oromo chairman of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). This was notable since Oromos make up about a third of Ethiopia's population, yet Tigrayans had previously dominated the political landscape. Abiy's international acclaim was cemented by his efforts to make peace with Eritrea, a neighbor with whom Ethiopia had engaged in a bloody w ar from 1998 to 2000. His willingness to accept the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission ruling, which granted the border town of Badme to Eritrea, helped restore diplomatic ties and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Domestically, Abiy initiated several reforms, including releasing political prisoners, unbanning parties, boosting female political participation, and amending repressive laws. In 2019, he founded the Prosperity Party, consolidating various ethnic groups, which some saw as an attempt to weaken the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF). The political landscape shifted dramatically in late 2020 when tensions escalated between the TPLF and Abiy's government. Following Tigray's regional election, deemed illegal by Addis Ababa, a military operation was launched against the TPLF, leading to a devastating conflict with widespread allegations of atrocities. Eritrean forces joined the conflict, and major hostilities formally ended with the Pretoria peace agreement in November 2022. Abiy Ahmed also oversaw the completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a significant investment in Ethiopia's energy and water security. However, this project put Ethiopia at odds with Sudan and Egypt, both of whom view the dam as a threat. Abiy's ambition to establish Ethiopia as a regional power and his desire for direct access to the Red Sea have also strained relations with Eritrea.
