May 27, 2026 (Ethiopia Insider) – The 7th general national elections in Ethiopia are scheduled for Monday, June 1, 2026. Official documents from the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) indicate that the election is expected to take place in all regional states of Ethiopia except Tigray. A total of 50.5 million voters have reportedly registered for this national election, while 10,432 candidates have received official registration certificates from the NEBE. Among these candidates, 2,080 are vying for seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives (the Federal Parliament), while the remaining 8,352 are running for seats on regional and federal city administration councils.
Based on the number and distribution of candidates, this special visual report provides an in-depth analysis of the overall landscape observed in Election 2026.
The interactive map above shows the total number of federal parliament and regional/city council constituencies in each region, along with the total number of registered ruling party candidates in those regions. Please click on your region of choice to view the breakdown.
The Path to Power
In Ethiopia’s electoral history, consecutive elections have mostly been shaped by an asymmetrical power imbalance among competitors. The ruling party fields a vast pool of candidates for both the federal parliament and regional councils, whereas opposition political parties are forced to compete with a limited number of candidates. Beyond the political landscape not permitting a fair contest, the inability of opposition parties to build extensive structural capacity and compete at a level sufficient for state power has been the primary contributor to this asymmetric electoral competition.
Consequently, it is recalled that the ruling party formed a government following landslide victories, securing 99.6 percent of the parliamentary seats in the 2010 election, 100 percent in the 2015 election, and 97 percent (of contested seats) in the 6th general elections (the 2021 elections).
Seemingly pressured by this, the Prosperity Party did not field candidates in 48 parliamentary constituencies for the 2026 elections. In previous elections, several independent candidates, including the Prime Minister’s Advisor on Social Affairs, Daniel Kibret, who is running for the Prosperity Party this year, won seats in parliament in constituencies where the Prosperity Party did not contest. As the Prime Minister stated to parliament in January 2026, the number of opposition members in parliament would increase “by five to ten times,” adding that his party would “intentionally work toward this.” Similarly, the Prosperity Party will not be contesting a total of 284 regional/city council seats. The regional/city council seats where Prosperity did not field candidates mostly range from 8 percent to 15 percent; however, the party did not field candidates for only 1 percent (5 seats) of the Oromia Regional Council seats. Conversely, it has conceded 15 percent of the seats for the Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia, Dire Dawa, and Somali councils.
However, criticism has been leveled at the Prosperity Party, arguing that conceding parliamentary and council seats to the opposition does not guarantee a fair election. On the contrary, it has been revealed that the Prosperity Party runs unopposed in 65 parliamentary seats. Of these, the majority are in the Oromia region (46) and the Amara region (11).
Meanwhile, only the incumbent Prosperity Party and Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA) have managed to register the minimum number of parliamentary seats (more than 274 candidates) required to form a government. However, as the leader of EZEMA, Eyob Mesafint, stated, although EZEMA is the only opposition party that fielded a sufficient number of candidates to form a federal government, it has a “managed expectation” that it will not emerge as a winner to form a government in this year’s contest, beyond increasing the number of its candidates entering parliament.
The bar chart above shows the top 20 political parties that fielded the most candidates for the House of People’s Representatives. The sections marked in purple on the bar chart indicate the constituencies where no other rival candidates registered against the respective parties’ candidates, thereby denoting 75 seats won in advance without any political contest; 65 of those are fielded by the Prosperity Party. Those indicated in orange show the competitive environments where candidates face off against one another, while those marked in grey indicate the number of parliamentary seats for which the respective parties failed to field candidates. Finally, the sections colored white indicate areas where elections will not be held for various reasons.
As the chart above illustrates, with the exception of Prosperity Party and EZEMA, no party fielded candidates for regional/city councils for all of the regions or cities where elections are being held. The Coalition for Ethiopian Unity (CEU), which ranks third in terms of candidate numbers, did not field candidates for regional councils in the Afar, Benishangul-Gumuz, and Gambella regions.
Similar to the 6th general elections in 2021, it has been confirmed that the 7th national general elections will not be held in the Tigray region. It is recalled that during the 2021 election process, elections were not held in all 38 constituencies in the Tigray region, 19 in the Amhara region, and 8 in the Oromia region, leaving a total of 65 constituencies without parliamentary representation.
In this year’s general elections, although candidate registration was conducted in all constituencies in the Oromia and Amhara regions, where conflicts and instability are observed, it is widely estimated that some areas will be unable to hold elections due to ongoing instability. Taking this situation into account, NEBE stated that it has classified the country’s constituencies into three categories. Accordingly, it has repeatedly stated that it has designated areas with fully enabling conditions for elections in green, those with volatile security conditions in yellow, and areas entirely non-conducive to elections in red. Nevertheless, NEBE has not issued an official statement on which constituencies are categorized by color as of the date of this news report’s release.
It is known that the fact-finding committees, organized into nine groups and dispatched to various areas by the Election Board, submitted their field observation reports to the Board on May 18, 2026; the Board is expected to officially announce which constituencies are “enabling” or not after holding final discussions with national security bodies. Although the Board disclosed in its press briefing yesterday, May 26, that elections will not be held in 8 constituencies within the Amhara region, it did not detail which specific constituencies they are.
On the other hand, the risk analysis submitted to the House of Peoples’ Representatives on April 29, 2026, by the Ethiopian Federal Police, which the Ethiopia Insider managed to review, indicates that among the total polling stations located in the Amhara region, 24.9 percent were identified in red as they faced high security risks. Similarly, 24.4 percent of the stations were colored yellow due to their unreliable security status, while the polling stations free from any security risk and classified in green stood at only 50.6 percent, as stipulated in the document. In total, eight regions were identified as risk-free (“enabling” or green), with 96.7% of polling stations in Benishangul-Gumuz, 98.5% in Oromia, 51.5% in Gambella, and 99.6% in Central Ethiopia reported as risk-free. Ethiopia Insider could not find information on whether the Federal Police has prepared any revised risk analysis since then.
The bar charts presented above show the percentage share of candidates fielded for the House of People’s Representatives and regional/city councils in each region. By utilizing the region selector on the top left, you can view the detailed political party candidate data for each respective region. The purple color indicates the number of candidates who face no competitors, while the vertical lines represent the share of candidates fielded by the parties relative to the councils’ total seats. As observed in the statement, Gambella has become a region with minimal political party participation, being the only region where just 5 political parties registered candidates for the regional council and 4 for the parliament.
Contestations for Regional Councils
The upcoming regional council elections have become a platform on which the ruling Prosperity Party runs virtually alone, with no strong political rivalry in five regions and one city administration. The ruling Prosperity Party is the only entity with the numerical capacity to form a government by fielding candidates for more than half of the total seats in the councils of the Oromia, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, and Harari regions, as well as in the Dire Dawa city administration.
Conversely, the Sidama and Afar regions, alongside the Addis Ababa city administration councils, have become arenas where relative inter-party rivalry is expected.
In the Addis Ababa city administration, the ruling Prosperity Party has become the only party in which it was outnumbered by two political parties in terms of candidate count. The Coalition for Ethiopian Unity (CEU) leads with 143 candidates registered, followed by the Hidase/Renaissance Party with 142, Prosperity with 134, and EZEMA with 106. Overall, the Addis Ababa council, where 20 political parties fielded their candidates, hosts a wide-ranging competition in sheer party numbers. In the Afar region, out of 142 seats, Prosperity Party presented 129 candidates, the Afar People’s Party 96, the Afar Liberation Front 78, and Argoba Unity 72.
In the remaining four regions, the contest is limited to only two or three political parties, including the ruling party. In summary, while the ruling Prosperity Party operates alone across all councils and has the capacity to form governments, except in the Tigray region, the only opposition forces with this numerical capacity are EZEMA in five regions and the Coalition in only three regional councils.
The bar charts presented above demonstrate the level of competition in the parliament and in regional/city council constituencies of the respective regions and city administrations. The sections marked in orange on the bar chart represent constituencies where more than one political party fielded candidates and where active competition is taking place. In contrast, the sections identified in grey distinctly highlight the number of constituencies where candidates of a single party run without any challengers and are assured of victory in advance due to other parties’ failure to register rival candidates. (Note: A parliamentary constituency has only one parliamentary seat, whereas a regional council constituency possesses more than one council seat.)
Multiparty Competition in the ‘Southern’ Regions
The vast territory formerly known as the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Regional State (Southern Region), and now divided into four autonomous regions (Sidama, South West Ethiopia, South Ethiopia, and Central Ethiopia), has become a unique place where a higher number of political parties registered an extensive array of candidates compared to other parts of the country. In contrast, the Oromia and Amhara regions, which hold a large number of seats in the House of Peoples’ Representatives, have become among the regions where the ruling Prosperity Party competes with few competitors, due to opposition parties’ inability to participate fully.
The Sidama region has taken the national lead in high-stakes competition, with seven political parties registering at full capacity to field candidates capable of filling at least half (95 of 190) of the regional council seats. Accordingly, the Prosperity Party leads with 175 candidates, followed by the Forum for Ethiopian Federalist Democracy with 162, the CEU with 148, EZEMA with 146, the Sidama People’s Unity Democratic Organization with 141, the Sidama Unity Party with 106, and FEP with 96. Similarly, in South West Ethiopia, Prosperity and EZEMA registered an equal number of 144 candidates, while the Freedom and Equality Party (FEP) competes against them with 91 candidates. In South Ethiopia, Prosperity, EZEMA, and the Coalition deployed 201, 169, and 141 candidates, respectively, into the competitive arena. In Central Ethiopia, Prosperity and EZEMA presented 148 and 104 candidates, respectively.
This competitive intensity in the new southern regions is starkly different when contrasted with other areas; for instance, the contest in the Somali region is restricted solely between the Prosperity Party (232 candidates) and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF, 161 candidates), while in the Dire Dawa city administration council, the ruling Prosperity Party stands alone without any opponent for 92 out of 189 total seats across 37 of the 47 constituencies.
The map shown above illustrates the regions where political parties compete or do not compete for government formation in the federal parliament and regional/city councils, meaning by fielding candidates for more than half of the seats. Readers can select either the federal parliament or regional councils category by clicking the option at the top left, and examine detailed information and party candidate distributions by clicking the corresponding regional map entities.
The Candidates’ Registration Process
The 7th national general elections are the first to introduce a digital registration system. While candidate registration was conducted entirely through a digital system, voter registration was conducted digitally in selected areas, including Addis Ababa, while it was managed via the old manual system in others.
Bottlenecks of Digital Registration
Party leaders have repeatedly told the Ethiopia Insider that the execution of this year’s candidate registration via a digital alternative and the imposition of the National ID as a mandatory prerequisite have posed a challenge beyond the capacity of opposition parties. The Coalition for Ethiopian Unity alleged that between 255 and 300 candidates who met the criteria were left unregistered and excluded from the race due to disruptions in the digital registration system, while the Board limited it to five. Similarly, the Ethiopian National Unity Party (ENUP) announced that the number of its candidates had plummeted from 1,100 to 167 because its members had not obtained national digital IDs, while the Freedom and Equality Party (FEP) stated for its part that 250 of its candidates could not be registered for the same reason, noting that they were initially unaware that a National ID was mandatory for registration.
The Impact of Security Issues on Candidates
The deterioration in security has imposed a heavy psychological burden, preventing parties from fielding candidates at full capacity and from conducting electoral preparations. The CEU stated that following the killing of militias who were coordinating election registration in Azezo sub-city of the Central Gondar zone, the incident instilled severe fear, rendering Amhara, Tigray, parts of Oromia, and the Metekel zone difficult for elections. On the other hand, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) disclosed that its president, Dawud Ibsa, is out of this year’s race due to the security threat in the Horo Gudru area where he was to compete, in addition to alleging that out of its 230 former offices, only the Addis Ababa office is currently open, which has heavily restricted its candidate numbers.
Administrative and Political Pressures
Arrests targeting competing candidates, the tearing down of campaign posters, and other administrative bans were widely observed, particularly in areas of the Southern region. While the Peace for Ethiopia Coalition stated that government security forces are harassing its candidates in the Gamo zone through detentions, job terminations, and withholding salaries, the Wolayita People’s Liberation Movement stated that 45,000 of its election posters were removed by government bodies, creating obstacles to its campaign. Furthermore, it is recalled that leaders of the Kucha People’s Democratic Party (KPDP) were blocked by security forces when heading to the Kucha Woreda for campaigning under the pretext that they “were wearing ethnic attire unrecognized by the constitution,” while in the Harari region, the candidates of EZEMA and the CEU were disqualified by a court ruling on the grounds that “they are not native to the ethnic group,” serving as a prominent example of pressure.
Internal Tension of Political Parties
Internal divisions within parties and consecutive legal battles have pushed numerous candidates out of the electoral process. For the Ethiopian Social Democratic Party (ESDP), all 309 candidates who had been registered via the digital system under Dr. Rahel Baffe were disqualified due to the lawsuit filed against them by Mr. Achamo Boqe’s faction, after the Federal High Court invalidated the candidates of both sides, knocking the party completely out of this year’s elections. Similarly, following the invalidation of the national congress held by the Balderas for True Democracy Party by both NEBE and the court, the approval of its candidates fell into question, while the Sidama Liberation Movement (SLM), in accordance with a Cassation Court ruling, saw the court declare that the general congress where the candidate-registering leadership group was elected lacked legal acceptability and ordered it to be conducted afresh. However, it is known that the ballot papers sent to the printer by the Election Board will still include the contested candidates from both Balderas and SLM.
Withdrawal of Candidates
As election day draws closer, candidates withdrawing from the race has added another dimension to the process. Recently, it was reported that the CEU candidates, Yisaq Wolday and Ephrem Kassa, withdrew; however, NEBE announced that it would not legally accept any withdrawals after May 1, 2026, as the printing of ballot papers had already been finalized. Nonetheless, this type of self-withdrawal process was repeated in high numbers in constituency 01 of Ezha Woreda in the Gurage zone of the Central Ethiopia region, where two candidates of EZEMA (Bezaalem Dinku and Getu Germa), as well as three candidates of Gogot (Demsis Gebre, Befekadu Degsew, and Tigistu Desalegn), have reportedly withdrawn simultaneously due to “harassment and intimidation directed at them” by the ruling party.
Note: All candidate statistics are based on the list of candidates officially released by the National Election Board of Ethiopia on its website on May 7, 2026. We advise our readers to note that any data altered after that date for various reasons has not been included.
Acknowledgment: The infographics featured in this special report were produced with the technical assistance of Data4Change. On behalf of our editorial team and our readers, we sincerely thank Data 4 Change colleagues, Bronwen Robertson and Ella Hollowood, for their swift response to our editorial department’s request and the pro bono professional assistance rendered.
