Ethiopian Ruling Party Sweeps Elections

Ethiopian officials say the ruling party won nearly all the seats at stake in last month's local and parliamentary elections.

Results announced Sunday show the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) winning 38 out of 39 parliamentary seats at stake in the by-election. The opposition CUD party won the remaining seat.

The ruling party won 137 out of 138 seats in the Addis Ababa City Council and 100 percent of the seats in sub-cities around the Ethiopian capital.

Opposition groups won scattered victories in other towns.

Ethiopia's main opposition coalition boycotted the April elections, saying many of its candidates had been disqualified or intimidated into dropping out. Human Rights Watch called the elections a "rubber stamp" for the EPRDF's domination of power.

The ruling party rejected the allegations, saying it registered every candidate who had the proper credentials.

Approximately four million seats in parliament, city councils, and neighborhood councils were at stake in the April 13 and April 20 elections.