Vote count under way in Ethiopia after contentious election

We have also informed the authorities hoping that there will be some solution to this before one can conclude in any form or shape that this is a reflection of the whole process,” he added.International concern has been growing about the vote, and opposition groups have accused Ethiopia’s governing party of harassment, manipulation and threats of violence that echo abuses of the past.Abiy is also facing growing international criticism over the war in Tigray, sparked in part because the region’s now-fugitive leaders objected to Ethiopia postponing the election last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.William Davison, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group specialising on Ethiopia, said it was “reasonable to hold out some hope” that Abiy would “change course” and reach out to political opponents who either boycotted the polls or are engaged in armed campaigns against the government – but there were also clear reasons “why perhaps that will not happen”.“There does seem to have been something of a systematic exclusion of some opponents from the democratic process, and with the government having gained a majority we might expect to see a continuation of that,” he told Al Jazeera.With regards to Tigray, Davison noted that Abiy’s government had recently classified the northern region’s removed ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a “terrorist” organisation.“So it would be quite a significant backward step for the federal government to start opening negotiations with the TPLF,” he said.