Ethiopia’s much anticipated national elections will now be held on August 29, the country’s electoral body said on Friday. The new date is nearly two weeks later than an initial timeline announced last month, but still falls in the middle of the rainy season, reinforcing logistical concerns about elections seen as critical to the political transition under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. “As per the allowed legal provisions, we’ve decided to revise the electoral date to August 29,” electoral board chair Birtukan Mideksa said Friday. “We will work with the National Meteorology Agency of Ethiopia to mitigate the impact of the rainy season on the electoral schedule,” she said, according to state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate. However the coalition no longer exists following Abiy’s decision to transform it into a single political group, the Ethiopian Prosperity Party.

Source: Ethiopian News February 14, 2020 15:22 UTC