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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party (PP) won a landslide victory in legislative polls held June 1, the election commission said Sunday, giving it almost 90 % of the seats.Abiy has led Ethiopia since 2018, and is increasingly criticised for growing authoritarianism, in contrast to his early years when he won the Nobel Peace Prize for mending relations with neighbouring Eritrea.The PP was considered the overwhelming favourite in the country of 130 mn, facing a divided opposition that did not field candidates in many constituencies.The ruling Prosperity Party secured 438 of the 486 seats in the House of Peoples' Representatives, according to an AFP tally after results were announced by the chairperson of the National Elections Board (NEBE), Melatwork Hailu. The results account for roughly 90 % of the contested seats.Elections were held in 501 of the 547 constituencies in the country, with roughly 40 mn people voting, NEBE said. A total of 54 mn voters were registered.The commission said that 143 polling stations did not open on election day due to security concerns, adding voting was interrupted in several locations in Amhara and Oromia, without providing further details.While more than 40 parties ran against the PP, most lacked financial backing and the PP was unopposed in 64 constituencies.The best-represented party, Ezema, fielded only 293 candidates compared to the PP's 461.Voters elect members of the House of Peoples' Representatives, who then choose the PM from among their members. That vote is expected sometime between end of September and October.Northern Tigray, still recovering from a devastating 2020-22 conflict that claimed 600,000 lives, did not vote. Growing tensions between local and federal authorities have raised fears of a renewed conflict.Both sides have deployed forces to the region's border, and accuse the other of planning a new offensive.Polls were also not open in eight constituencies in Amhara, the second most populous region, where Fano nationalist militias — clashing with federal forces for over three years — had threatened to disrupt the electoral process.ACLED, a conflict monitoring NGO, said that on polling day the Fano had "at least 90 clashes with security forces across the region".In Oromia, the most populous region, another rebel group — the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) — also disrupted polls, attacking Orthodox Christians in the Arsi district.At least 11 civilians — and possibly many more, according to witnesses who spoke with AFP — were killed in assaults over several days.ACLED reported eight armed clashes between the OLA and federal forces.The African Union said previously that the polls took place in a challenging security environment, particularly in parts of Oromia, Amhara and Tigray.Critics say Ethiopia has never held truly free and fair elections, with those in power during elections always winning by a wide margin.Since coming to power, Abiy has overseen fast growth thanks largely to a state-led construction boom and surging exports such as coffee.However, the World Bank says Ethiopia remains dependent on international aid, and that 43 % of the population lives in poverty. 

Peruvians head to the polls on April 12, ‌hoping to break a cycle of political turmoil that has prevented any president ​from completing a full term ‌over the past decade, amid corruption scandals, rising crime and voter frustration.About 27mn Peruvians are ⁠eligible to vote ‌for a new president and a newly ‌reinstated bicameral congress. Polling stations open at 0700 local time (1200 GMT) on Sunday and close at ⁠1700, when paper ballots measuring nearly half a meter (44 centimeters)-the longest in the country's history-will then be counted.In a busy Lima suburb, campaign posters for dozens of presidential hopefuls crowd roundabouts and lamp posts as a record 35 candidates vie for attention."I've seen the ballot and it honestly gave me a headache," said shopkeeper Marlene Jimenez. "I don't know who to vote for."Opinion polls suggest right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori holds a narrow lead ​ahead of Sunday's vote. She is closely followed by at least three contenders-including two former mayors of Lima, the ultra-conservative Rafael Lopez Aliaga and media entrepreneur Ricardo Belmont, and political outsider, Carlos Alvarez, a former ‌comedian.None of the candidates poll ⁠above 15%, making ​a runoff on June 7 almost certain, analysts said. The three candidates trailing Fujimori, ​daughter of late former president Alberto Fujimori, are also in a technical tie, said Urpi Torrado of polling firm Datum Internacional."There are four days to go (until Sunday), and the story can change," Torrado said.The high number of undecided voters means that the second tier of candidates "cannot be ignored", said Nicolas Watson at consultancy Teneo, even if they only garner 4.5-6% support.Surveys suggested about 13% of voters remained undecided.For many Peruvians, the fragmented contest reflects deeper institutional decline. The country has cycled through eight presidents since 2018, as leaders were either impeached, jailed or forced from ‌office.These elections could mark a ‌break from this cycle of instability, or "keep ⁠us trapped in it", said political analyst Fernando Tuesta.The fight against corruption is a prominent ⁠campaign theme. Four former presidents are ⁠currently in prison, most linked to bribery cases that involved Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Alberto Fujimori served 16 years in jail for human rights abuses and died in 2024 after being released on humanitarian grounds.Crime, however, now rivals-and in many cases surpasses- corruption as the top voter concern.Peru was not traditionally associated with organised crime, but homicide and extortion have surged, particularly hitting transport workers ​and small businesses, said professor Paula Munoz at Lima's Universidad del Pacifico.Official data shows extortion cases were up nearly 20% last year, and homicide rates reached new records.The rise has fuelled support for tougher, populist responses on the right, Munoz said, reflecting a broader Latin American trend in which crime is increasingly seen as an issue best handled by hardline leaders, like El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.Proposals by some candidates include deploying troops, reinstating the death penalty, withdrawing from international human rights courts, and allowing magistrates handling criminal cases to remain ‌anonymous that would reinstate ​the country's so-called "faceless judges," which Peru has not had since 1997. 

Under the shadow of civil war ‌and questions over the poll's credibility, the initial round of Myanmar's phased general election closed Sunday, with signs of low ‌voter turnout for the first polls since a ‍military coup in 2021.The junta, having crushed pro-democracy protests after the coup and sparked a nationwide rebellion, said the vote would bring political stability to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation, despite ⁠international condemnation of the exercise.The United Nations, some Western countries ⁠and human rights groups have said the vote is not free, fair or credible, given that anti-junta political parties are out of the ‍running and it is illegal to criticise the polls.**media[398690]**Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, deposed by the military months after her National League for Democracy won a general election landslide in 2020, remains in detention and the party she led to power has been dissolved.The military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by retired generals and fielding one-fifth of all candidates against severely diminished competition, is set to return to power, said Lalita Hanwong, a lecturer and Myanmar expert at Thailand's Kasetsart University."The junta's election is designed to prolong the military's power of slavery over people," she said. "And USDP and other allied parties with the military will join forces ‌to form the next government."**media[398693]**In the lacklustre canvassing ahead of the polls, the USDP was the most visible. Founded in 2010, the year it won an election boycotted by the opposition, the party ran the country in concert with its military backers until 2015, when it was swept away by Suu Kyi's NLD.Voter turnout in Sunday's polls appeared ⁠much lower than in the 2020 ‌election, 10 residents of cities spread across Myanmar said.Further rounds of voting will be held on January 11 and January 25, covering 265 of Myanmar's 330 townships, although the junta does not have complete control of all those areas.Armed groups formed in the wake of the coup and long-established ethnic armies are fighting the military across swathes of the country, displacing some 3.6mn people and creating one of Asia's worst humanitarian crises.**media[398691]**A date for the final election result has not been declared.Dressed in civilian clothes, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing voted in the heavily guarded capital city of Naypyitaw, then held up an ink-soaked little finger, smiling widely, footage on state media MRTV showed. Voters must dip a finger into indelible ink after casting a ballot to ensure they do not vote more than once.Asked by reporters if he would like to become the country's president, an office that analysts say he has ambitions for, the general said he was not the leader of any political party."When the parliament convenes, there is a process for electing ​the president," he said.The junta's attempt to establish a stable administration in the midst of war is fraught with risk, and broad foreign recognition is unlikely for any military-controlled government with a civilian veneer, according to ⁠analysts.Tom Andrews, the UN special envoy for human rights ‍in Myanmar, said Sunday the election was not a pathway out of the country's crisis and must be strongly rejected.Zaw Min Tun, a junta spokesperson, acknowledged international criticism of the vote."However, from this election, there will be political stability," he told reporters after voting in Naypyitaw. "We believe there will be a better future."Nevertheless, Myanmar's voters did not come out in numbers close to the previous election conducted under Covid-19 restrictions, including in the commercial capital of Yangon and the central city of Mandalay, residents said.The junta's legal framework for the election has no minimum voter turnout requirement, said the ​Asian Network for Free Elections poll monitoring group.Turnout was about 70% in Myanmar's 2020 and 2015 general elections, according to the US-based nonprofit International Foundation for Electoral Systems.There has been none of the energy and excitement of previous election campaigns, although several residents in Myanmar's largest cities who spoke to Reuters did not report any coercion by the military administration to push people to vote.A handful of polling booths in Yangon, some of them near areas housing military families, had dozens of voters queued up around midday, but others were largely empty, according to two residents of the sprawling metropolis."It isn't as loud and enthusiastic as it was back in 2020," said a Mandalay resident, asking not to be named because of security concerns.The streets of Hakha, capital of the northern state of Chin, where fighting rages on, were empty after a local ⁠rebel group told residents to boycott the vote, two residents said."People from my quarter, none of us went to vote," said one of them, a 63-year-old man. "We are not interested in the election." 

Ecuadorans went to the polls Sunday to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and on starting a constitutional overhaul that could give Trump-friendly President Daniel Noboa more power.Nearly 14mn Ecuadorans are eligible to cast ballots on four questions that will decide how the country tackles rampant drug violence and addresses economic reforms.The South American nation banned foreign military bases on its soil in 2008.But with a "Yes" vote Sunday, which pre-election polling showed as likely, the US military could potentially return to the Manta airbase on the Pacific coast — once a hub for Washington's anti-drug operations."It is the only way to toughen the laws a bit and put an end to the insecurity our country is experiencing," Teresa Jacome, 60, told AFP in the crime-ridden largest city of Guayaquil.Other questions posed to voters concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers, and creating an elected body that would draft a new constitution.Polls will close at 5pm.The vote is taking place amid unprecedented violence sparked by turf wars and side hustles of drug trafficking gangs, a scourge which Noboa has vowed to tackle with a firm hand.It also comes as the US military conducts a series of airstrikes against alleged drug smuggling boats, a divisive policy from President Donald Trump that Noboa has backed.In office since November 2023, Noboa has deployed soldiers on the streets and in prisons, launched dramatic raids on drug strongholds, and declared frequent states of emergency — criticized by human rights groups.The 37-year-old millionaire has also posted images of hundreds of inmates, their head shaves, in orange uniforms being moved to a new mega-prison, echoing moves by El Salvador's Nayib Bukele.Still, in the first half of this year, there were 4,619 murders — the "highest in recent history," according to Ecuador's Organised Crime Observatory.Just as voting began, Noboa announced that the leader of the country's most notorious gang, Los Lobos, had been captured.The most-wanted drug kingpin known as "Pipo" had "faked his death, changed his identity and hid in Europe," Noboa said on X.Interior Minister John Reimberg later said "Pipo" had been detained in Spain in a joint operation between Ecuadoran and Spanish police.Once much safer, Ecuador now has one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America, and many would like to give Noboa freer rein.The prospect of aiding Trump's deadly air campaign against alleged drug trafficking boats will be on some voters' minds.Many Latin American governments are opposed, but Ecuador has become one of Washington's top champions in the region.Noboa has asked for Trump's help in tackling cartels and floated the idea of US bases returning to Ecuadoran soil.Regarding the other questions on the ballot, Noboa says the current constitution, at 400-plus articles, is too long and has "many errors."But he has been coy about what parts of the constitution he would like to change, leading to allegations he wants to consolidate power and curb rights.The body to draft a new constitution would likely be dominated by Noboa's allies, given his approval rating of around 56%.Noboa, the Porsche-driving son of a banana tycoon, also aims to reshape the state and economic model to give more space to the private sector.