At stake in this election:

• 548 seats in the House of People's Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President GIRMA Woldegiorgis *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister MELES Zenawi
• Assembly: Ethiopia has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the House of Federation with 108 seats and the House of People's Representatives with 548 seats.

* The President is elected by indirect vote by the House of People's Representatives to serve a 6-year term which is renewable once.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by indirect vote to serve a 6-year term.
• In the House of Federation 108 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 5-year terms*. In the House of People's Representatives 548 members are elected by direct vote to serve 5-year terms.

* Members are elected by indirect vote by state assemblies.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)*
  • Leader: MELES Zenwani
  • Seats won in last House of People's Representatives election: 327
• Party: Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD)**
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of People's Representatives election: 0
• Party: United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of People's Representatives election: 12
• Party: Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of People's Representatives election: N/A
• Party: Somali People's Democratic Party
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of People's Representatives election: 19
• Party: Gurage Nationalities' Democratic Movement (GNDM)
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of People's Representatives election: 15

* Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is composed of the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Front.
** Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) is composed of the All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP), the Ethiopian Democratic Union Party-Medhin (EDUP-Medhin), the Rainbow Party, and the Ethiopian Democratic League (EDL).

Last Parliamentary election:

• The last parliamentary election was held on May 14, 2000.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 76,608,431 (July 2005 est.)
• Registered Voters: 25,605,851 (May 2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 38,391,863 (2005)

·         Is Ethiopia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (8 July 1980)

·         Has Ethiopia ratified CEDAW: Yes (10 September 1981)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes 

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 116 (following the 2005 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 174 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Ethiopia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Ethiopia ratified CRPD: Yes (7 July 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 11,491,264 (est.)