BBC News Published image captionAbiy Ahmed has formed a new party for the election Ethiopia is due to hold elections on 21 June despite a bloody conflict and looming famine in the north and escalating tensions among its biggest ethnic groups. The polls were originally scheduled for August 2020 but were delayed, with officials citing the Covid-19 pandemic. Voters will elect 547 members of the federal parliament and the leader of the winning party becomes prime minister. The last general election was held in 2015. Why is the election such a big deal? This is the first electoral test for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since he took office on a pledge to end repression, although there are already concerns about the integrity of the poll.