The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) said Tuesday it has decreed that no political party or independent candidates shall campaign at market places as market places are business areas.

At its regular meeting, the board said it has passed the decision as it found election campaigns at market places detrimental to public peace and stability, adding that election campaigns should be conducted 200 meters away from market places.

The board said it was forced to restrict election campaigns at market places in all regional states based on incidents observed recently as well as on previous experiences.

The government will execute the board's decision to discharge its responsibility of maintaining the peace and stability of the public, the board said.

More than 25 million of Ethiopia's 71 million people have registered to vote. Some 35 political parties will vie for seats in the 547-seat Council of People's Representatives.

Voters will also elect representatives in nine regional state parliaments that appoint members of the 108-seat Council of the Federation, the upper house.

The election, the third since the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power in 1991, will be the first in Ethiopia to be held under international scrutiny although there have been complaints that local observers have been unfairly denied access.

All the elections have been convincingly won by the ruling EPRDF. The ruling party and affiliated parties hold 519 of 548 seats in the federal parliament.