Ethiopian ruling party says winning landslide victory in Sunday's poll

The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) announced Monday evening it won a landslide victory in Sunday's federal and regional parliamentary elections in four states.

The victory in South Ethiopia People's, Oromia, Amhara and Tigray states would enable the ruling party to form a federal government and regional governments in the four states, according to a statement released by the EPRDF.

The statement said that it had won the majority seats in both federal and regional councils in the four states.

The ruling party said it did not won the seats in the federal parliament and regional councils in the capital Addis Ababa.

Analysts say Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's EPRDF will still command the greater number of representatives in the House of People's Representatives, the lower house of the country's bicameral parliament.

They say that with 85 percent of Ethiopia's population living in rural communities, it is in the countryside where the election results will be decided. The ruling party has long kept its influence in those communities.

However, they say opposition parties will be better represented in the House than before.