Official results from Ethiopia's parliamentary elections will be delayed by a month and are now expected on July 8, the country's state-run news agency said on Friday. The national electoral board attributed the delay to investigations it was making into alleged voting irregularities, Reuters quoted the Ethiopian News Agency as saying. Tensions have risen in Africa's top coffee-grower after the May 15 polls, which opposition leaders accuse the ruling party of rigging to stay in power, Reuters said. Diplomats had praised the polls as the most democratic in Ethiopia's 3,000 year history, but the European Union says the process has been marred by media manipulation by the ruling party and irregular vote counting. The EU, which fielded 150 observers across the Horn of Africa country of 72 million people, also criticised the ruling and opposition parties for claiming victories prematurely. The positive atmosphere surrounding Ethiopia's second real multi-party elections has steadily faded amid a war of words between the ruling party and the opposition, both quick to claim major gains, Reuters said. Provisional results show that the EPRDF and its allies, who have held on to power for 14 years, have won enough seats to form the next government, but with a sharply reduced majority, according to Reuters. -- SP 2241 Local Time 1941 GMT
