Ruling party claims election victory

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia's ruling party on Tuesday declared victory in the country's national elections, saying it had already taken more than 300 of the 547 seats in parliament.

Bereket Simon, information minister and spokesman for the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), made the declaration after the initial tally of early polling results.

"We have the majority," he told reporters. "We can't give exact figures, but we have won more than 300 seats. This is a very positive result for us."

More than 90 percent of the 25.6 million voters turned out in what was seen as a critical test of the Ethiopian government's commitment to democracy, according to officials