ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The House of People's Representatives, Ethiopia's lower house of parliament, on Monday opened for the first time since the May 15 parliamentary electionsand re-elected Meles Zenawi as prime minister for a third five-year term.

    Amid a boycott by many opposition lawmakers, Meles was re-elected by a show of hands as prime minister. Shortly, he took an oath of office during an inauguration ceremony.

    According to parliamentary officials, only eight of the 109 elected members of parliament from the main opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) were present at the first session. Most members of the other main opposition group, the United Ethiopian Democratic Force (UEDF), attended the session but voted against Meles's re-election.

    The final election results indicate that Meles-led Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Party (EPRDF), which has ruled the country for the past 14 years, has won 327 seats of the 547-seat lower House of People's Representatives, enough to form the federal government.

    CUD and UEDF were in second and third places with 109 and 52 seats respectively. They held only 12 seats before.

    The two opposition parties accuse the ruling party of massive electoral fraud and threatened an all-out boycott of parliament unless their concerns were addressed.

    Meles is to name his new cabinet on Tuesday, officials said.

    Before re-electing Meles, lawmakers elected Teshome Toga, youth,sports and culture minister, as speaker of the House of People's Representatives. He will replace Dawit Yohannes, who holds the post for 10 years.

    Ethiopians went to poll on May 15 in the country's two separateelections to elect representatives to the House of People's Representatives and regional councils.

    Ethiopia has a two-house parliament -- the 110-seat upper Houseof the Federation and the 547-seat lower House of People's Representatives. Enditem