Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairman | Abiy Ahmed |
| Deputy Chairman | Demeke Mekonnen |
| Founded | Early 1989 |
| Dissolved | 1 December 2019 (2019-12-1) |
| Succeeded by | Prosperity Party |
| Headquarters | Addis Ababa |
| Newspaper | New Vision |
| Youth wing | EPRDF Youth League |
| Women's wing | EPRDF Women's League |
| Membership(2011) | 6,000,000[citation needed] |
| Ideology | After 1991: Revolutionary democracy Ethnic federalism Poly-ethnic nationalism[1] Until 1991: Marxism–Leninism Hoxhaism[2][3] |
| Political position | After 1991: Centre-left toleft-wing Until 1991: Far-left |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | |
| eprdf | |
| Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leaders | |
| Dates of operation | 1989–2019 |
| Headquarters | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Ideology | Ethnic federalism |
| Status | Dissolved. Its ideology still permeates Ethiopian politics. |
| Allies | |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Oromo conflict,Ethiopian Civil War,Eritrean–Ethiopian War |
TheEthiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF;Amharic:የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር,romanized: Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was anethnic federalist[4]political coalition inEthiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties:Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF),Amhara Democratic Party (ADP),Oromo Democratic Party (ODP) andSouthern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM).[4] After leading the overthrow of thePeople's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, itdominated Ethiopian politics from 1991 to 2019. In November 2019, the EPRDF was dissolved, and Prime Minister and EPDRF chairmanAbiy Ahmed merged three of the constituent parties (not including the TPLF) into his newProsperity Party,[5] which was officially founded on 1 December 2019.
During theEthiopian Civil War, the EPRDF was a rebel group battling theDerg, a military regime led byMengistu Haile Mariam that was effectively in power from 1974 until it was replaced by thePeople's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1987. During this period, the Derg was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of opponents without trial in theQey Shibir and the1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia resulting in 400,000 deaths.[6]
The EPRDF was formed by the union of the TPLF and theEthiopian People's Democratic Movement (EPDM) in early-1989. They were later joined by theOPDO (the Oromo members of the TPLF, EPLF, and EPDM) and the Ethiopian Democratic Officers' Revolutionary Movement (a small body of Derg officers captured by TPLF, most notably atShire in February 1989, which was later disbanded after the establishment of theTransitional Government of Ethiopia).[4]
Following thecollapse of thePeople's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in the early 1990s, the EPRDF gained support from theUnited States. Michael Johns, an Africa expert withThe Heritage Foundation, wrote in 1991 that "there are some modestly encouraging signs that the front intends to abandon Mengistu's autocratic practices".[7]
The EPRDF was an alliance of four political parties:
The EPRDF was led by a Council as well as an executive committee, whose members were selected every three years by a congress of the party. The four member parties had the same organizational structure. Government and party structures were closely intertwined.[8]
The other fiveregions of Ethiopia were governed by parties which were either created or heavily influenced by the EPRDF.[9] One of the earliest was the Afar People's Democratic Organization in theAfar Region, which subsequently merged with otherAfar political groups to create theAfar National Democratic Party (ANDP).[10] These were the five regional parties:[11]
Revolutionary democracy replacedMarxism–Leninism as the EPRDF's official ideology in the early 1990s, not because the front had lost their belief inMarxism, but rather because of the international situation (theSoviet Union wasdissolved in 1991).[12] The main message of Revolutionary Democracy, similar to that found in Marxist–Leninist thought, is that avanguard party should rule because it represents the people and has "supposedly superior knowledge of the nature of social development conferred on them by the EPRDF ideology."[13] Similar to Marxism–Leninism, the EPRDF prefers to categorize society into classes such as thepeasantry, thebourgeoisie, theproletariat and thecomprador bourgeoisie and considers its main adversary to beimperialism, that isfree marketcapitalist states.[13]
The peasantry are considered the main class in Ethiopia, since they form a majority of the population, and they are considered the pillar of Revolutionary Democracy.[14] Upon seizing power, the front was suspicious of thepetite bourgeoisie class, believing that they were naturally inclined to oppose the front's policies.[15] Despite this, the front believed it could win over the petite bourgeoisie through economic incentives and successful policy.[15] Importantly, if members of the petite bourgeoisie class oppose the EPRDF, the front will "empty their 'belly and pocket'".[16] Theurban proletariat are in contrast naturally inclined towards the EPRDF, and the EPRDF seeks to recruit members of these class so as to strengthen the front's organizational links with thetrade unions.[16] The EPRDF asserts that the "local investor", that is, the capitalist, will naturally be hostile towards the front and its policies, and the front should therefore try to persuade this class to become neutral.[16] Religious organizations are deemedreactionary by the EPRDF.[17]
Some people state that the EPRDF has not espoused a well-defined unified ideology or political philosophy. Its members held a variety of positions that could be broadly defined as being to the left of the opposition parties.[4] The EPRDF traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals, namely rapid export-based economic growth;close cooperation with theUnited States in foreign and defense policies;close cooperation withChina on economic and trade policies: and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. Administrative reform encompassed several themes, namely simplification and streamlining ofgovernment bureaucracy;privatization ofstate-owned enterprises; and adoption of measures, includingtax reform, in preparation for the expected strain on theeconomy posed by arapidly growing population.[18] Other priorities in the early 1990s included the promotion of a more active and positive role for Ethiopia following thecollapse of thePeople's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, theinternationalization of Ethiopia's economy by theliberalization and promotion of domestic demand (expected to lead to theindustrialization) and the promotion ofeducation.[18] A business-inspired commitment tofree enterprise was tempered by the insistence ofprotectionism andtariffs.
The EPRDF opposesliberal democracy, andliberalism in general.[19] Despite this, Revolutionary Democracy can be considered a mixture of communist and liberal thought.[19] The front views liberal democracy and free market capitalism as decadent, and has a "romantic attachment" to the beliefs ofVladimir Lenin, who condemned liberal democracy as thedictatorship of the bourgeoisie (literally the dictatorship of the upper class) while supporting Lenin's assertion of the need for a vanguard party which practicesdemocratic centralism.[19] It considers liberal democracy to be "ill-fit and unsustainable", but ironically much of the front's economic policies are based on the tacit acknowledgement of the need of some liberalism in the economic field.[19]
With the majority of EPRDF's top leaders being former members of theMarxist–Leninist League of Tigray, aHoxhaist organization led by among othersMeles Zenawi,Marxist ideology still plays a prominent role in party discourse, with some even claiming that the front is hiding their ideology.[20] Theodore M. Vestal claims that the front based its ideology on Marxist–Leninistrevisionism, believing it explains the regime's authoritarian nature.[21] Of the communists traits in Revolutionary Democracy, most of them have been borrowed fromMao Zedong Thought, an ideology conceived by Chinese leaderMao Zedong.[19]
| Election | Leader | No. of candidates | No. of seats won | No. of Constituency votes | % of Constituency vote | Government/Opposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Meles Zenawi | 1,881 | 471 / 500 | 16,429,727 | 82.9% | Government |
| 2000 | Meles Zenawi | 472 / 527 | Government | |||
| 2005 | Meles Zenawi | 327 / 527 | 12,237,655 | 59.8% | Government | |
| 2010 | Meles Zenawi | 1,349 | 499 / 547 | Government | ||
| 2015 | Hailemariam Desalign | 1,851 | 500 / 547 | 26,403,177 | Government |
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