Academic literature on the topic 'TPLF/EPRDF'

Abstract The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has led Ethiopia for close to three decades as a core party within the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition. Various ideological claims permeated the consolidation of power by the TPLF, which now seems to be questioned by the new leadership in the EPRDF. This article locates the critical junctures in the history of the party and analyses how those junctures relate to power concentration rather than to ideological shifts as purported by the party. It argues that the circumstances surrounding the ‘shifts’ in ideologies by the TPLF show that ideologies were used to consolidate power within the party and later impose domination at the state level. A thorough investigation of the ideological history of the TPLF is crucial as Ethiopia seems to be standing at a critical ideological crossroad. Through a deep hermeneutic interpretation, the article concludes that leftist ideological threads such as a focus on vanguard rule, party-directed economy, and Stalinist understandings of ethnicity run throughout the ideological shifts of the TPLF. The article synthesizes the cosmetic ideological shifts in the context of a pragmatic party that has been applying market socialism.

Ethiopia People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRD) is a political party in charge of government power since 1991. EPRDF is established in 1989 out of Rebel group to party transformation with the view to oust the military government called Derg. It is a coalition of four parties political organization i.e. Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF)- which is an architect of EPRDF, Amhara National Democratic Movements (ANDM) in 1980, Oromo People Liberation Organization (OPDO ) and Southern Ethiopian People Democratic Movement ( SEPDM) However, in spite of the nominally coalition structure of the EPRDF, from the beginning the TPLF provided the leadership and ideological direction to other members of the coalition. To maintain the dominant position within the coalition the TPLF has transferred its rebel time internal governance network that focuses on traditional Marxist Leninist organizational lines, with an emphasis on “democratic centralism”; and a tradition of hierarchically organizational structure to the newly established political organization i.e. EPRDF. Consequently, the EPRDF intraparty network and governance system is dominated by the use of ML (Marxist-Leninist) authoritarian methods and hegemonic control, rigid hierarchical leadership; Democratic centralism, the dominance of the party apparatus behind the façade of regional and local autonomy, an extensive patron-client mechanisms; the use of force to silence opposition within and outside the party; intertwined State institutions and the party system and excessive reliance on party entity instead of state administration units; and gim gema (self-evaluation) are worth mentioning. These intraparty network and governance system have severely limited genuine democratization within the party as well as hampered the democratization process in the country. The party is facing increasing pressure and challenge from within the party and the public at large demanding equal status and fair political economic representation. In effect, EPRDF is in deep crisis shattered by internal divisions, crises as well as external public pressure forcing the party to entertain democratic principles and culture. Hence, it is recommended that the organizational structure and the values and principles governing the organization should be revisited within the framework of democracy which allows adaptability and flexibility given the various change agents in the socio-cultural, economic, political environment.

The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), and by extension the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the multi-ethnic coalition that it established and still dominates, is frequently considered to be a creation of, and beholden to, the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF). From this perspective the foreign loyalties of the TPLF made it an unsuitable, if not illegitimate, movement to lead the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) in 1991, and since 1995, the newly created Federal Democratic Republic. By way of contrast, this article attempts to demonstrate that the developing relationship between the TPLF and the EPLF during the course of their respective revolutionary struggles has been far more problematic and beset with tensions than critics are either aware of, or acknowledge, and that an understanding of their nature casts light on present and possible future differences between the respective regimes of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Ethiopia has been under the rule of EPRDF coalitions, a vanguard party ruling the country since the collapse of Derg regime. This article is therefore, intended to explore the political dynamics associated with the rift of EPRDF coalitions since the outbreaks of Qerro’s protest. To meet the study purposes, qualitative research design was employed to collect the data. The study reveals that the broke out of Qerro’s protest against integrated master plan of Addis Ababa and tyrannical rule of EPRDF used to be the key dawn towards the step down of titular OPDO officials and empowerment of reformist ODP officials in place that eventually split ruling coalitions in to conservative and reformist. Broad spectrum of political dynamics like: declaration of state of emergency, massive displacement of Oromo people from Ethio-Somali region, wider public protests accompanied by sectorial boycotts, political unrest, apprehension of contrabandist, resignation of late prime minister, Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn and nomination of Dr. Abiy Ahmed in place and others were ensued from the rift of ruling coalitions. The study implicate that polarized political interests amidst the ruling parties (TPLF and PP) could be extended to the oppositions and wider people that may escalate ethnic tensions and thereby ensue in the state fragility.

Ethiopia, evolved from Tigray, is known by its history of having been an empire (e.g., the Axumite kingdom) and having been independent. The fundamental weakness of the Ethiopian state has been the lack of inclusive national consensus, hampered by national oppression and the dilemma of democratizing a feudal state. The post-1991 TPLF-EPRDF-led Ethiopia has been experimenting with federalist nation-building to address Ethiopia’s historical contradictions: national and class oppression. The 1995 FDRE Constitution established a federal system and subsequently recognized the right of nations to self-determination including secession, self-administration, and local development. The constitution also declared that the Ethiopian nations were the “sovereign owners” of the constitution. However, the coming of Abiy Ahmed to power and his policy reforms based on ‘neo-pan-Ethiopianism’ opened the box of Pandora of secessionist, irredentist, and federalist forces opposing his plan to recentralize the ethnic federation, as it happened similarly in the case of former Yugoslavia. PM Abiy’s reforms have been branded as those of the ‘Mikael Gorbachev of Ethiopia’ for his sweeping campaign against the 27 years of federalist control. The article investigates the nation-building aspirations, transition fatigue, the predicaments of secessionist, federalist, and assimilationist narratives, and the subsequent fear of ‘state collapse’ in the post-2018 crisis in Ethiopia.

Federations are institutional and structural arrangements with the tenets of shared rule and self-rule. These federations may be formed through coming together, holding together or putting together processes. Both holding together and coming together federations are established through democratic bargain while putting together federation is imposed coercively by the winners. Hence, this article aims to situate Ethiopia in to one of these three variants through critical [re]examination of the transitional activities. The data were collected through interviews and document analysis. A qualitative analysis was employed to analyze the data. Accordingly, the paper argues that Ethiopia is a putting together federation because of the major flaws committed during the transition. Particularly, the absence of an organization that could represent Amhara during the Peace Conference, exclusion of the major political organizations from the conference and the aftermath processes as well as the inhuman and extrajudicial treatments against those who were explaining their discontent in the restructuring processes are some of the justification to level Ethiopia’s federation as putting together. Moreover, the electoral frauds that forced the major political parties to boycott the elections (the 1992 and 1994 elections) and the manipulation of the drafting and ratification processes of the constitution by TPLF/EPRDF can justify this position. Hence, it is recommended to restructure the federation through democratic bargaining for the putting nature of the federation is facing a legitimacy crisis due to the different questions rooted in the formation processes.

In 1991, when Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) became a leading party within the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia introduced a system of ethnic-based federalism, which had never been practiced in the political history of the state before. The recognition of Ethiopian ethnic diversity became one of the country’s fundamental principles, with the federal system largely consisting of ethnic-based territorial units. Since its inception, Ethiopia's ethnic federalism has been the subject of heated debate among various political organizations in the country, as well as among observers and scholars both in and outside the country. The key objective of this paper is to appraise the pitfalls of ethnic-based federalism in Ethiopia, which has been functioning in the country for more than two and half decades. The authors believe ethnic-based federalism to be a political arrangement that succeeds to maintain balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces. They see it as an appropriate and viable strategy for a sustainable nation-building effort in the context of Ethiopia’s ethnic diversity. At the same time, the authors observe that in the case with ethnicity-based political arrangements, unless they are implemented with maximum care, the risk outweighs the benefit. When a state like Ethiopia, which had been highly centralized for many years, is trying to experiment with a seemingly federal arrangement, the equilibrium of diversity and unity should be maintained. If the political environment focuses primarily on diversity and ignores shared values and common identity, it leaves room for the elites to manipulate the differences and pursue their own parochial political interests, which would eventually serve against the public benefit. The pioneers of Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism believe that the contemporary ethnolinguistic-based federal arrangement is a panacea for problems related to identity politics. However, the authors argue that, from a practical perspective, for the past two and half decades (probably in the future too, unless re-designed) ethnic federalism in Ethiopia has been highly politicized (manipulated by political dealers promoting their own selfish interests).

The article for the first time in Ethiopian Studies analysis the new phenomena in Ethiopia’s politics – the role of the Oromo youth – Qeerroo – in the protests actions 2015 –2018. The word “Qeerroo” in Afaan Oromo means “Youth” (unmarried youth). But now it has new more broad connotation: it means “antigovernment protest actions”. The qeerroo protest movement started in Ambo city (State Oromia) in November 2015 as a protest against so called Master Plan which aimed to allocate enormous plot of land to Addis Ababa municipality (the capital of Ethiopia is in Oromia). But movement was transformed at the Irreecha festival on October 2, 2016 into a sustained demand for an end to the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)’ rule, especially the domination of the Tigray. The slogan:”Down, Down with the Wayyanne/TPLF”, heard at the festival, reverberated through Oromia and other regions of Ethiopia. Government’s reaction – use of military made the situation more complex. There is a few information about the organization of qeerroo – Qeerroo Bilissuma, its structure and leaders. Oromo youth organized different kinds of actions: prevent to supply fuel to cities, “stay-home” riots when all Oromo business in cities and towns was closed, etc. It is the activity of qeerroo made the then Pime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn unexpectedly retire on the 15th of February 2018.

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) is a reform rebellion that came to power in 1991 and continues to rule with varying level of success in accordance to its promises. This dissertation attempts to provide a full account of the evolution of the EPRDF government and challenges to its promised state building project, and seeks to explore the extent to which its early guiding philosophy and leadership evolved and shaped its transition to and performance as a government. Understanding current gaps and limitations of the EPRDF in government and the key drivers for those is not possible without a comprehensive understanding of the genesis of the organization, its model of leadership and its institutional values. Unfortunately, very few and incomplete accounts of the liberation war are now available in writing as a result of the difficulties of the war environment. Accounts of the critical moments and decisions that shaped the internal institutional values and norms of the organization are mostly available in the memories of individual leaders who by now are at their retirement age and some are already passing away without writing their memoirs. In researching and writing this dissertation, I brought a special perspective to bear as an author: I was a veteran of the armed struggle, a member of its leadership team during the revolutionary war, and played a role during the transitional government and its critical initial years in government. My role in the struggle is the strength and the limitation of this study. The findings of the study show that it some of the critical success factors in the civil war have much to do with the EPRDF early organization and leadership philosophy that guided the movement through the different phases of its organizational growth, leading to maturity and eventual development into the governing political party. Understanding its wartime values and strategies helps understand not only the drivers for its successes in government but also its limitations. The research examines the critical factors for the success of the rebellion in comparison to various contending rebellions that failed. It also chronicles the evolution of the EPRDF into a party that leads a government, its achievements and limitations. It also illustrates how the behavior of the organization and its model of leadership evolved in government. The evolution of the leadership is chronicled along the different phases of in war and in government. Analyzing the economic and political model of the organization is not the focus of the research and will only be covered as much as it helped understand the leadership model, which the researcher considered to be at the center of its successes and limitations. The research places the EPRDF rebellion and government in a comparative theoretical context of African rebellions, civil wars, and transitions to democracy. It argues that the EPRDF represents an important and under-recognized case that demands a revision to the dominant paradigms on African liberation movements and their transition into government. The EPRDF case shows the limitation of the taxonomy of reform rebellions as it overlooks critical variations that shaped its internal behavior. The impact of its particular organizing philosophy of restructuring the Ethiopian state and its leadership culture of theorizing in particular played an important role in shaping its internal behavior. The study also highlights the limitation of the literature in understanding the ‘stateness’ of violent non-state actors and its impacts in their transition to a ruling party. The ERPDF’s high level of ‘stateness’ has contributed significantly to its transition from leading a war into leading a government.<br>Graduate<br>2019-06-21