Workers' Party of Ethiopia

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Workers' Party of Ethiopia
የኢትዮጵያ ሠራተኞች ፓርቲ
Party flag

The Workers' Party of Ethiopia (

vanguard party for a planned future socialist state. In 1987, the WPE became the ruling party after the establishment of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and the only legal political party until it was disbanded in 1991. A party was attempted to be formed with the same name in August 2022, but the application was rejected.[2]

COPWE

In 1974, the

vanguard party, and styled themselves as a provisional government under the name Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia. Mengistu Haile Mariam
became Chairman of the Derg in 1977 and argued against such a party, stating that the revolution had succeeded without one and that there was no need. However, by the late 1970s, the Derg faced increasing armed opposition to their rule, and it became apparent that a civilian party would be required to gain any measure of control over the population.

In December 1979, Mengistu formed the

ideologues
. Regional branches of the Secretariat coordinated by army officers helped complement the COPWE's central leadership. The organisation became more powerful in 1981 with the creation of separate offices for administrator and COPWE representatives in each region. By 1983, there were about 50,000 COPWE members and approximately 6,500 party cells.

Mengistu's earlier calls for ideological purity and "committed communists" soon became a simple façade for the Derg's efforts to eliminate its political opponents regardless of actual beliefs. Loyalty to the Derg was preferred over dedication to

Marxism-Leninism or certain ideological ideals in considerations for party membership. By this time, the military and police
had also become the majority in the membership of the Central Committee, with 79 of its 123 members being soldiers, twenty of whom were also Derg members.

Formation

A Workers' Party of Ethiopia monument extolling the virtues of communism.

The Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE) was finally established on 12 September 1984, to mark the tenth anniversary of the revolution in which the Derg came to power, replacing the COPWE which was dissolved. Mengistu became the party leader under the title

Amhara
. However, at regional and local levels, ethnicity and military service became less relevant, with large numbers of civilians and members of various ethnicities in positions of power.

The adoption of the 1987 Constitution of Ethiopia established the WPE as the official ruling party of Ethiopia, dissolving the Derg and renamed the country the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The WPE's position as "formulator of the country's development process and the leading force of the state and in society" was enshrined into law by the 1987 constitution, and as in most communist countries, the constitution gave the party more political power than the government itself, with local party leaders given almost free rein provided their policies did not conflict with the party's Central Committee.

Demise

By the time the WPE came to power in the late-1980s, Ethiopia had been ravaged by

world's communist movement was declining. By the turn of the 1990s, the WPE's power began to unravel amidst the end of Soviet support in 1990, a concurrent move towards multi-party politics across Africa, and increasing armed insurrection during the Ethiopian Civil War. Mengistu then fled the country, fleeing one week before rebels defeated the government and took power in Ethiopia in 1991. The WPE was dissolved in May 1991, by the new Transitional Government of Ethiopia
, and most of its leaders were imprisoned for alleged crimes they had committed in their positions during the party's rule.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ethiopia - Socialist Ethiopia (1974–91) | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ^ Monitor, Ethiopian (23 August 2022). "NEBE Rejects Party Registration Request under 'Ethiopian Workers Party'". Ethiopian Monitor. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  3. ^ Action Programme of the Common Front of Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations. Voice of Unity. 1977.