Organization
The EPRDF is an alliance of four parties: the OPDO, which is based in the Oromia Region; the ANDM based in the Amhara Region; the SEPDF based in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region; and the TPLF based in the Tigray Region. A total of about 4 million people are together members of the allied parties. The EPRDF is led by a central committee as well as a Politbureau, whose members are selected every three years by a congress of the party. The four member parties have the same organizational structure. Government and party structures are closely intertwined with each other. This interweaving reaches down to the local level, as described in its 10 March 2010 report, Human Rights Watch:
- Today, kebele officials wield a massive amount of power over their constituents in a myriad ways, in a system where the line between state and ruling party is firmly entrenched. Kebele officials determine eligibility for food assistance, recommend referrals to secondary health care and schools, and provide access to state-distributed resources like seeds, fertilizers, and other essential agricultural inputs. Minor claims and disputes at the kebele level are adjudicated by social courts based in these Kebeles. Local prisons; and, in some places, local-level militia are used to execute the laws and political decisions of the ruling party.
The other five regions of Ethiopia are governed by parties which were either created or heavily influenced by the EPRDF. One of the earliest was the Afar People's Democratic Organization in the Afar Region, which subsequently merged with other Afar political groups to create the Afar National Democratic Party. In the Somali Region, the Somali People's Democratic Party was founded in 1998 after relations with the Ogaden National Liberation Front soured. In the Harari Region is the Hareri National League, while in Gambela is the Gambela People's Democratic Movement and in Benishangul-Gumuz Region is the Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front.
Read more about this topic: Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front
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