People's Front for Democracy and Justice

People's Front for Democracy and Justice
ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንደሞክራስን ፍትሕን
الجبهة الشعبية للديمقراطية والعدالة
Fronte Popolare per la Democrazia e la Giustizia
Abbreviation PFDJ
Chairperson Isaias Afewerki
Secretary Al-Amin Mohammed Seid
Spokesperson Yemane Gebreab
Founded 1994 (1994)
Preceded by Eritrean People's Liberation Front
Headquarters Asmara, Zoba Maekel, Eritrea
Newspaper Shabait
Youth wing Young People's Front for Democracy and Justice
Ideology Eritrean nationalism[1]
Big tent[1]
Secularism[2]
Left-wing nationalism[1]
Totalitarianism[3][4][5][6]
Marxism-Leninism (formerly)
Seats in the National Assembly
75 / 150
Eritrea
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Eritrea
Constitution (not enforced)
Elections

The People's Front for Democracy and Justice (Tigrinya: ህዝባዊ ግንባር ንደሞክራስን ፍትሕን, Həzbawi Gənbar nəDämokrasən Fətəḥən, abbreviated ህግደፍ, Arabic: الجبهة الشعبية للديمقراطية والعدالة‎ al-Jabhatu l-Shaʻabiyatu lil-Dīmuqrāṭiyati wāl-ʻIdālah, Italian: Fronte Popolare per la Democrazia e la Giustizia; abbreviated PFDJ) is the founding and ruling political party of the State of Eritrea. The successor to the formerly left-wing nationalist and Marxist–Leninist Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), the PFDJ holds itself open to nationalists of any political affiliation.[7]

Creation

The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), later (from 1994) People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, formed from the secessionist movement that successfully fought for the creation of an independent Eritrean nation out of the northernmost province of Ethiopia in 1993.

The historical region of Eritrea had joined Ethiopia as an autonomous unit in 1952. The Eritrean Liberation Movement was founded in 1958 and was succeeded by the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) in 1961. The ELF grew in membership when the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie abolished Eritrea’s autonomous status, annexing it as a province in 1962. In the 1960s and ’70s the ELF undertook a systematic campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Ethiopian government. A faction of the ELF broke away in 1970 to form the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front. The EPLF managed to secure control of much of the Eritrean countryside and build effective administrations in the areas it controlled. Fighting that broke out between the EPLF, ELF, and other Eritrean rebel groups in 1981 prevented further military gains, but the EPLF subsequently emerged as the principal Eritrean guerrilla group.

As Soviet support of Ethiopia’s socialist government collapsed in the late 1980s, the EPLF formed an alliance with guerrilla groups in Tigray province and other parts of Ethiopia, and, when these groups overthrew the central government and captured the Ethiopian capital in May 1991, the EPLF formed a separate provisional government for Eritrea. After the holding of a United Nations-supervised referendum on independence there in April 1993, the EPLF declared the new nation of Eritrea the following month. In February 1994 the EPLF renamed itself the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice as part of its transformation into Eritrea’s ruling political party.[8]

The leader of the PFDJ party and current President of Eritrea is Isaias Afewerki.

Post-independence

Because Eritrea formed itself from a highly participated referendum and because of EPLF’s provision of education, health, and other public services to save women, workers, and peasants from poverty and oppression, both domestic and foreign media showed high hopes for Eritrea to develop a self-governed and democratic government. EPLF leaders, at the time, were perceived as a “new generation” of African leaders. They enjoyed high popularity rates among their constituents. They endorsed, at least theoratically, democracy, human rights, and free markets. They had clear development policies based on their priorities[9].

In 1994, the PFDJ established a transitional 150-member National Assembly to determine the pending constitutions and elections. The assembly later chose the PFDJ’s secretary-general and the former EPLF leader, Isaias Afwerki as Eritrea’s president and formed a cabinet around him. In 1997, the temporary National Assembly adopted a constitution for a multi-party democratic system. It scheduled multi-party elections for 1997 [10]. The new government appeared to have a separation of power. However, the political institutions other than the executive office - the cabinet of ministers, a temporary parliament and a nominally independent judiciary - did not pose actually checks on the executive power. The cabinet did not provide a platform for debates. The military remained under the president's control[11]. Isaias, at the same time, attempted to strengthen the president's power.

Turning Point

Although Eritrea’s relationship with Ethiopia remained relatively friendly for the first few years after the independence, by 1997 the relationship broke down by the increasing economic tensions and border disputes. On May 12, 1998 two brigades of Eritrean regular troops attacked the small border town of Badme and nearby regions under Ethiopian governance. This attack had led to a two-year war, which ended by 2000 because of international pressure. On December 12, 2000, Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a peace agreement which enabled a commission of 5 neutral people to determine the borderline based on the colonial maps. In April 2002, since the commission concluded that Badme would fall under Eritrea, Ethiopia reengaged. Since then the tedious yet constant border conflicts have always been in place. [11]

Post-conflict Oppositions to The President

Isaias and his cronies faced major challenges from within the government and civil society after the military conflicts. In august 2000, 2 months after the ceasefire, there were major differences and confrontation within the leadership of the PFDJ. The central council of the PFDJ and the national assembly both held closed sessions. The president, in these sessions, were heavily criticized for his role in this war and his hindering of Eritrea's democratic process. [12] The opposition within the party attempted to force Isaias to form two commisions, one to draw up a balance sheet of the boarder wars and one to establish guides to the democratization processes and national elections. [12] However, Isaias refused to covene these commisions until 2002, when the major oppositions within the government had already been purged. [12]

In 2001, a dissident group comprising 15 senior government and PFDJ official openly demands the president to keep his promises of democratisation while Isaias ignored their pleas in the form of a open letter that was handed over to the private press and published.[11] The letter, named "A Comprehensive Manifesto for Reform" was published on 12 April 2001. [12]The manifestio criticized the national assembly for being a 'mere puppet' and called for a implementation of the constitution and empowering the national assembly. [11]

The continuing hostilities at the border after the peace treaty offered Isaias and his cronies a rationale for a twofold authoritarian governance, suppressing public criticism of the regime and life-long forced conscription. First, Isaias has curtailed dissent tolerance since the summer and fall of 2001. Using Ethiopian penetration as an excuse, Isaias systematically crashed political opposition and public dissents.[10] The result was an increasingly outright oppressive rule unrestrained by the rule of law. In August 2000, several high-ranking PFDJ officials criticized Isaias’ resistance to diplomatic approach to the border conflict and called for progress towards multi-party elections in a closed National Assembly meeting. The National Assembly was then never permitted to meet until the opposition was purged. [13] In the next five month, the opposition went public as the G15. Their manifesto triggered massive public debates over the country’s political future. On the 18 and 19 September 2001, 11 out of G-15 were arrested and all private newspapers were closed. Shortly after, the government began arresting others associated with G-15 and other dissents.[12] The justification was still a nationalist approach. The government claimed that the arrested has been the fifth column of Ethiopia, although there were no trials conducted.[12] The extensive arrests have been undermining public criticism not only because there was direct censorship but also because the crackdown has created self-censorship. According to visitors reported on the residents of Asmara by the middle of 2004, spoke of politics was only in a hushed sound. The urban centre citizens believed that telephones are wiretapped and public conversations were monitored.[10]

Status

Currently the People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the sole legal party in Eritrea.[14]

There is some debate as to whether PFDJ is a true political party or whether it is a broad governing association in transition. Eritrean National elections were set for 1995 and then postponed until 2001; it was then decided that because 20% of Eritrea's land was under occupation, elections would be postponed until the resolution of the conflict with Ethiopia. However, local elections continued in Eritrea. The most recent round of local government elections were held in May 2004. Though, as of 2018, Eritrea has not held any national elections.

References

  1. 1 2 3 O'Kane, David; Hepner, Tricia (2011), Biopolitics, Militarism, and Development: Eritrea in the Twenty-First Century, Berghahn Books, p. xx, ISBN 9780857453990, retrieved 15 January 2011
  2. ↑ Joireman, Sandra Fullerton (2003), Nationalism and Political Identity, Continuum, p. 133, ISBN 9780826465917, retrieved 15 January 2011
  3. ↑ https://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/1066-2744120-uyqx0jz/index.html
  4. ↑ https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2018/02/21/eritreas-silent-totalitarianism/
  5. ↑ https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/eritrea
  6. ↑ http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/eritrea-a-visit-to-africa-s-north-korea-a-1175664.html
  7. ↑ Markakis, John (March 1995). "Eritrea's National Charter". Review of African Political Economy. 22 (63): 126–129. doi:10.1080/03056249508704109. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
  8. ↑ "Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  9. ↑ African garrison state : human rights and political development in Eritrea. p. 7. ISBN 9781782043645.
  10. 1 2 3 (Organization), Human Rights Watch. Service for life : state repression and indefinite conscription in Eritrea. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-1-56432-472-6.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Connell, Dan (30 June 2016). "Redeeming the failed promise of democracy in Eritrea". Race & Class. 46 (4): 68–79. doi:10.1177/0306396805052519.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gaim., Kibreab, (2009). Eritrea : a dream deferred. Oxford: James Currey. p. 31. ISBN 9781846157226. OCLC 701053913.
  13. ↑ Gaim., Kibreab, (2009). Eritrea : a dream deferred. Oxford: James Currey. ISBN 9781846157226. OCLC 701053913.
  14. ↑ "Eritrea". Africa Review. Africa Review. Retrieved 12 December 2012.

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