List of political parties in Ethiopia

This article lists political parties in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a multi-party parliament. The legislature was mostly dominated by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, until it was succeeded by the Prosperity Party in December 2019. The latest general election would have taken place in August 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] The most recent general election took place in 2021.

List

Parliamentary parties

	Political positions	Ideology	Created	House
Prosperity Party Amharic: ብልጽግና ፓርቲ, romanized: Bilit͟s’igina Paritī Oromo: Paartii Badhaadhiinaa Somali: Xisbiga Barwaaqo	Centre	Ethiopian nationalism Liberalism Economic liberalism Federalism	2019^[2]	410 / 547
National Movement of Amhara Amharic: የአማራ ብሔራዊ ንቅናቄ, romanized: Ye’āmara Biḥērawī Nik’inak’ē	Centre-right to right-wing	Amhara self-determination Ethnic nationalism Liberalism	2018	5 / 547
Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ዜጎች ለማህበራዊ ፍትህ, romanized: Ye-Ïtiyop'iya Zēgochi Le-mahiberawī Fitih	Centre	Liberalism Ethiopian nationalism	2019	4 / 547
Gedeo People's Democratic Party		Gedeo interests Regionalism	1992	2 / 547
Tigray People's Liberation Front Tigrinya: ህዝባዊ ወያነ ሓርነት ትግራይ, romanized: Ḥəzbawi Wäyanä Ḥarənnät Təgray	Left-wing	Revolutionary democracy Tigray nationalism	1975^[3]	0 / 547

Other national parties

National parties without members of parliament as of 5 October 2020^[update]^[4] include:

Other national parties
Name	Native name	Ideology	Notes
Freedom and Equality Party	Amharic: ነጻነትና እኩልነት ፓርቲ	Moderate liberalism	Established in 2019
All Ethiopian National Movement	Amharic: የመላው ኢትዮጵያውያን ብሔራዊ ንቅናቄ	N/A
All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement	Amharic: መላ ኢትዮጵያ ሶሻሊስት ንቅናቄ	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Oldest communist party in Ethiopia. Member of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces^[5]
Balderas Party	Amharic: ባልደራስ ፓርቲ	Liberalism Ethiopian nationalism	Founded by political activist Eskinder Nega in 2019
Alliance for Freedom and Democracy	?	Self-determination	Coalition of former separatist groups.
Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ዜጎች ለማኅበራዊ ፍትህ; ye-Ïtiyop'iya zēgochi le-mahiberawī fitih	Social justice Ethiopian nationalism	Created through the merger of 7 opposition parties.
Ethiopian Democratic League	?	N/A	Former member of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy.
Ethiopian Democratic Party	Amharic: ከኢትዮጵያዊያን ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ	Liberal nationalism Economic liberalism Pan-Ethiopianism	Member of Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice.
Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Medrek)	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አንድነት መድረክ	Social democracy Democratic socialism Ethnic federalism	Officially a coalition of 5 parties.
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝባዊ አብዮታዊ ፓርቲ	Non-ethnic federalism	Former communist party.
Ethiopian Social Democratic Party	Amharic: ኢትዮጵያ ማህበረ-ዴሞክራሲ ፌደራላዊ ፓርቲ	Social democracy	Former member of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces.
Ginbot 7	?	N/A	Political organisation.
Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromia	?	Oromo self-determination	Oromo militant party.
Kefagn Patriotic Front	?	N/A	Formed by soldiers from the army of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Oromo Federalist Congress	?		Formed in 2012 from merger of OPC with OFDM.^[6]
Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice	?	N/A	Former member of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy.
Sidama Liberation Front	?	Sidama self-determination	Sidama militant group.
Western Somali Democratic Party	?	Somali nationalism	Former separatist group.
Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራሊስት ኃይሎች ጥምረት	Ethnic federalism Revolutionary democracy	Political coalition.

Other regional parties

Regional parties
Name	Native name	Ideology	Created	Notes
All-Amhara People's Organization	Amharic: yemelawi āmara hizibi dirijiti	Minority politics	1993^[7]	Former member of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces.
Afar Liberation Front	?	Afar interests		Former militant group turned political party.
Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front	Afar: Qafar Uguugumoh Demokrasiyyoh Inkiinoh Fooca	Afar interests Self-determination		Afar militant party.
Arena Tigray			early 2000s^[8]
Assimba Democratic Party		Social democracy^[9]	Oct 2019^[9]	Irob based party^[10]
Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝብ አርበኞች ግንባር	N/A		Rebel group formerly active in Eritrea.
Ethiopian Unity Patriots Front	?	Ethiopian nationalism Anti-Ethnic federalism Democracy Nuer tribalism	c. 1993^[11]	Part of the Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front.
Harari People's Democratic Party	Amharic: የሐረሪ ሕዝብ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓረቲ	Minority politics		Harari minority party.
National Movement of Amhara		Minority politics	Jun 2018^[12]
Ogaden National Liberation Front	Somali: Jabhadda Wadaniga Xoreynta Ogaadeenya	Somali nationalism		Somali militant organisation.
Oromo Liberation Front	Oromo: Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo	Oromo nationalism Socialism Secularism	Dec 1973^[13]	Oromo armed movement and party.
Sheko and Mezenger People's Democratic Unity Organization	Amharic: የሸኮና መዠንገር ህዝቦች ዴሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር	Minority politics		Sheko and Mezenger minority party.
Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition	?	Minority politics		A coalition from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region.
Tigray for Democracy & Justice Party^{[citation needed]}	?	Liberal democracy		Tigrinyan opposition party against the TPLF.
Tigray Democratic Party	Tigrinya: ትግራይ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ		Dec 2019^[14]

Defunct parties

Defunct parties
Name	Native name	Ideology	Notes
Unity for Democracy and Justice	?	Liberalism	Merged into Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice.
Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement	?	Social democracy Democratic socialism Federalism Self-determination	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Afar National Democratic Party	Amharic: የአፋር ብሔራዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ	Afar interests	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Amhara Democratic Party	Amharic: አማራ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ	Amhara interests	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Argoba Nationality Democratic Organization	Amharic: የአርጎባ ሕዝቦች ዴሞክራሲዊ ንቅናቄ	Minority politics	Argoba minority party.
Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front	Amharic: የቤንሻንጉልና ጉሙዝ ሕዝቦች ዴሞክራሲዊ አንድነት	Minority politics	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Ethiopian Somali Democratic League	?	Minority politics	Somali ethnic party.
Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party	Amharic: የሶማሌ ዴሞክራሲዊ ፓርቲ	Democratic socialism	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Gambela People's Democratic Movement	Amharic: የጋምቤላ ሕዝቦች ዴሞክራሲያዊ ንቅናቄ	Minority politics	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Hareri National League	Harari: ዚሐረሪ መሐዲያ ሊግ	Harari interests	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Oromo Democratic Party	?	Marxism Democratic socialism Oromo self-determination	Merged into the Prosperity Party.
Oromo People's Congress	?	Minority politics	Former Oromo ethnic party. Merged with OFDM in 2012, creating OFC.^[6]
Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement	Oromo: Warraaqsa Federaalistii Uummata Oromoo	Federalism	2005^[15]–2012;^[6] Oromo party. Merged with OPC to create OFC.
Marxist–Leninist League of Tigray	?	Communism Marxism-Leninism Hoxhaism Anti-revisionism	Semi-clandestine group within the TPLF.
Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር	Revolutionary democracy Ethnic federalism	De facto predecessor to the Prosperity Party.
Abyotawit Seded	Amharic: አብዮታዊ ሰደድ	Communism	Political organisation led by Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Union of Ethiopian Marxist–Leninist Organizations	?	Communism	Early DERG-era organisation.
Echat	?	Communism	DERG-era predecessor to the Oromo Liberation Front.
Ethiopian Marxist–Leninist Revolutionary Organization	?	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Early DERG-era organisation.
Waz League	?	Communism Marxism	Minor predecessor to the Workers Party of Ethiopia.
All Ethiopian Unity Party	?	N/A	Former member of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy.
Commission for Organizing the Party of the Working People of Ethiopia	Amharic: yaʼityoṗyā saretoʼadaroc̆ pārti ʼadarāj komišen	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Main predecessor of the Workers Party of Ethiopia.
Workers' Party of Ethiopia^[1]	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ሠራተኞች ፓርቲ	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Former ruling party.
Semayawi Party	?	Liberalism	Merged into Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice.
Coalition for Unity and Democracy	Ge'ez : ቅንጅት ለአንድነት እና ዴሞክራሲ	Ethiopian nationalism Civic nationalism Liberalism Federalism Populism	Former coalition.
Coalition of Ethiopian Democratic Forces	?	Communism Socialism	Formed by former arch-rivals MEISON and Ihapa.
United Ethiopian Democratic Forces	Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ዴሞክራሲዊ ኃይሎቸ ሕብረት	Social democracy Social liberalism	Former coalition.
Ethiopian Democratic Union	?	Conservatism Monarchism Anti-communism	Helped form the Ethiopian Democratic Party.
Gambela People's Democratic Unity Party	?	Nuer interests	Formed due to mass displacement of Nuer people.
Gambela People's Liberation Movement	?	Nuer interests National liberation Anti-communism	Former rebel group.
Horyaal Democratic Front	?	Somali nationalism Separatism	Former Gadabuursi clan paramilitary group.
Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front	?	Somali nationalism Issa interests Gurgura interests	Former clan-based rebel group.

Notes

1.^ In 2022, a party of the same name sent in application for a registration license, it was denied by The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) in August of the same year.^[16]

References

^ "Ethiopian Politics - Election 2020". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
^ "The EPRDF Officially Ends; The Prosperity Party Begins". Ezega News. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ Berhe, Aregawi (2008). A Political History of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (1975-1991): Revolt, Ideology and Mobilisation in Ethiopia (PDF). Amsterdam: The Horn of Africa Research and Knowledge Exchange Platform: HAREP. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ "Ethiopian Parlament". Retrieved 5 October 2020.
^ "United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) Member Organizations". 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Bekele Gerba speaks!". Addis Standard. 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
^ Barder, Brian (25 May 1999). "Asrat Woldeyes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ "News: Tigray interim admin CEO says Mekelle gets new mayor, urges civil servants to resume work and cautions door-to-door search for unlawful firearms begins today". Addis Standard. 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Assimba Democratic Party established in Tigray, border with Eritrea among top agenda". Borkena. 3 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ Tesfaye, Abel (9 September 2020). "Tigray's election can accelerate the region's democratic reforms". Ethiopia Insight. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ EUPF (25 October 2014). "Response to articles appearing on Nyamilepedia on 3rd October 2014". Nyamilepedia. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
^ "National Movement of Amhara party officially founded in Bahir Dar". Borkena. 10 June 2018. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
^ "The Birth of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)". Gadaa. 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
^ "የትግራይ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ መስራች ጉባኤ መግለጫ" [Tigray Democracy Party ...] (PDF). Tigray Democracy Party (in Tigrinya). 14 December 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
^ Wiren, Robert (4 April 2005). "Bulcha Demeksa, Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)". Les nouvelles d'Addis. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
^ Monitor, Ethiopian (23 August 2022). "NEBE Rejects Party Registration Request under 'Ethiopian Workers Party'". Ethiopian Monitor. Retrieved 27 December 2022.

External links

[1] "Ethiopian Politics - Election 2020". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 5 October 2020.

[Ezega_ProsperityParty_created-2] "The EPRDF Officially Ends; The Prosperity Party Begins". Ezega News. 26 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[Aregawi_political_history_TPLF_2008-3] Berhe, Aregawi (2008). A Political History of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (1975-1991): Revolt, Ideology and Mobilisation in Ethiopia (PDF). Amsterdam: The Horn of Africa Research and Knowledge Exchange Platform: HAREP. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[4] "Ethiopian Parlament". Retrieved 5 October 2020.

[5] "United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) Member Organizations". 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2022.

[AddisStand_Bekele_speaks-6] "Bekele Gerba speaks!". Addis Standard. 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.

[Guard_Asrat_Woldeyes_obituary-7] Barder, Brian (25 May 1999). "Asrat Woldeyes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[AddisStand_Mekelle_anonymous_mayor-8] "News: Tigray interim admin CEO says Mekelle gets new mayor, urges civil servants to resume work and cautions door-to-door search for unlawful firearms begins today". Addis Standard. 15 December 2020. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[Borkena_Assimba_created-9] "Assimba Democratic Party established in Tigray, border with Eritrea among top agenda". Borkena. 3 October 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[ETInsight_accelerate-10] Tesfaye, Abel (9 September 2020). "Tigray's election can accelerate the region's democratic reforms". Ethiopia Insight. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[EUPF_says_created_c1993-11] EUPF (25 October 2014). "Response to articles appearing on Nyamilepedia on 3rd October 2014". Nyamilepedia. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

[Borkena_NAMA_founded_2018-12] "National Movement of Amhara party officially founded in Bahir Dar". Borkena. 10 June 2018. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.

[Gadaa_birth_OLF-13] "The Birth of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)". Gadaa. 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

[TDP_creation_Dec2019-14] "የትግራይ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ መስራች ጉባኤ መግለጫ" [Tigray Democracy Party ...] (PDF). Tigray Democracy Party (in Tigrinya). 14 December 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[LesNouvelles_Bulcha_OFDM-15] Wiren, Robert (4 April 2005). "Bulcha Demeksa, Chairman of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM)". Les nouvelles d'Addis. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

[16] Monitor, Ethiopian (23 August 2022). "NEBE Rejects Party Registration Request under 'Ethiopian Workers Party'". Ethiopian Monitor. Retrieved 27 December 2022.

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