The Eritrean Democratic Working People's Party, more commonly referred to as the Labour Party, was a clandestine

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. The party existed between 1968 and 1982, constituting the core of the

Eritrean Liberation Front The Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF; ; ; ), colloquially known as Jebha, was the main Eritrean War of Independence, independence movement in Eritrea Province, Eritrea which sought Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia during the 1960s and the ear ...

(ELF). The party was founded by

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

s inside the ELF in November 1968. Amongst the founders were key ELF ideologues like Azein Yassin and Saleh Iyay. The goal of the party was the creation of an independent, socialist Eritrean state. It adhered to the Soviet-inspired 'Non-Capitalist Path of Development'. ELF leaders who were members of the party included Ahmed Nasser Mohammed, Abdellah Idris and Herui Tedla. The party negotiated with the Eritrean People's Revolutionary Party about a merger of the ELF and the

Eritrean People's Liberation Front The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the Eritrean War of Independence, independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1 ...

, but these talks resulted fruitless. The party was dissolved in 1982. Several key personalities of the party joined either the ELF faction of Abdellah Idris, or the ELF-Revolutionary Council. Another group, known as Sagem, joined the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in 1987 after the latter's second congress.

References

{{reflist Communism in Eritrea Political parties in Eritrea Political parties established in 1968 Political parties disestablished in 1982 Marxist parties in Eritrea