Commission for Organizing the Party of the Working People of Ethiopia
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Commission for Organizing the Party of the Working People of Ethiopia
|
|
|---|---|
| Chairman | Mengistu Haile Mariam |
| Founded | December 17, 1979 |
| Dissolved | September 12, 1984 |
| Succeeded by | Workers Party of Ethiopia |
| Headquarters | Addis Ababa |
| Newspaper | Serto Ader |
| Youth wing | Revolutionary Ethiopia Youth Association |
| Women's wing | Revolutionary Ethiopia Women's Association |
| Labour wing | All-Ethiopian Trade Union |
| Peasant wing | All-Ethiopian Peasant Association |
| Ideology |
Communism Marxism-Leninism |
The Commission for Organizing the Party of the Working People of Ethiopia (in Amharic: yaʼityoṗyā saretoʼadaroc̆ pārti ʼadarāj komišen), generally known by its English acronym COPWE, was a political organization in Ethiopia. COPWE was a preparty organization, it had the task of preparing the Ethiopian people for creation of a Communist Party. In the absence of a Communist Party, COPWE functioned as a temporary replacement of the party that it would create.
The founding of COPWE was preceded by the banning of political organizations. The foundation of COPWE was declared through the proclamation 174 of the Derg military junta issued on December 17, 1979. Mengistu Haile Mariam was appointed as the chairman of the new organization. Mengistu declared the formation of COPWE in radio and television broadcasts on the same date. In his speech Mengistu stated that the Derg had always been aware of the need for a vanguard party, but that conditions had been lacking so far. COPWE would popularize Marxism-Leninism throughout the country, combat feudalism, imperialism and bureaucratic capitalism and lead the people towards socialism.
The proclamation that formed COPWE vested all powers in hands of the chairman Mengistu. Mengistu would be authorized to appoint members of the Central Committee, the Executive Committee (which later became the Politburo) and the Secretariat. Mengistu was empowered to issue rules for admission of individual members.
A party press was established, the party newspaper Serto Ader and the theoretical journal Meskerem.
The formation of COPWE was the culmination of the struggle between the Derg military junta and its political allies, a struggle that had taken place within Provisional Office for Mass Organizational Affairs (POMOA) and the Union of Ethiopian Marxist-Leninist Organizations (Imadelih). Compared to its predecessors, COPWE was something of a hybrid. It was in part a government department like POMOA (created through a government proclamation and funded through the state treasury) as well as a supposedly voluntary association like Imadelih. Notably, COPWE was able to establish a party cadre that remained stable throughout its existence.
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