Gambela People's Democratic Movement

The Gambela Peoples’ Democratic Movement (GPDM, Amharic: የጋምቤላ ሕዝቦች ዴሞክራሲያዊ ንቅናቄ^? Yä-Gambella Həzbočč Demokrasiyawi Nəqnaqe; also known as Gambela People’s Democratic Movement or Gambella Peoples’ Unity Democratic Movement, GPUDM, Amharic: ጋምቤላ ሕዝቦች አንድነት ዴሞክራሲያዊ ንቅናቄGambälla Həzbočč Andinet Demokrasiyawi Nəqnaqe) is a political party in the Gambela Region of Ethiopia. It is the regional ally of the ruling EPRDF coalition.

The GPDM was founded as the new regional EPRDF ally in 2003. Its predecessors were the Gambela People's Liberation Movement (GPLM), which was in existence 1991–1998, and the Gambela People’s Democratic Front (GPDF), in existence 1998–2003.

The GPLM was founded in 1979 and was based in the Anuak ethnic group. This group launched a guerrilla war against both the Derg regime of Ethiopia and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The latter had a major base in Gambela and had committed numerous atrocities against the local inhabitants; however the GPLM was unable to mobilize more than a negligible portion of the population and never held any liberated area before the fall of the Derg in 1991. With the end of the Ethiopian Civil War, Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) forces, accompanied by a small contingent of the GPLM, occupied Gambela and expelled the SPLA. Now in power, the GPLM removed the predominantly Nuer leadership that had dominated the province under the Derg, as well as settling old scores with its ethnic rival. In response, the Nuer organized the Gambela People's Democratic Unity Party (GPDUP), which was immediately recognised by the EPRDF.

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