Revolutionary Flame

Abyotawit Seded (Amharic: አብዮታዊ ሰደድ^?, 'Revolutionary Flame', 'Seded' for short) was a communist organization in Ethiopia, formed in 1976 by a group of officers of the Derg military junta who had attended political trainings in the Soviet Union from 1975 and onwards.

Seded was set up in August 1976 by Mengistu Haile Mariam and 15 other Derg members. Mengistu was the titular chairman of Seded. The key organizer of the group was, however, Legasse Asfew (a former sergeant). The political programme of the group was elaborated at the time of its founding. Through the launching of Seded, Mengistu hoped to be able to challenge the influence of the All-Ethiopian Socialist Movement (Meison) in the urban dwellers' associations (kebeles).

Seded was a clandestine group, known by the name of its publication. The existence of Seded was never publicly acknowledged.

Regarding the national question Seded recognized the right to national self-determination in principle, but saw practical constraints for its implementation.

The Derg was suspicious of Meison influence in different sectors (such as education), and Seded sought to displace Meison as the chief political adviser to Derg. Seded would function as the key instrument of the Derg to gain control over the Provisional Office for Mass Organizational Affairs (POMOA). However, the admission of Seded into POMOA caused dissent in the coalition. Meison and Ichat saw the entry of Seded as a threat to their own control over the structure. Malerid and Waz League, on the other hand, supported the entry of Seded as a counterweight to Meison and Ichat. Seded obtained 4 of the 15 seats in the POMOA Central Committee.

By 1977 thousands of Ethiopian military personnel had passed through training courses in the Soviet Union, East Germany, Bulgaria, Cuba Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The graduates of these courses formed the bulks of the followers of Seded. But Seded also won support amongst high-level civil servants, who either felt threatened by the influence of Meison, supported the intervention of the army into politics or had links to Derg officials.

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Wikipedia