Ethiopian Somali Democratic League

The ESDL was formed in 1994 through the merger of ten clan-based political parties from the region, including the Issa and Gurgura Liberation Front, at a meeting in Hurso.[1] Despite receiving the support of the EPRDF, and initially from the non-Ogaden clans of Somali Isaaq, Issa and Gadabursi, the ESDL failed to provide effective administration because of a number of interrelated reasons.Asnake Kefale Adegehe reports he learned from sources in Jijiga that Eid Daahir Farah, the Regional president, avoided convening regular sessions of the regional parliament out of fear that, were the parliament allowed to meet, that body would have sacked him and his cabinet.[3] The party's disorder led federal authorities to order the remnants of the ESDL to merge with moderate members of the ONLF.In June 1998, both groups elected 35 members to represent them at the founding convention of the new Somali People's Democratic Party.
IdeologySomali nationalismEthnic nationalismPolitics of EthiopiaPolitical partiesElectionsSomali RegionEthiopiaIssa and Gurgura Liberation Front1995 electionsfederal parliamentOgadenSomaliGadabursiJijigaOgaden National Liberation FrontSomali People's Democratic PartyWayback MachineAbdi Ismail Samatar