The Moslem League of the Western Province was a

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

in the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. The party was founded by Sheikh Ali Radai, whose family originally migrated from the

Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...

region in Western Saudi Arabia and later became the President of the Eritrean Assembly. The party was formed after a split away from the

Moslem League Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

in 1949. The Moslem League of the Western Province was able to overtake half of the party membership of the pre-split Moslem League. The historian Okbazgi Yohannes claims that the split was caused intrigues of behalf of the British Military Administration, who was able to convince Muslim chiefs that the Moslem League leader

Ibrahim Sultan Ali Ibrahim Sultan Ali (born March, 1909) was born in Keren, Eritrea. He played a part in the emancipation of Tigre in Sahel and Barka and in establishing Blocco Independenza. He was also the Secretary General of the Eritrean Democratic Front (EDF). ...

was an Italian agent.Yohannes, Okbazghi.
Eritrea, a pawn in world politics
'. Gainesville: Univ. of Florida Press, 1991. p. 141 However this assertion is contested, as it overlooks internal social and political cleavages within the Eritrean Muslim community. By late 1949, following the defection of the

Independent Moslem League The Independent Moslem League, sometimes referred to as the Independent Moslem League of Massawa, was a political party in Eritrea. It was formed through a split in the Moslem League, founded by Moslem League members from the central and eastern pr ...

, the party left the

Independence Bloc Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. The Muslim League of the Western Province became the second of various factions that departed from the Independence Bloc.Venosa, Joseph L.
Faith in the nation: examining the contributions of Eritrean Muslims in the nationalist movement, 1946-1961
' The party sought to exclude

Italian-Eritreans Italian Eritreans (or Eritrean Italians) are Eritrean-born descendants of Italian settlers as well as Italian long-term residents in Eritrea. History Their ancestry dates back from the beginning of the Italian colonization of Eritrea at the end ...

from the political process in the country, a policy that sharply contradicted the line of the Moslem League. The party won 14 out of 68 seats in the 1952 Eritrean Assembly election (which was held through direct

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

in some cities, and indirect vote in other areas). Initially the Moslem League of the Western Province had called for continued British governance for a period of ten years, after which the future of the Western Province could be decided.Spencer, John H.
Ethiopia at Bay: A Personal Account of the Haile Selassie Years
'. .l. Tsehai Pub, 2006. p. 230 In June 1953, nine months after the Federation between Ethiopia and Eritrea had come into effect, the party began calling for the creation of an independent Beja state, formed out of the Western Province of Eritrea and the Eastern Province of Sudan.Negash, Tekeste.
Eritrea and Ethiopia: The Federal Experience
'. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1997. pp. 85-86 However, as it became clear to the party that the British would not support creating an independent state out of the Western Province the party began supporting unification with

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. At this point integration into Ethiopia appeared more favourable to the party than a possible integration into

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, as it feared domination from Sudanese rival clans.

References

{{reflist Political parties in Eritrea Political parties established in 1949 Islamic political parties