The Somali Democratic Party (SDP; ), formerly the Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party, was a

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

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, created by the ruling

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; ) was an ethnic federalist political coalition in Ethiopia that existed from 1989 to 2019. It consisted of four political parties: Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara ...

(EPRDF) after refusing Somali demands for

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

in 1993. The EPRDF created a surrogate party called the Ethiopian Somali Democratic League which was one of many satellite organisations existing throughout Ethiopia."Ethnic Federalism and the Somali Region under the EPRDF"
in ''Ethiopia: Army Commits Executions, Torture, and Rape in Ogaden'', published 11 June 2008

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

(last accessed 10 December 2008) The organisation was led by Ahmed Shide.

History

Like the ESDL before it, the Somali Democratic Party was considered by many inhabitants of the

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

to be an "EPRDF puppet", who accused its members "of brutal repression and systematic massacres in ensuring the region stays under firm control". In the early 2000s its chairman was Mohamoud Dirir Gheddi. The party observed its eleventh anniversary of its founding in

Filtu Filtu is the capital city of '"Liben Zone"' Filtu (also known as Gindiyeer) is a town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the Liben Zone of the Somali Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1252 meters above sea level. It i ...

, where numerous improvements to the infrastructure of the

Liben Zone Liben () is a zone in Somali Region of Ethiopia. Liben is bordered on the south by Kenya, on the northwest by the Oromia Region, on the northeast by Afder, and on the southeast by Somalia's federal state of Jubaland. Towns in Liben zone inclu ...

were announced. In December 2019, the party merged with the

Afar National Democratic Party The Afar National Democratic Party (, ANDP; , QADB) was a political party in Ethiopia. At the legislative elections held on 15 May 2005, the party won 8 seats, all from the Afar Region. The current Minister of Social Affairs and the Deputy Chai ...

(ANDP), the

Amhara Democratic Party The Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) (), formerly known as the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), was a political party in Ethiopia. The party was one of four members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that r ...

(ADP), the

Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front The Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front (BGPDUF; ) was a political party in Ethiopia. In the 2010 elections, the BGPDUF won 9 seats. In local elections held the same day, the BGPDUF won 98 of the 99 seats in the Benishangul-Gumuz p ...

(BGPDUF), the

Gambela People's Democratic Movement The Gambela Peoples’ Democratic Movement (GPDM, ), also known as the Gambela People’s Democratic Movement or Gambella Peoples’ Unity Democratic Movement (, GPUDM),

(GPDM), the

Hareri National League The Harari National League (, Harari: ዚሀረሪ መሐዲያ ሊግ) was a political party in Ethiopia. Its chairman, Ordeen Badri, was also president of the Harari Region.Oromo Democratic Party The Oromo Democratic Party (, ODP), formerly known as the Oromo People's Democratic Organization, was a political party in Ethiopia, and part of the alliance with the Amhara National Democratic Movement, the South Ethiopian Peoples' Democrati ...

(ODP) and the

Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement The Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM) was a political party in Ethiopia. At the legislative elections on 15 May 2005, the party was part of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, that won 327 out of 527 seat ...

(SEPDM) to form the new

Prosperity Party The Prosperity Party (; ) is a political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. It is currently the ruling party of Ethiopia. ...

Notes

{{Ethiopian political parties 1998 establishments in Ethiopia 2019 disestablishments in Ethiopia Defunct political parties in Ethiopia Defunct socialist parties in Africa Democratic socialist parties in Africa Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front Political parties disestablished in 2019 Political parties established in 1998 Socialist parties in Ethiopia