Increasing pressure throughout the 1990s forced King Mswati III to allow some democratic reform, however this has been limited. Swaziland's Prime Minister is hand-picked by the King and the state remains bereft of any meaningful plurality of political opinion in the government. <P> The Tigers have remained quiet since 1998 and are presumed to be inactive. Swaziland's opposition movement is growing stronger and more militant, however, and a leader has recently said that "We need dynamic revolutionary activists: people with a revolutionary mind." <br />

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Army -- Rival

The Tigray movement, also known as Weyane, began in the mid 1970's as opposition to the Mengistu dictatorship in Addis Ababa.  The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) was formed in early 1975 by members of a previous organization, the Tigray Liberation Organization that came under the influence of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).  The TPLF's goals included the overthrow of the Dergue regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam and the establishment of a more democratic, inclusive government for Ethiopia.  Their ideology was communist, following an Albanian model.  Although the group was based out of Tigray and was comprised of almost all Tigrayan peoples, they fought in the name of all groups that opposed Menigstu.  Their largest offensive against Ethiopian forces was in February 1988, and by May 1989 the Ethiopian Army had completely pulled out of Tigray.  <br /><P><br />Despite the EPLF's goal of Eritrean independence, contrasted with the TPLF's goal of political change within Ethiopia, the two groups had close contacts throughout the 1970's and 1980's, helped by EPLF raids on Derg bases within Tigray.  Differences regarding the territorial boundaries of Tigray and Eritrea, however, eventually led to a split between the two groups.  <br />

In 1989 the TPLF formed an alliance with the Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (EPDM) and formed the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which claimed to fight for the rights of all oppressed nationalities, civil rights, and a genuine people's government.  In 1991, the EPRDF succeeded in overthrowing the Menigstu regime, and took control of the Ethiopian government.  <br /><P><br />A split developed within the TPLF in the early 1990's, based on debates between "moderate" and "hard-line" members of the group.  Party leader and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was a moderate and favored the adoption of market-based economic principles and privatization.  Opposition from hard-line communists in the group led to an attempted, yet unsuccessful coup in March 2001.  The TPLF-dominated EPRDF continues to hold power in Ethiopia.<br />