The Eritrean Independence Bloc of 1949

The Eritrean Independence Bloc of 1949

Eritrean political parties favoring independence in the 1940s formed the Independence Bloc (IB) on 26 June 1949 with Ibrahim Sultan as its Secretary General. It was composed of :
1. The Moslem League (led by Ibrahim Sultan)
2. The Liberal Progressive Party (Asmerom Woldegiorghis)
3. New Eritrea Party (Gherenkiel Berakhi)
4. War Veterans’ Association (Ali Ibrahim)
5. Italo-Eritrean Association (Michele Pollera)
6. National Party (Ahmed Abdulkader Beshir)
7. Independent Eritrea Party (Tesfatsion Deres).

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Source: Nharnet. com archive

The Independence Bloc was formed because a Four Power Commission that visited Eritrea in 1948 reported that the different parties had the following support: Unionist Party 44.8%, Moslem League 40.5%, Liberal Progressive Party 4.4%, Pro-Italy New Eritrea party 9.2%, Moslem National Party 1.1% and concluded that was a majority in Eritrea against the Union, but on the other hand there did not exist any majority in support of independence. It was also meant to foil the Bevin-Sforza plan to divide Eritrea between Sudan and Eritrea.

After the formation of the IB, The support for independence was estimated to be 60 – 75%. This scared the Unionist Party and they, with the support of their mentor, Ethiopia, thus initiated a wide wave of terrorist acts against IB members.
Source: Various

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