The group was politically and militarily based in eastern Ethiopia, controlling portions of the countryside in the eastern highlands and around Jijiga by the time Mengistu Haile Mariam fled the country in Spring 1991. They then joined the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) where the party held 3 seats out of the 27 reserved for Oromo parties. The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) held 12, while the Oromo People's Democratic Organization held the remaining 10.[1]