clandestine network of supporters in the towns and support base among the peasantry provided vital supplies and intelligence. On 18 February 1976 a fighters' conference elected new leadership: Berhu (Chairman), Muse (Military Committee), Abbay (Political Committee), Agazi (Socio-Economic Committee), Seyoum (Foreign Relations), Gidey, and Sebhat. Meles became head of the political cadre school. The first three years of its existence were marked by a constant struggle for survival, unstable cooperation with the Eritrean forces, and power struggles against the other Tigrayan fronts: in 1975 the TPLF liquidated the TLF, in 1976–78 it fought back the Ethiopian Democratic Union (EDU) in Shire and in 1978 it fought the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) in eastern Tigray. Besides this the Front had to suffer heavy losses due to the Derg's offensives in the region. Although the TPLF, the ELF and the EPLF co-operated during the Derg offensives of 1976 and 1978 in Tigray and Eritrea, no stable alliance was formed. The ELF resented the liquidation of the TLF and viewed the relations between the EPLF and the TPLF as a serious threat. Since 1977 the ELF and the TPLF had conflicts over the issue of Eritrean settlers in western Tigray, who were organized under the ELF and rejected the TPLF-land reform. Relations with the EPLF also did not develop smoothly. Its material support was much less than the TPLF expected. Politically the EPLF preferred the multi-national EPRP to the ethno-regionalist TPLF with its then separatist agenda. 1978–1990 Following the Derg's victory in the Ogaden War in February 1978, Mengistu Haile Mariam's new alliance with the Soviets and the revolutionary growth of his armed forces, the TPLF momentum seemed to slow. In February 1979 the TPLF held its first regular congress. It declared its struggle to be the second wäyyanä (kalay wäyyanä) and changed its Tigrinya name to Həzbawi Wäyyanä Harənnätä Təgray. It adopted a new political program calling for self-determination within a democratic Ethiopia with independence as an option only if unity proved to be impossible. Winning and maintaining the support of the local population was at the heart of the TPLF’s strategy during the 1970s and 1980s. TPLF leaders understood that the goodwill of the population would sustain their movement and ultimately propel it to victory over the Derg. Consequently, any fighter caught abusing locals was punished or even executed by TPLF authorities. As a result, local support for the TPLF