In 2017, Plaut described Eritrea as a "mafia state", in the sense that Constitution of Eritrea was written and ratified but not implemented; there had not been any elections since independence; Eritrea had "no annual budget"; and Eritrea was effectively ruled in an "arbitrary and personal" way by president Isaias Afwerki together with senior military officers and officials from the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Plaut stated that mafia-like characteristics included Isaias controlling Eritrea "with ruthless efficiency", controlling Eritreans abroad by threats and intimidation, and Eritrea having a "covert network of illegal activities" run by close colleagues of Isaias, acting "more like a Mafia don enforcing his will than a legitimate head of state". Plaut attributed the mafia-like nature of the Eritrean state in 2017 to the historical role of the Eritrean People's Revolutionary Party, a Leninist party that secretly controlled the much broader Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the fight for independence. The major illegal activities listed by Plaut included human trafficking; a covert parallel economy in hard currency, dominated by a 2% "Rehabilitation Tax" on the ; and surveillance and intimidation of the Eritrean diaspora.