Editing Hafizullah Amin (section)

===The Daoud era===
From 1973 until the PDPA unification in 1977, Amin was second only to Taraki in the Khalqist PDPA. When the PDPA ruled Afghanistan, their relationship was referred to as a disciple (Amin) following his mentor (Taraki). This official portrayal of the situation was misleading; their relationship was more work-oriented. Taraki needed Amin's "tactical and strategic talents"; Amin's motivations are more uncertain, but it is commonly believed that he associated with Taraki to protect his own position. Amin had attracted many enemies during his career, the most notable being Karmal. According to the official version of events, Taraki protected Amin from party members or others who wanted to hurt the PDPA and the country.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA54 54]}} When [[Mohammad Daoud Khan]] ousted the monarchy, and established the [[Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)|Republic of Afghanistan]], the Khalqist PDPA offered its support for the new regime if it established a National Front which presumably included the Khalqist PDPA itself. The Parchamite PDPA had already established an alliance with Daoud at the beginning of his regime, and Karmal called for the dissolution of the Khalqist PDPA. Karmal's call for dissolution only worsened relations between the Khalqist and Parchamite PDPA.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA55 55]}} However, Taraki and Amin were lucky; Karmal's alliance actually hurt the Parchamites' standing in Afghan politics. Some communists in the armed forces became disillusioned with the government of Daoud, and turned to the Khalqist PDPA because of its apparent independence. Parchamite association with the Daoud government indirectly led to the Khalqist-led PDPA coup of 1978, popularly referred to as the [[Saur Revolution]]. From 1973 until the 1978 coup, Amin was responsible for organising party work in the Afghan armed forces.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA56 56]}} According to the official version, Amin "met patriotic liaison officers day or night, in the desert or the mountains, in the fields or the forests, enlightening them on the basis of the principles of the working class ideology." Amin's success in recruiting military officers lay in the fact that Daoud "betrayed the left" soon after taking power.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 57]}} When Amin began recruiting military officers for the PDPA, it was not difficult for him to find disgruntled military officers. In the meantime, relations between the Parchamite and Khalqist PDPA deteriorated; in 1973 it was rumoured that Major [[Zia Mohammadzai]], a Parchamite and head of the [[Republican Guard (Afghanistan)|Republican Guard]], planned to assassinate the entire Khalqist leadership. The plan, if true, failed because the Khalqists found out about it.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58]}}
The assassination attempt proved to be a further blow to relations between the Parchamites and Khalqists. The Parchamites deny that they ever planned to assassinate the Khalqist leadership, but historian Beverley Male argues that Karmal's subsequent activities give credence to the Khalqist view of events. Because of the Parchamite assassination attempt, Amin pressed the Khalqist PDPA to seize power in 1976 by ousting Daoud.{{sfn|Male|1982|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58]}} The majority of the PDPA leadership voted against such a move.{{sfn|Male|1982|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-cYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA58 58–59]}} The following year, in 1977, the Parchamites and Khalqists officially reconciled, and the PDPA was unified. The Parchamite and Khalqist PDPAs, which had separate general secretaries, politburos, central committees and other organisational structures, were officially unified in the summer of 1977.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA52 52]}} One reason for unification was that the international communist movement, represented by the [[Communist Party of India]], [[Iraqi Communist Party]] and the [[Communist Party of Australia]], called for party unification.{{sfn|Arnold|1983|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cd85ioPsz6cC&pg=PA53 53]}}