Democratic Unionist Party (Sudan)

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"National Unionist Party" redirects here. For the Greek political party, see National Unionist Party (Greece).
Democratic Unionist Party
الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي
Al Hizb Al-Ittihadi Al-Dimuqrati
0 / 50
Party flag

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP;

Sufi order
.

Established in 1952 as the National Unionist Party (NUP), it is one of two political parties predating Sudan's independence, along the

prime minister
, who in 1955 declared independence from colonial rule.

The party broke apart in 1956, with the Khatmiyya order founding the new

President of Sudan until ousted by Omar al-Bashir's military coup in 1989. While the party's official leadership around Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani II remained in exile, the Khartoum-based Political Secretariat seceded in 2011, resulting in the rivalling the "Registered" Democratic Unionist Party led by Jalal al-Digair
.

History

The party emerged in 1952 from the historic approach of the

Independence of Sudan. Internal divisions between the al-Azhari faction and the Khatmiyya order however led to a split in 1956, with the Khatmiyya order founding the new People's Democratic Party (PDP). The party subsequently lost its majority, but remained a major political force even after General Abboud's 1958 coup d'état
.

Al-Azhari and PDP leader

Umma Party. The government's proposal of an Islamic constitution thus making Sudan an Arab Muslim state lead to Colonel Nimeiry's 1969 coup
d'état and the abolition of the parliament.

The party shortly returned to the political landscape in the

President of Sudan, until ousted by Omar al-Bashir's 1989 military coup. Since then, the party's Chairman remained outside Sudan while allowing its members to freely decide on the degree of participation in central and state governments.[1][4][5][6] In November 2022, following General al-Burhan's coup in 2021, party leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani returned to lead the party from Sudan, then shortly returned to Egypt where he resided for the last 3 decades.[7]

Ideology

The party's main platform is in favour of a united Sudan, and previously a united Sudan and Egypt.

The basic intellectual underpinnings of the party since its general congress in late 1960s, are: democratic pluralism politically, a mixed economy economically, and the establishment of a secular country towards as "the only acceptable way for peaceful coexistence in a country with different components of ethnic, tribal, religious, intellectual and cultural aspects in order to ensure the principle of that 'The sole basis of rights and duties should be based upon the Citizenship alone'."

The party has long-standing relations with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) with whom it signed the Peace Deal of November 1988 in Ethiopia which was then opposed by the National Islamic Front (NIF). It also enjoys good relationships with almost all Sudanese political groups.

The last

legislative elections
, December 2000, were boycotted by the party, as most of the political groups, described as unfair and rigged.

Through the National Democratic Alliance it played a major role in the opposition to the NIF regime in Sudan from1989 until the signing of the Cairo Peace Agreement between the NDA and the Government of Sudan in 2005.[8] As a consequence of its stances the DUP has suffered continuous attempts to divide and weaken it by the Sudanese security forces and the ruling party of Sudan, which seem to have failed so far.

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the SPLM and the Government of Sudan, the party's position has shifted towards a more mediatory role attempting to re-align the old and new opposition parties in a comprehensive stance to tackle the broader Sudanese issues such as unity, elections and transition into democracy avoiding polarisation which it views as damaging to the long term interests of the country.

It continues to view the National Democratic Alliance as a long-term alliance that could rightly guide the political movement in Sudan.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election Party candidate Votes % Result
2010
 Hatim al-Sir 195,668 1.93% Lost Red XN

National Assembly elections

National Assembly
Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/–
1953
 Ismail al-Azhari 229,221 Not released
51 / 97
 Increase 51
1958
 Ismail al-Azhari Not released Not released
45 / 173
 Decrease 6
1965
 Ismail al-Azhari Not released Not released
59 / 207
 Increase 14
1968
 Ismail al-Azhari 742,226 40.8%
101 / 218
 Increase 63
1986
 Ahmed al-Mirghani 1,163,961 29.5
63 / 301
 Increase 63
2010
 Hatim al-Sir Not released Not released
2 / 426
 Increase 2
2015
 Not released Not released
25 / 426
 Increase 23

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4833-3328-1
    .
  2. ^ a b John Pike. "Democratic Unionist Party [DUP]". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  3. ^ MacEoin, Denis; Al-Shahi, Ahmed. Islam in the Modern World (RLE Politics of Islam).
  4. ^ "Joint Statement on Elections in Sudan" (Press release). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norway). 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
  5. Foreign and Commonwealth Office
    . 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
  6. ^ "Joint Statement on Elections in Sudan" (Press release). United States Department of State. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  7. ^ "Chaotic return of DUP leader to Sudan". Sudan Tribune. November 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) (Cairo Agreement) | UN Peacemaker". peacemaker.un.org. Retrieved 2023-10-03.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Democratic_Unionist_Party_(Sudan)&oldid=1178444801"