Democratic Unionist Party (Sudan)

Democratic Unionist Party الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي Al Hizb Al-Ittihadi Al-Dimuqrati
Founder	Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani, Ismail Al-Azhari
Founded	1952 (1952)
Merger of	Khatmiyya Sufi order, Ashigga Party
Headquarters	Khartoum, Sudan
Ideology	Conservatism Secularism Historically: United Sudan
Political position	Centre-right[1]
National affiliation	National Democratic Alliance
National Assembly of Sudan	25 / 354
Council of States of Sudan	1 / 50
Party flag
Politics of Sudan Political parties Elections

The Democratic Unionist Party (Arabic: الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي‎, translit. al-Hizb al-Ittihadi al-Dimuqrati‎), also referred to by itself as the Original Democratic Unionist Party, is a political party in Sudan, closely tied to the Khatmiyya Sufi order.

Established in 1952 as the National Unionist Party (NUP), it is one of two political parties predating Sudan's independence, along the Umma Party. Founded by Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani's Khatmiyya order and Ismail al-Azhari's urban nationalist Ashigga Party (est. 1943), it is often considered Sudan's oldest political party.^[2] Having won a clear majority in Sudan's first parliamentary election, al-Azhari became Sudan's first prime minister, who in 1955 declared independence from colonial rule.

The party broke apart in 1956, with the Khatmiyya order founding the new People's Democratic Party (PDP), but reunited in 1967, resulting in the current name. In 1986, DUP leader Ahmed al-Mirghani became 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 remained in exile, the Khartoum-based Political Secretariat seceded in 2011, resulting in the rivalling "Registered" Democratic Unionist Party led by Jalal al-Digair.

History

The party emerged in 1952 from the historic approach of the Khatmiyya Sufi order, founded in the first half of the 19th century by Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani, and Ismail al-Azhari's urban nationalist Ashigga Party, established in 1943.^[3] In Sudan's first parliamentary election the NUP won a legislative majority, making al-Azhari the first Sudanese Prime Minister under British–Egytptian colonial rule.^[2] On 19 December 1955, shortly after the First Sudanese Civil War had broken out, al-Azhari, declared 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 short-lived 1958 coup d'état.

Al-Azhari and PDP leader Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani reunited in 1968 in the presence of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Reestablished under the new name Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the party won the 1968 election and subsequently formed a coalition government with the Umma Party. The government's proposal of a basically Islamic constitution making Sudan a Muslim Arab state, however lead to Colonel Nimeiry's second coup d'état and the abolition of the parliament.

The party shortly returned to the political landscape in the 1986 election, where it became the second strongest force after the Umma Party. Ahmed al-Mirghani became President of Sudan, until ousted by Omar al-Bashir's 1989 military coup. Since then, the party's officials remained in exile. In 2001, the party once again suffered a split, when the party's General Secretariat accepted cabinet posts, while al-Mirghani's exile party refused participating in the unity government.^[1] With the splinter faction led by Jalal al-Digair referring to itself as the "Registered" Democratic Unionist Party, the al-Mirghani section started calling itself the "Original" Democratic Unionist Party. Both factions independently participated in the 2015 election, but won less than 5% in an election widely seen as rigged and "not a credible expression of the will of the Sudanese people"^[4][5][6]

Ideology

The party's main platform is in favour of a united Sudan, and previously Sudan and Egypt the downstream Nile River riparians.

The basic intellectual underpinnings of the party since its general congress in late 1960s, are: democratic pluralism politically, social democracy 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 'The sole basis of rights and duties should be based upon the Citizenship alone'."

The party has long-standing relations with the SPLM with whom it signed the Peace Deal of November 1988 in Ethiopia which was then opposed by the NIF party. It also enjoys good relationships with almost all the 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 during 1989-2005 until the signing of the Cairo Peace Agreement between the NDA and the government of Sudan. 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 performance

Sudanese Parliamentary Elections

References

External links

• Democratic Unionist Party on Facebook

Political parties in Sudan
Parliament	National Congress (323) Democratic Unionist Party (25) Democratic Unionist Party (al-Digair) (15) Other minor parties (44)
Unrepresented	Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party Organization of Sudan Region of Sudan Beja Congress Islamic Socialist Party Liberal Democrats Liberal Party of Sudan Nile Valley Unity Party National Umma Party Popular Congress Party Sudan Change Now Sudanese Ba'ath Party Sudanese Communist Party Sudanese Socialist Democratic Union
Banned	Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North
Defunct	Black Bloc Liberal Party National Islamic Front Nuba Mountains Union Republican Brotherhood Sudanese Communist Party – Revolutionary Leadership Sudanese Nile Party Workers' Forces
Coalitions	National Consensus Forces National Democratic Alliance
Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Sudan