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Democratic Unionist Party الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي Al Hizb Al-Ittihadi Al-Dimuqrati | |
|---|---|
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| Founder | SayyidAli al-Mirghani,Ismail Al-Azhari |
| Founded | 1952 (1952) |
| Merger of | KhatmiyyaSufi order Ashigga Party |
| Headquarters | Khartoum |
| Ideology | Sudanesenationalism Liberal conservatism Secularism Mixed economy Historical: New Sudan |
| Political position | Centre-right[1] |
| National affiliation | National Democratic Alliance |
| National Assembly | 0 / 426 |
| Party flag | |
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TheDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP;Arabic:الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي,romanized: al-Hizb al-Ittihadi al-Dimuqrati), also referred to by itself as theOriginal Democratic Unionist Party, is apolitical party inSudan, closely tied to theKhatmiyyaSufi order.
Established in 1952 as theNational Unionist Party (NUP), it is one of two political parties predating Sudan's independence, along with theUmma Party. Founded by Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani II's Khatmiyya order andIsmail al-Azhari's urban nationalistAshigga Party (est. 1943), it is often considered Sudan's oldest political party.[2] Having won a clear majority in Sudan'sfirst parliamentary election, al-Azhari became Sudan's firstprime minister, who in 1955 declared independence from colonial rule.
The party broke apart in 1956, with the Khatmiyya order founding the newPeople's Democratic Party (PDP), but reunited in 1967, resulting in the current name. In 1986, DUP leaderAhmed al-Mirghani becamePresident of Sudan until ousted byOmar al-Bashir's military coup in 1989. While the party's official leadership around Muhammad Uthman al-Mirghani II remained in exile, theKhartoum-based Political Secretariat seceded in 2011, resulting in the split into theRegistered Democratic Unionist Party led by Jalal al-Digair.
The party emerged in 1952 from the historic approach of theKhatmiyyaSufi order, founded in the first half of the 19th century byMohammed Uthman al-Mirghani II, andIsmail al-Azhari's urban nationalist Ashigga Party, established in 1943.[3] In Sudan'sfirst parliamentary election the NUP won a legislative majority, making al-Azhari the firstSudanese Prime Minister underBritish–Egyptian colonial rule.[2] On 19 December 1955, shortly after theFirst Sudanese Civil War had broken out, al-Azhari, declared theIndependence 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 newPeople's Democratic Party (PDP). The party subsequently lost its majority, but remained a major political force even afterGeneral Abboud's 1958coup d'état.
Al-Azhari and PDP leaderMohamed Osman al-Mirghani reunited in December 1967 in the presence of KingFaisal of Saudi Arabia. Reestablished under the new nameDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP), the party won the1968 election and subsequently formed a coalition government with theUmma Party. The government's proposal of an Islamic constitution thus making Sudan anArabMuslim state lead toColonel Nimeiry's1969 coup d'état and the abolition of the parliament.
The party shortly returned to the political landscape in the1986 election, where it won the largest number of votes though came second in number of seats having allowed too much freedom to its membership for constituency nominations.Ahmed al-Mirghani becamePresident of Sudan, until ousted byOmar al-Bashir's1989 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, followingGeneral al-Burhan'scoup in 2021, party leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani returned to lead the party from Sudan, then shortly returned toEgypt where he resided for the last 3 decades.[7]
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The party's main platform is in favour of a unitedSudan, and previously a unitedSudan andEgypt.
The basic intellectual underpinnings of the party since its general congress in late 1960s, are:democraticpluralism politically, amixed economy economically, and the establishment of asecular 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 theSudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) with whom it signed the Peace Deal of November 1988 inEthiopia which was then opposed by theNational Islamic Front (NIF). It also enjoys good relationships with almost all Sudanese political groups.
The lastlegislativeelections, December 2000, were boycotted by the party, as most of the political groups, described as unfair and rigged.
Through theNational Democratic Alliance it played a major role in the opposition to the NIF regime in Sudan from 1989 until the signing of the Cairo Peace Agreement between theNDA and theGovernment 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 theNational Democratic Alliance as a long-term alliance that could rightly guide the political movement inSudan.
| Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Hatim al-Sir | 195,668 | 1.93% | Lost N |
| Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Ismail al-Azhari | 229,221 | Not released | 51 / 97 |  51 |
| 1958 | Ismail al-Azhari | Not released | Not released | 45 / 173 |  6 |
| 1965 | Ismail al-Azhari | Not released | Not released | 59 / 207 | 14 |
| 1968 | Ismail al-Azhari | 742,226 | 40.8% | 101 / 218 | 63 |
| 1986 | Ahmed al-Mirghani | 1,163,961 | 29.5 | 63 / 301 | 63 |
| 2010 | Hatim al-Sir | Not released | Not released | 2 / 426 | 2 |
| 2015 | Not released | Not released | 25 / 426 | 23 |
