Democratic Unionist Party (Sudan)
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP; Arabic: الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي, romanized: 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.
Democratic Unionist Party الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي Al Hizb Al-Ittihadi Al-Dimuqrati | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Sayyid Ali al-Mirghani, Ismail Al-Azhari |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Merger of | Khatmiyya Sufi order Ashigga Party |
| Headquarters | Khartoum |
| Ideology | Nationalism Liberal conservatism Secularism Historically: Sudanese reunification |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| National affiliation | National Democratic Alliance |
| National Assembly of Sudan | 0 / 354 |
| Council of States of Sudan | 0 / 50 |
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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 II's Khatmiyya order and Ismail al-Azhari's urban nationalist Ashigga Party (est. 1943), it is often considered Sudan's oldest political party. 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 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.