Democratic Unionist Party (Sudan)
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For other political parties named Democratic Unionist Party, see Democratic Unionist Party (Disambiguation).'
The Democratic Unionist Party (Arabic: الحزب الإتحادي الديموقراطي) (Al Hizb Al-Ittihadi Al-Dimuqrati) is the oldest political party in Sudan.
Sudan's first President Ismail al-Azhari was a member of the party when it was known as the National Unionist Party. It was in 1967, in the house of Sayyid Ali Elmirghani, that Al-Azhari declared the new party under the name; Democratic Unionist Party.
The party's main platform is in favour of the unity of Sudan and previously Sudan and Egypt.
The symbolic head of the Sudan DUP is AlSayyid Muhammad Othman AlMirghani. He is also the head of the Khatmiya Sufi order and a descendant of the prophet Muhammad. He leads the DUP from his long self-imposed exile travelling between Al-Medina, Asmara and Cairo.
It is the only sudanese party to have ever solely governed the country through democratic elections (1952.)
In the last democratic elections (in 1984) the party won the largest number of votes but came second in the number of seats won in parliament (due to it having more than one candidate in a number of constituencies-a problem caused by the brief transition period following 16 years of dictatorship and a ban on political organisation.)
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 except the Turabi led Peoples Congress Party.
The last legislative elections, December 2000, were boycotted by the party (as well as the all the influential political parties)as it was deemed rigged by observers.
It has led the opposition against the NIF regime in Sudan represented by the NDA and is still an opposition party to the regime in Sudan.
The party views the NDA as a long term alliance that could rightly guide the political movement in Sudan in view of the events following the takeover of the NIF in June 1989.
