Democratic Unionist Party

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP; ), 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 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. 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 II, and Ismail al-Azhari's urban nationalist Ashigga Party, established in 1943. In Sudan's first parliamentary election the NUP won a legislative majority, making al-Azhari the first Sudanese Prime Minister under British–Egyptian colonial rule. 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 1958 coup d'état.