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Khartoum, The Republic of Sudan
June 2003 - The Political Parties

As the Sudan's first democratic elections draws closer and closer, many political parties have begain their campaign towards winning seats in the national legislature as well as having the leader of the party becoming commander and chief and also Prime Minister of the new Republic.the following will be a list of all the main political parties in Sudan:

Democratic Unionist Party (DUB) :
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.

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, a mixed economy 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 sole basis of rights and duties should be based upon the Citizenship alone'."

National Umma Party (NUP) :
A moderate Islamic centrist political party in Sudan. It is led by Sadiq al-Mahdi, who served twice as Prime Minister of Sudan, and was removed both times by military coups.

In August 1944, Sayyid Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, leader of the Ansar, met with senior Congress members and tribal leaders to discuss the formation of a pro-independence political party that was not associated with Mahdism. They launched a daily newspaper, al-Umma (The Community). In February 1945 the al-Umma party was organized and the party's first secretary, Abdullah Khalil, applied for a government license. The constitution made no mention of Abd al-Rahman or of the Ansar. The only visible link to Abd al-Rahman was the party's reliance on him for funding. However, rumors held that al-Umma had been created by the government and aimed to place Abd al-Rahman in power. These rumors persisted until June 1945, when the government publicly said it would not support a Mahdist monarchy.

Sadiq al-Mahdi has been the prominent leader of the faction through much of its history.

Sudanese Ba'ath Party (SBP) :
The party emerged from a split within the pro-Iraqi Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Country of Sudan in 2002. Another Sudanese faction, led by Kamal Bolad remained in the pan-Arab party. (I copy from Wikipedia. They don't have much going for them)

Liberal Party (LP) :
The party was formed by Dr. Fatima Nageeb through the merger of the Sudan Liberal Party, the Sudanese Democratic Movement, the Movement of New Democratic Forces (HAQ) and the United Leadership and the Sudanese Democratic Party on 4 September 2002. It operated under the name United Democratic Liberal Party, till the first convention of the party in November 2002, where its name has changed to Liberal Democratic Party. On 1 March 2003 the party changed its name to the Liberal Party of Sudan.

The party's ideology is social liberalism. LP was the first and the only political party in Sudan calling openly for a social market economy. Its predecessor, the SLP published one of the most advanced economic programs in this field, calling for the creation of social market projects in the border areas of Darfur and Eastern Sudan and programs of rebuilding the war-devastated areas based on Social market principles.

The LP is one of the most active forces in defending human rights and women's rights, calling for justice and comprehensive peace in Southern, Eastern and Western Sudan (Darfur). It was active in the 2000 Sudanese Revolution in Khartoum and major cities, where five members of its political council were detained for more than a month.

women, which gives it the highest rate of female membership of all of Sudan's political parties, and 74% of members are younger than 35 years old.

Binaa Sudan Party (BSP) :
abbreviated BSP, is a political party in Sudan. Established February 2001 following an invitation from the Sudanese Shadow Government, a group of youth professionals who joined together to form a non-ideological organisation to produce a practical manifesto to put solutions for Sudan's state problems. Binaa Sudan Party is a Transpartisan organization. BSP has signed the Deceleration of Freedom and Change, which is an alliance that initiated and led the topple of Omar Al-Bashir in 2001.

The Sudanese Shadow Government is a political organization which announced its establishment on 24 December 1995 in Khartoum, Sudan. After 5 years of attempting to reform the political environment in Sudan, it called for establishing a new political party to lead the change in political agenda, aiming to stop the ideology based conflict to shift the political competition towards addressing citizens' problems and concerns. Binaa Sudan Party seeks to transcend traditional political boundaries to be a Transpartisan organization. It is currently being led by the current Prime Minister of Sudan Abdalah Hamdok.

Atlentina