The Unionist Democratic Union (Arabic: الاتحاد الديمقراطي الوحدوي; French: Union démocratique unioniste) is a political party in Tunisia with pan-Arabist ideology.[2]
Unionist Democratic Union الاتحاد الديمقراطي الوحدوي | |
|---|---|
 | |
| French name | Union démocratique unioniste |
| Abbreviation | UDU |
| Leader | Ahmed Inoubli |
| Founded | 30 November 1988 |
| Split from | Constitutional Democratic Rally |
| Headquarters | 80 avenue Hédi Chaker Tunis |
| Ideology | Pan-Arabism Arab nationalism Arab socialism[1] |
| Assembly of the Representatives of the People | 0 / 217 |
History and profile edit
The party was founded on 30 November 1988 when it was recognized by the authorities.[3] Its founder and first secretary-general Abderrahmane Tlili had been a member of the RCD before he founded the UDU in order to gather Arab nationalists, including Baathists and Nasserists, in a party that was close to the government.[4] The party publishes a newspaper, entitled Al Watan.[3]
In 1994, the electoral law was changed, ensuring the parliamentary representation of minor parties. The MDS received three of 163 seats (19 being reserved for the opposition).[5] In the 1999 election, the party won seven seats, which it won again in the 2004 election. In 2009, this increased to nine seats.
In the election for the Constituent Assembly after the Tunisian revolution of 2011, the UDU failed to win any seats.
Footnotes edit
- ^ Boyan Belev (2000), Forcing Freedom: Political Control of Privatization and Economic Opening in Egypt and Tunisia, University Press of America, p. 104
- ^ C. Carpenter (2006). Tunisia: Government. London: Marshall Cavendish. p. 1274. ISBN 978-0-7614-7571-2.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ a b "Tunisia - Opposition Parties". Global Security. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ Ridha Kéfi (29 September 2003), "«L'affaire Tlili » commence", Jeune Afrique
- ^ Susan E. Waltz (1995), Human Rights and Reform: Changing the Face of North African Politics, University of California Press, p. 59