United Democratic Front (South Sudan)

The United Democratic Front (Juba Arabic: جبهة الديمقراطية المتحدة Jabhet Al-Dimoqratiyet Al-Mutahedat) is a political party in South Sudan. It is led by Patrick Greene.[1] The party is represented in the Interim National Assembly of Sudan and the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, where it holds four seats.[2]

United Democratic Salvation Front-Mainstream (UDSF-M)

جبهة الديمقراطية المتحدة
LeaderPatrick Greene
Founded2008 (2008)
HeadquartersJuba, South Sudan
IdeologyLiberalism
National Legislative Assembly
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Party flag

History

The United Democratic Front (UDF) was founded in 2002 by Peter Abdulrahman Sule. It has been the main opposition party in the country since South Sudan achieved its independence in 2011. It remains the second-largest political party in the country after the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the country's ruling party since 2005.

In 2011, the SPLM government arrested Sule. He remained in custody for two years without trial. In October 2013, he was released through a presidential amnesty issued by President H.E Salva Kiir Mayardit. When the country returned to civil conflict in December 2013 and again in 2015, an accord known as the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) was signed between SPLM-IO, SPLM-IG and other political parties.

During negotiations, the UDF party submitted, through email to the IGAD special envoy, its position on how the conflict in the country could be resolved. The government responded by confiscating the UDF chairman's passport. He was not allowed to travel to Addis Ababa to attend peace negotiations. The document put Sule's life in danger, as both the government and the main opposition (SPLM-IO) were unhappy about it.

In February 2014, Sule appointed Bona Deng Lawrence as his deputy and dismissed Sebastian Uchan Kiech as deputy chairman. These changes came due to Uchan's weak leadership. Uchan went into hiding when the chairman was arrested in 2011. He declared himself a parallel chairman of the party. This act reduced party focus and performance in national issues. On 31 December 2014, Sule fled to Uganda, seeking political asylum, but was rejected. In May 2015, news of his assassination was noted in different regional and international media houses. UDF, under the leadership of Lawrence, participated in the 2018 peace negotiations in both Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Khartoum, Sudan. These negotiations resulted in the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS).

References
  1. "Miraya FM: "Southern Sudanese parties to unite". Mirayafm.org. June 5, 2008.
  2. "South Sudanese political parties". Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2008.
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