Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
| Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social | |
|---|---|
| Party leader | Félix Tshisekedi |
| Secretary General | Jean-Marc Kabund-a-Kabund |
| founding | February 15, 1982 |
| Headquarters | Kinshasa |
| Alignment |
Social Democracy Left Liberalism Progressivism |
| Colours) | Yellow, red, blue |
| International connections |
Socialist International (SI) (observer), Progressive Alliance Democratic Union of Africa |
| Website | www.udps.org |
The Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) (German: "Union for Democracy and Social Progress") is a social liberal party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is one of the most important parties. Its long-time chairman, Félix Tshisekedi , has been the country's president since 2019.
The party has the longest-running political activity of any current party in the country as it was founded in 1982 and has been continuously active in politics ever since. In 2008 it had one of the largest membership of any political party in the country, with several million members. The Union for Democracy and Progress boycotted the 2006 election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because it feared election fraud. Etienne Tshisekedi , the former leader of the party, ran as the UDPS's top candidate in the 2011 election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . His son, Félix Tshisekedi, was appointed party leader after his death. Bruno Tshibala is one of the party's co-founders and long-standing top functionaries, but was not appointed as chairman and ultimately expelled from the UDPS; he subsequently founded the UDPS-Tshibala and served as Prime Minister from 2017 to 2019 at the request of President Joseph Kabila .
In 2019, Félix Tshisekedi became president of the country as a result of the controversial presidential election in 2018 . At the same time, however, the UDPS lost a large part of its MPs, so that Tshisekedi has since been dependent on MPs who are loyal to the former President Kabila.
In May 2020, Jean-Marc Kabund , General Secretary and Acting Party Chairman, was removed from his post as First Vice-President of the Chamber of Parliament by a majority of MPs in the National Assembly . This led to violent clashes in parliament.
The party has observer status with the Socialist International .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Africa's chaotic parliaments: Zimbabwe joins Uganda, South Africa. africanews.com, May 27, 2020, accessed May 27, 2020
- ↑ http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticlePageID=931