Popular Congress Party حزب المؤتمر الشعبي | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Ibrahim El Sanousi |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Split from | National Congress Party |
| Headquarters | Khartoum |
| Newspaper | Ray al-Shaab |
| Ideology |
Sudanese
nationalism Islamism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| National affiliation | National Consensus Forces (NCF) |
| National Assembly of Sudan | 0 / 354
|
| Council of States of Sudan | 0 / 50
|
| Website | |
| popularcongress.org | |
The Popular Congress Party (PCP, Arabic: حزب المؤتمر الشعبي) is a Islamist political party in Sudan. The party was founded by Hassan al-Turabi. [1]
The party emerged from a split within the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in 1999, due to differences between Turabi and President Omar al-Bashir. [1] The party is one of the most outspoken against the NCP, advocating a popular uprising to overthrow the government. [2] The party relies heavily on displaced Western Sudanese living in Khartoum's shanty towns for support. [1]
The party is a member of the National Consensus Forces opposition alliance. [3]
History
Al-Turabi had a falling out with al-Bashir in 1999, when al-Turabi again began to spend time in jail or under house arrest. [4] The power struggle between al-Bashir and al-Turabi resulted in al-Turabi’s expulsion from the NCP. [4] As a consequence, al-Turabi established the PCP (initially called the Popular National Congress) in August 2000 in opposition to the NCP. [4]
After al-Turabi created the PCP, al-Bashir’s security forces regularly harassed its meetings and arrested participants. [4] In February 2001, the PCP signed a “memorandum of understanding” in Geneva with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. [4] Among other things, the memorandum noted that self-determination is a legitimate right of the people of South Sudan. [4] Al-Turabi saw the memorandum as a way to undermine al-Bashir and improve his own position; it resulted in al-Turabi’s arrest. [4] After three months in prison, the government released al-Turabi from prison and put him under house arrest. [4] PCP activity virtually came to a halt; al-Bashir dropped charges against PCP supporters near the end of 2001. [4] Released from detention, al-Turabi was rearrested in March 2003 on charges of masterminding a coup attempt. [4] The government dismissed these charges against al-Turabi and the PCP in December 2004 but continued to keep him in detention and banned party activity. [4] Al-Turabi managed, however, to have a significant impact on political developments in Sudan from jail or house arrest and eventually was released. [4] There is strong evidence that the PCP established an alliance with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in Darfur in order to put additional pressure on the government. [4] In the flawed April 2010 elections, the PCP candidate for president, Abdullah Deng Nhial, a Muslim from the Dinka tribe, received only 4 percent of the vote. [4]
The party newspaper, Ray al-Shaab, has been banned since 2012. [5]
References
- ^ a b c Hassan al-Turabi
- ^ Popular Congress Party (PCP)
- ^ National Consensus Forces (NCF)
- ^
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n Shinn, David H. (2015).
"Popular Congress Party" (PDF). In Berry, LaVerle (ed.). Sudan : a country study (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.:
Federal Research Division,
Library of Congress. pp. 254–256.
ISBN
978-0-8444-0750-0.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain.{{ cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: postscript ( link) - ^ "South Sudanese rebels, former detainees discuss relations". 14 May 2014.
