The National Unity Party (french: Parti de l'unité nationale, PUN) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. It was the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' only political party in the country during the

Duvalier dynasty The Duvalier dynasty (french: Dynastie des Duvalier, ht, Dinasti Duvalier) was an autocratic family dictatorship in Haiti that lasted almost twenty-nine years, from 1957 until 1986, spanning the rule of the father-and-son duo François and Jean- ...

(french: Dynastie des Duvalier), the autocratic family dictatorship of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, which lasted from 1957 to 1986.

History

The PUN was founded in 1957 as a political platform to support the

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

candidacy of "Papa Doc" Duvalier in the 1957 general election. In the aftermath of the July 1958 coup d'état attempt, the '' Tonton Macoute'' — officially named Volunteers of the National Security (french: Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale, VSN) — was formed as the

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

wing of the PUN. In 1963, other political parties in Haiti were outlawed, making the PUN the single political party of the nation. When "Papa Doc" Duvalier died in 1971, his son "Baby Doc" Duvalier succeeded him as the President of the country and the leader of the party. The party would remain in power until the fall and exile of "Baby Doc" Duvalier in 1986, at the height of the

Anti-Duvalier protest movement The Anti-Duvalier protest movement was a series of demonstrations in Haiti from 23 May 1984 – 7 February 1986 that led to the overthrow of President Jean-Claude Duvalier and the Duvalier dynasty regime and the readoption of the original flag ...

, after which the party would enter a low profile stage, including the change of its name to National Progressive Party (french: Parti progressiste national, PPN). After the return of "Baby Doc" Duvalier from exile in 2011, the party began a process of reconstitution under its original name from 2014, and started opening departmental offices. Suffering a setback with the death of "Baby Doc" Duvalier in 2014, the party nominated Marc-Arthur Drouillard as its candidate in the 2015 presidential election. Towards that time, the legal representative of the party was Philomène Exe.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Chamber of Deputies elections

References

{{Haitian political parties Political parties in Haiti Parties of one-party systems Political parties established in 1957 Haitian nationalism African and Black nationalism in North America African and Black nationalist parties Afro-Haitian culture Anti-communist parties 1957 establishments in Haiti

History

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Chamber of Deputies elections

See also

References