The Popular Congress Party (PCP, ar, حزب المؤتمر الشعبي) is a Islamist

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 ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. The party was founded by Hassan al-Turabi.Hassan al-Turabi
/ref> 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. The party is one of the most outspoken against the NCP, advocating a popular uprising to overthrow the government. The party relies heavily on displaced Western Sudanese living in Khartoum's shanty towns for support. The party is a member of the

National Consensus Forces The National Consensus Forces (NCF, ''Ij’maa'') is a coalition of political parties in Sudan that opposed the rule of the National Congress Party, and was initially formed to stand against the NCP in the 2010 Sudanese elections. Farouk Abu Iss ...

opposition alliance.

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 In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

. The power struggle between al-Bashir and al-Turabi resulted in al-Turabi’s expulsion from the NCP. As a consequence, al-Turabi established the PCP (initially called the Popular National Congress) in August 2000 in opposition to the NCP. After al-Turabi created the PCP, al-Bashir’s security forces regularly harassed its meetings and arrested participants. In February 2001, the PCP signed a “memorandum of understanding” in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. Among other things, the memorandum noted that self-determination is a legitimate right of the people of

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. Al-Turabi saw the memorandum as a way to undermine al-Bashir and improve his own position; it resulted in al-Turabi’s arrest. After three months in prison, the government released al-Turabi from prison and put him under house arrest. PCP activity virtually came to a halt; al-Bashir dropped charges against PCP supporters near the end of 2001. Released from detention, al-Turabi was rearrested in March 2003 on charges of masterminding a coup attempt. 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. Al-Turabi managed, however, to have a significant impact on political developments in Sudan from jail or house arrest and eventually was released. There is strong evidence that the PCP established an alliance with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

in order to put additional pressure on the government. In the flawed April 2010 elections, the PCP candidate for president, Abdullah Deng Nhial, a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

from the Dinka tribe, received only 4 percent of the vote. The party newspaper, ''Ray al-Shaab'', has been banned since 2012.

References

External links

Party websiteFacebook page
{{Sudanese political parties Islamic political parties in Sudan Sunni Islam in Sudan Muslim Brotherhood