The Union for Democracy and the Republic (french: Union pour la Démocratie et la République-Mwinda) 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 ...

in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

André Milongo André Ntsatouabantou Milongo (20 October 1935
, lechoc.info . – 23 July 2007) was a

, who was the country's transitional Prime Minister from 1991 to 1992, was the President of the UDR-Mwinda until his death in 2007.Nella Sowp and Robert Gaillard
"Congo Brazzaville : Décès d'André Milongo Nsatouabantu"
Kimpwanza, July 23, 2007 .

History

The UDR-Mwinda was founded in October 1992."Vie des partis : L'UDR-Mwinda se dote de nouvelles instances de direction"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', April 14, 2008 . In the 1993 parliamentary election, the UDR-Mwinda won two seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, including one for Milongo, who was elected as President of the National Assembly."Biographie d'André Milongo"
lechoc.info . In the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 26 May and 23 June 2002, the party won 6 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly. In the

held on June 24 and August 5, 2007, the UDR-Mwinda won one seat out of 137; it was, along with the

Pan-African Union for Social Democracy The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (french: Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale, UPADS) is a political party in the Republic of the Congo headed by Pascal Lissouba, who was President from 1992 to 1997. It has been the country' ...

(UPADS), one of two opposition parties represented in the National Assembly. Following Milongo's death in July 2007, the UDR-Mwinda held a national congress in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

on April 12–13 2008, pledging to uphold Milongo's political thought. At the congress,

Guy Kinfoussia Romain Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorpo ...

, a retired military officer, was elected as President of the UDR-Mwinda; in addition, a political bureau and a 150-member national council were elected. Romain spoke on this occasion of the party's continuing opposition to the

Congolese Party of Labour The Congolese Party of Labour (french: Parti congolais du travail, PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party which founded the Peop ...

-led government and said that the UDR-Mwinda wanted "to play a major role within the

Alliance for the New Republic An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alli ...

", an opposition coalition. Along with UPADS and the

Rally for Democracy and Development The Rally for Democracy and Development (''Rassemblement pour la Démocratie et le Développement''; RDD) is a political party in the Republic of the Congo. It has been one of the main participants in a coalition known as the African Socialist Move ...

(RDD), the UDR-Mwinda formed the Alliance for the New Republic on May 11, 2007. Complaining that the 2007 parliamentary election and the 2008 local elections were "masquerades", this coalition withdrew from participation in national and local electoral commissions in August 2008. It wanted a new and independent electoral commission, in addition to an "all-inclusive national dialogue" prior to the 2009 presidential election."Three Congolese opposition parties withdraw from electoral commission"
African Press Agency, August 14, 2008.

References

{{Republic of the Congo political parties Political parties in the Republic of the Congo Political parties established in 1992 1992 establishments in the Republic of the Congo