Union of Democrats for Citizenship and Development ( pt, União dos Democratas para Cidadania e Desenvolvimento) is a former

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 ...

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

, formed in January 2005. The party was formed amongst dissidents from the

Independent Democratic Action The Independent Democratic Action ( pt, Acção Democrática Independente) is a political party in São Tomé and Príncipe. It was established in 1994 by the then president Miguel Trovoada and is a politically centrist party. It took part in ...

(ADI). The UDD failed to win any 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 rep ...

following

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

held on 26 March 2006. The party supported

Patrice Trovoada Patrice Émery Trovoada (born 18 March 1962) is a São Toméan politician who is the 15th prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe since November 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister from February 2008 to June 2008, from August 2010 to ...

in the 30 July 2006

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

. He won 38.82% of the vote, finishing a distant second to the incumbent

Fradique de Menezes Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes (born March 21, 1942) is a São Toméan politician who was the third president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2001 to 2011. Early life Menezes was born on the then Portuguese colony of São Tomé in 1942, the s ...

, who received 60.58% of the vote.

Merger and coalition

In late October 2017 the party and the Force for Change Democratic Movement – Liberal Party (MDFM–PL) formed the MDFM–UDD union (initially known as MDFM/PL–UDD). The two parties formally merged as the MDFM–UDD Union in August 2018. Carlos Neves was elected chairman of the MDFM–UDD Union at its constitutive congress in August 2018. In August 2018 the new party entered into an electoral alliance with the PDC, which gained 9.5% of the vote and 5 seats in the 2018 parliamentary elections.

References

Political parties established in 2005 Political parties in São Tomé and Príncipe Centrist parties in Africa {{SaoTomePrincipe-stub