The United Democratic Front (

Juba Arabic Juba Arabic (, ; ar, عربية جوبا, ‘Arabīyat Jūbā), also known since 2011 as South Sudanese Arabic, is a lingua franca spoken mainly in Equatoria Province in South Sudan, and derives its name from the South Sudanese capital, Juba. ...

: جبهة الديمقراطية المتحدة ''Jabhet Al-Dimoqratiyet Al-Mutahedat'') 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 ideological or p ...

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 ...

. It is led by Peter Abdurahman Sule. The party is represented in the Interim

National Assembly of Sudan The National Assembly ( ar, المجلس الوطني السوداني, ''Al-Maǧlis al-Waṭaniy'') is the lower house of the National Legislature of Sudan. The Legislature was unicameral until 2005. The upper house is the Council of States ( ...

and the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, where it holds four seats. The United Democratic Front (UDF) party was founded in 2002 by Peter Abdulrahman Sule. It has been the main opposition party in the country since the Republic of South Sudan achieved its independence in 2011. It remains the second-largest political party in the country after the

Sudan People's Liberation Movement The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM; ar, الحركة الشعبية لتحرير السودان, ''Al-Ḥarakat ash-Shaʿbiyyat liTaḥrīr as-Sūdān'') is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political w ...

(SPLM), the country's ruling party since 2005. In 2011, the SPLM government arrested Sule. He remained in detention for two years without trial. In October 2013, he was released through a presidential amnesty issued by H.E

Salva Kiir Mayardit Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Governmen ...

the president of the

Republic of South Sudan A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

. When conflict erupted in December 2013, an accord known as

the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS), 2015 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

was signed between SPLM-IO, GRSS, Former Detainees (FDs) and other political parties. This agreement did not hold long and the country return to war again in July 2016 During negotiations of 2014-2015, UDF party submitted through email to the IGAD special envoy, its position on how the conflict in the country could be resolved. The government responded by confiscating the passport of the party's chairman. He was not allowed to travel to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

to attend peace negotiations. The document put Sule's life in danger, as both the government and the main opposition (SPLM-IO) were unhappy about it. In February 2014, Sule appointed Bona Deng Lawrence as his deputy and relieve and dismissed Sebastian Uchan Kiech from his position as deputy chairman. These changes came due to Uchan's weak leadership. This was proved when Uchan went into hidings in 2011, immediately after chairman Sule was arrested. after his relieve from the position of deputy chairman, He illegally declared himself a parallel chairman of the party. This act harmed party reputation and negatively affected party focus and performance in national issues. On 31 December 2014, Sule fled to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, seeking political asylum, which was granted to him and his family members. In July 2015, news of his assassination was all over EAC and international media houses as well as social media. UDF, under the leadership of Lawrence, participated in the 2018 peace negotiations in both

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, and

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

, Sudan. These negotiations resulted in the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in September 2018.

Notable people

Duoth Koang Rueh Wour Duoth Koang Rueh Wour is a South Sudanese politician, belonging to the United Democratic Front. He was elected to the Jonglei State Legislative Assembly in 2010 as a UDF party list candidate (the sole non-SPLM The Sudan People's Liberation Mov ...

, South Sudanese politician

References

External links

Sudan Electionnaire
{{Authority control Political parties in South Sudan Liberal parties in Africa Political parties established in 2008 Organisations based in Juba