Democratic Union of the Malian People

Democratic Union of the Malian People (French: Union Démocratique du Peuple Malien, UDPM) was a political party in Mali. Its main organ was the daily newspaper L'Essor-La Voix du Peuple, which had a circulation of 40.000. It was the largest newspaper in the country as of the mid-1980s.[1]

Democratic Union of the Malian People

Union démocratique du peuple malien
Founded1975
Dissolved1991
HeadquartersBamako, Mali
NewspaperL'Essor-La Voix du Peuple
IdeologySocialism
Democratic centralism

History

The party was founded by the CMLN military junta regime in order to provide it with political legitimacy. On 22 September 1975 Moussa Traoré announced that the party would be formed, with himself as general secretary.[2] Upon the restoration of civilian rule in 1979, it became the only legal party in Mali.

The UDPM organized itself along the Marxist-Leninist tenet of democratic centralism; but, as with many other African socialist parties, it did not identify itself as Marxist due to the perceived association between Marxism and atheism; the Malian political elite was mostly Muslim, and Muslim religious leaders played a key role in the independence movement. UDPM had a Central Executive Bureau with 19 members and a National Council with 137 members.[2] As the party's general secretary, Traoré was the only candidate for president of the republic. He was automatically elected for a six-year term and confirmed in office in the 1979 general elections, whilst voters were presented with a single list of UDPM candidates for the National Assembly. This was repeated in elections in 1982, 1985 and 1988.

Following a coup by Amadou Toumani Touré in 1991, the party was dissolved in the same year.

Electoral history

Presidential Elections
Election Party candidate Votes % Result
1979 Moussa Traoré 3,298,477 100% Elected Y
1985 100% Elected Y

National Assembly elections
Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
1979 Moussa Traoré 3,180,565 99.9%
82 / 82
 82 1st Sole legal party
1982 3,437,505 99.9%
82 / 82
 1st Sole legal party
1985 100%
82 / 82
 1st Sole legal party
1988 3,615,779 100%
82 / 82
 1st Sole legal party

References
  1. Hela Världen i Fakta '86. Stockholm: Bonnier Fakta Bokförlag, 1985. p. 163
  2. Imperato, Pascal James. Mali: A Search for Direction. Boulder: Westview Press, 1989.
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