The Popular Unity Party was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

led by Youssif Hamdan. It was founded in 1995 and was initially known as the Communist Party of Iraq (CPI). The CPI split away from the

Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( '; ) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a prominent role in shaping the political history of Iraq between it ...

during the latter period of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

. Many saw the CPI as a puppet party of the regime, whose existence would give the outside world an impression that the country was a multi-party state. The party met with foreign delegations visiting

. It seemed the intentions of the party would've been to join the government as a junior partner within the National Progressive Front, similar to the coalition of the same name set-up in neighbouring

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, but the idea was later discarded. The CPI was never given possibility to register as a legal party, though its leader was in the Iraqi parliament as of 2001.''Jewish Political Studies Review'' Vol. 13. 2001. p. 234. Following the fall of the Saddam's regime in 2003, the party was reconstructed as the Popular Unity Party.

References

1995 establishments in Iraq Communist parties in Iraq Iraqi Communist Party breakaway groups Political parties established in 1995 {{Iraq-party-stub