The Chadian Democratic Union (french: Union Démocratique Tchadienne, UDT) was a political party in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Repub ...

History

The party was established in

Fort Lamy N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or '' arrondissements''. The city serves as the centre of economic activity in Chad. Meat, fish and cotton processing are th ...

in 1945. Following the General Council elections, members of the Chadian-French Progressive List (which had won 7 seats), Republican Union (four seats) and Franco-Chadian Progressive Group (unrepresented) formed the new party, which was also joined by two of the three elected independents. Its founders were mainly by

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n traditional leaders including Gontchomé Sahoulba, with the party representing French commercial interests and a bloc of traditional leaders composed primarily of Muslim and Ouaddaïan

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. It was linked with the

Rally of the French People The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his res ...

(RPF), a

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle wi ...

conservative political party representing the Europeans in Chad, and also sided with the other political parties founded in Chad by European expatriates. Members of the UDT party at first won easily local elections; it won both seats in the June 1946 French National Assembly elections. Although it only won one seat in the November 1946 elections, it won all three seats in the 1951 elections. In the 1952 Territorial Assembly elections the party received 72% of the Second College vote, winning 24 of the 30 seats, whilst the RPF won all 15 First College seats. However, from 1953 it began to be superseded by Chadian Social Action, which had broken away from the UDT. As a result, the UDT started dissolving itself, having also come under threat from the emergence of the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT), which was more radical and nationalistic. In the 1957 Territorial Assembly elections, which saw a victory for the PPT, the UDT had only a marginal role as an ally of the PPT. The party was dissolved in 1960.Chad: Defunct parties
EISA

References

Defunct political parties in Chad 1945 establishments in Chad Political parties established in 1945 1960 disestablishments in Chad Political parties disestablished in 1960 {{Chad-stub