The Movement for Democracy and Progress (french: Mouvement pour la Démocratie et le Progrès, MDP), also known as the People's Democratic Movement (''Mouvement Démocratique Populaire'') was a political party in the
Comoros.
History
Based in
Moroni, the party campaigned for the constitution approved in a
1992 referendum, and contested the
subsequent parliamentary elections later in the year. Although the party received the highest vote share at 10.4%, it won only three seats in the
Assembly of the Union
The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( my, ပြည်ထောင်စု လွှတ်တော် lit. Assembly of the Union) is the ''de jure'' national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar (officially known as the ''Republic of the Union of My ...
, whilst the
Union of Democrats for Development won seven seats.
Elections in the Comoros
African Elections Database
In the early parliamentary elections the following year the party won only two seats. In 1994 the MDP joined with other opposition to form the Forum for National Recovery (FRN), an alliance opposed to President Said Mohamed Djohar
Said Mohammed Djohar ( ar, سعيد محمد جوهر 22 August 1918 – 22 February 2006) was a Comorian politician who served as the 4th President of the Comoros from 1989 to 1995.
Climb to power
Born in Majunga, Madagascar, Djohar w ...
.
The MDP nominated Abbas Djoussouf Abbas Djoussouf (22 March 1942 – 13 June 2010) was a politician in The Comoros. He was Prime Minister from 22 November 1998 until 30 April 1999. He was the main opposition leader when named Prime Minister by Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde in a move ...
as its candidate for the 1996 presidential elections. Djoussouf finished second in the first round of voting, progressing to the runoff, where he was defeated by UDD candidate Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim
Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim ( ar, محمد تقي عبد الكريم 20 February 1936 – 6 November 1998) was President of the Comoros from 25 March 1996 until his death on 6 November 1998.
Life
He was born in Mbeni, Grande Comore and issued fa ...
by a margin of 64%–36%. The MDP subsequently boycotted the parliamentary elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ...
later in the year. However, Djoussouf was appointed Prime Minister in November 1998. Following a coup in 1999, the MDP left the FRN, as some member parties had supported the coup.
Djoussouf was the MDP candidate again for the 2002 presidential elections, but finished fourth out of the nine candidates in the first round. Prior to the 2004 parliamentary elections the MDP joined the Camp of the Autonomous Islands alliance. The alliance won 12 of the 18 elected and all 15 of the indirectly-elected seats.
References
Defunct political parties in the Comoros
{{Comoros-stub