UPRONA
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The Union for National Progress (, UPRONA) is a
nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, 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, ...
in
Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...
. Initially it emerged as a nationalist
united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...
in opposition to Belgian colonial rule but subsequently became an integral part of the
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
established by
Michel Micombero Michel Micombero (26 August 194016 July 1983) was a Burundian military officer and politician who ruled the country as ''de facto'' military dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. He was the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Burundi ...
after 1966. Dominated by members of the Tutsi ethnic group and increasingly intolerant to their
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...
counterparts, UPRONA remained the dominant force in Burundian politics until the latter stages of the
Burundian Civil War The Burundian Civil War was a civil war in Burundi lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of longstanding ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnic groups. The conflict began following the first multi-party electi ...
in 2003. It is currently a minor opposition party.


History

Sources differ on the circumstances of UPRONA's founding. According to political scientist Warren Weinstein, UPRONA was created shortly after a 1958 meeting of customary chiefs and clergy convened by Burundian prince
Louis Rwagasore Prince Louis Rwagasore (; 10 January 1932 – 13 October 1961) was a Burundian prince and politician, who was the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa f ...
and
Léopold Biha Léopold Bihumugani (1919–2003), better known as Léopold Biha, was a Burundian politician who served as Prime Minister of Burundi from 13 September 1965 until 8 July 1966. An ethnic Ganwa born to a chief in Ruanda-Urundi, he became a close con ...
to discuss nationalist ideas. According to Biha, UPRONA was created in 1957 to protest a Belgian administrative reorganisation that disempowered the monarchy. According to linguist Ellen K. Eggers, UPRONA was formed in the late 1950s and Rwagasore became heavily involved with it in 1958. Historian Ludo De Witte wrote that Rwagasore and some associates organised the first UPRONA meetings in September and October 1958. According to Governor
Jean-Paul Harroy Jean-Paul Harroy (4 May 1909 – 8 July 1995) was a Belgian colonial civil servant who served as the last Governor and only Resident-General of Ruanda-Urundi. His term coincided with the Rwandan Revolution and the assassination of the popular Bur ...
, Rwagasore founded the party in late 1959. It received official recognition from the colonial administration as a political party on 7 January 1960. Rwagasore took virtual control over the movement, though his familial connection to the Mwami disqualified him from holding any party offices and he officially served UPRONA only as an advisor. UPRONA was able to secure the early financial support of the Swahili population in Bujumbura and
Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...
coastline. The party initially was strongly identified with the interests of the Bezi lineage of Ganwa and support for traditional institutions, but this alignment fell apart after Rwagasore came into conflict with his father. Under Rwagasore, UPRONA pushed a program of modernisation, committing neither to a return to the feudal system nor a complete societal transformation. He used symbols of the monarchy to communicate his message and often emphasised his princely status at public appearances, but he stressed that UPRONA would support the monarchy "only insofar as this regime and its dynasty favoured the genuine emancipation of the Murundi people". Rwagasore sought to transform UPRONA into a
mass 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 ideological or polic ...
with broad-base appeal across different regions, ethnicities, and castes. Wary of the growing
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...
–
Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu languages, Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi ( ...
ethnic conflict in Ruanda, he sought to counteract tensions by bringing members of both groups into UPRONA's leadership. Formal party positions at both the national and local levels were usually evenly divided between Hutus and Tutsis, though the latter tended to occupy the most important offices. The party enjoyed some cohesive success in Usumbura, but never truly cultivated a mass political base, especially outside the capital. UPRONA's internal rules set devolved responsibilities to the central committee, but in practice the party operated at the whim of Rwagasore; it retained relatively weak organisational capability and was held together by his charismatic leadership. His populist tendencies and personal popularity led many of the original chiefs who had supported UPRONA, including founding member Biha, to leave the party and engage in their own political activities. In their place, the party relied upon the support of seminary graduates,
évolué In the Belgian and French colonial empires, an (, 'evolved one' or 'developed one') was an African who had been Europeanised through education and assimilation and had accepted European values and patterns of behavior. spoke French and foll ...
s, and younger chiefs. Shortly before Burundi's first municipal elections in 1960, the Belgian administration—fearful of communist sympathies in UPRONA—placed Rwagasore under house arrest and forced many other party figures into exile. UPRONA declared a boycott of the elections which, UPRONA's rivals, specifically the
Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
(''Parti Démocratique Chrétien'', PDC), performed well in, with Belgian support. Of the 2,876 offices available, UPRONA won 545, while the PDC won 942. UPRONA was not represented in the national transitional government established by the colonial administration in January 1961. For the 1961 legislative elections, UPRONA concentrated its entire election campaign on Rwagasore, using his charisma to rally substantial support. Burundi hosted
legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
on 18 September 1961. With approximately 80% voter turnout, UPRONA won 58 of 64 seats in the Legislative Assembly, and Rwagasore was declared . Ten days later the Legislative Assembly installed a 10-member government with Rwagasore as prime minister. He was assassinated in October in a plot conceived by PDC figures, who were subsequently arrested and executed. The murder fractured UPRONA, as Rwagasore's former lieutenants struggled to succeed him as the party's leader. Conflict embroiled UPRONA over who would assume the party presidency, with
André Muhirwa André Muhirwa (1920 – 28 April 2003) was a Burundian politician who served as prime minister of Burundi from 1961 to 1963. He became prime minister following the assassination of his predecessor, Louis Rwagasore. A member of the Union for Natio ...
—the new prime minister—seeking it with the support of a Tutsi faction and
Paul Mirerekano Paul Mirerekano (1921 – October 1965) was a Burundian politician. Ethnically Hutu, he worked as an agronomist for the Belgian colonial administration in Ruanda-Urundi before starting a successful market garden in Bugarama. Politically, he w ...
aiming to secure it with the backing of a Hutu faction. Muhirwa's group would be dubbed the Casablanca faction, while Mirerekano's group would become known as the Monrovia faction. The party increasingly split along ethnic lines. The assumption of numerous UPRONA figures into official government roles also decimated the independent structure of the organisation. In the county's 1965 elections, most UPRONA candidates faced opposition from others bearing the UPRONA label; in some constituencies, there as many as five competing slates of candidates with the same affiliation. In practice, there were two main factions: ''populaire'' or pro-Hutu and ''traditionaliste'' or pro Tutsi. Ultimately, UPRONA-aligned candidates won 21 of the 33 seats in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. UPRONA's most famous
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
and Burundian National Hero is
Louis Rwagasore Prince Louis Rwagasore (; 10 January 1932 – 13 October 1961) was a Burundian prince and politician, who was the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa f ...
(assassinated in 1961). Upon the death of Rwagosore, UPRONA developed two factions which became known as the "Casablanca group" and the "Monrovia group". The former was dominated by Tutsis and anti-Western in its ideological orientation. The latter was led by Hutus and leaned either pro-West or was neutral towards it. Ngendandumwe was associated with the Monrovia group.Eggers, Ellen K. (2006). Historical Dictionary of Burundi (third ed.). Lanham: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5302-7. From that time until 1965, the party also had some
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...
support, and three of its Hutu members, including
Pierre Ngendandumwe Pierre Ngendandumwe (1930 – 15 January 1965) was a Burundian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Burundi in two terms, first from 1963 to 1964 and second for only eight days in January 1965. An ethnic Hutu, he was a me ...
, became Prime Minister of Burundi. The party was taken over by President
Michel Micombero Michel Micombero (26 August 194016 July 1983) was a Burundian military officer and politician who ruled the country as ''de facto'' military dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. He was the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Burundi ...
in a ''coup d'état'' and became a pillar of the
military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...
s that ruled the country from 1966 to 1993. In 1993, UPRONA placed second in contested elections to Melchior Ndadaye's FRODEBU. UPRONA President
Pierre Buyoya Pierre Buyoya (24 November 1949 – 17 December 2020) was a Burundian army officer and politician who served two terms as President of Burundi in 1987 to 1993 and 1996 to 2003. He was the second-longest-serving president in Burundian history. An ...
handed over power to
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...
leader
Domitien Ndayizeye Domitien Ndayizeye (born 2 May 1953) is a Burundian politician who was President of Burundi from 2003 to 2005. He succeeded Pierre Buyoya, as president on 30 April 2003, after serving as Buyoya's vice president for 18 months. Ndayizeye remained i ...
of the
Front for Democracy in Burundi The Front for Democracy in Burundi (, FRODEBU) is a democratic socialist political party in Burundi. History It was formed by followers of Melchior Ndadaye from the disbanded Burundi Workers' Party in 1986. FRODEBU was legalized as a politic ...
(a
Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...
-based party) on 30 April 2003. At the legislative elections in 2005, the party won 7.2% and 15 out of 118 seats. During the
2010 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2010. * 2010 United Nations Security Council election * 2010 national electoral calendar * 2010 local electoral calendar Africa * 2010 Burkinabé presidential election * 2010 Burundian Senate election * ...
, UPRONA boycotted councillors' and presidential elections but decided to participate in the legislative elections claiming the need to form an opposition bloc in Parliament and to better compete in the
2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...
.


Electoral history


Presidential elections


National Assembly elections


Senate elections


References


Works cited

* * * * * * * * *


External links


UPRONA official website
{{Authority control Independence movements Parties of one-party systems Political parties established in 1960 Political parties in Burundi