View source for Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front

{{short description|Former political party in Ethiopia (1996–2019)}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front
| colorcode = {{party color|Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front}}
| foundation = 1996
| logo = Benishangul-Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front.png
| dissolved = 1 December 2019
| merged = [[Prosperity Party]]
| ideology = [[Minority politics]]
| country = Ethiopia
}}
{{Politics of Ethiopia}}
The '''Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Unity Front''' (BGPDUF; {{langx|am|የቤንሻንጉልና ጉሙዝ ሕዝቦች ዴሞክራሲዊ አንድነት}}) was a [[political party]] in [[Ethiopia]]. In the [[Ethiopian general elections, 2010|2010 elections]], the BGPDUF won 9 seats.<ref>[http://africanelections.tripod.com/et.html#2010_House_of_Peoples_Representatives_Election Elections in Ethiopia], African Elections Database (accessed 2 March 2011)</ref> In local elections held the same day, the BGPDUF won 98 of the 99 seats in the Benishangul-Gumuz parliament.<ref>[http://africanelections.tripod.com/et_2010state.html 23 May 2010 Regional State Council Elections in Ethiopia], African Elections Database (accessed 2 March 2011)</ref>

The BGPDUF emerged from a 1996 conference led by the former Deputy Prime Minister [[Tamrat Layne]]. Previous to the conference, relations between the dominant [[Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front]] (EPRDF) and its partner, the [[Benishangul People's Liberation Movement]] (BPLM) had grown strained, and the BPLM was ineffective due to internal factionalism. The conference announced its members had agreed that "all the parties should evaluate and cleanse themselves of '[[Oromo Liberation Front|OLF]] sympathisers', 'supporters of Sudanese interventionists' and 'corrupt officials'".<ref>Asnake Kefale Adegehe, [http://hdl.handle.net/1887/13839 ''Federalism and ethnic conflict in Ethiopia: a comparative study of the Somali and Benishangul-Gumuz regions''] Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Doctoral thesis (2009), pp. 248f</ref> Whereupon, under the direction of EPRDF cadres, members of not only the BPLM but the other five ethnic-based parties in the [[Benishangul-Gumuz Region]], submitted to a grueling session of ''gimgema'' or [[self-criticism]]; those who were found to have admitted their weaknesses satisfactorily were allowed to enroll in the new parties being formed. As Asnake Kefale Adegehe explains:
: First, the BPLM, which had had a pan-regional claim was reduced to the [[Berta people|Bertha]] and was renamed the [[Ethiopian Berta People's Democratic Organization|EBPDO]]. Second, the two distinct ethnic parties that claimed to represent; the [[Mao people|Mao]] and the [[Kwama people|Komo]] were merged to establish the Mao-Komo People's Democratic Organisation (MKPDO). The [[Gumuz people|Gumuz]] and [[Shinasha people|Boro-Shinasha]] ethnic parties remained without much change. The four organisations were then brought together to form a new front modelled after the EPRDF and named the BGPDUF.<ref>Asnake Kefale Adegehe, ''Federalism and ethnic conflict in Ethiopia'', p. 249</ref>

== Previous election results ==
In the [[Ethiopian general elections, 2005|2005 elections]], the party won 8 seats, all from the [[Benishangul-Gumuz Region]]. The Deputy Chairman of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Affairs Committee in the following session of the Ethiopian Parliament was a member of the BGDUF.<ref>[http://www.ethiopar.net/English/hopre/hormemb.html Ethiopian House of Peoples' Representatives Website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322104143/http://www.ethiopar.net/English/hopre/hormemb.html |date=March 22, 2006 }}</ref>

In the 2000 Regional assembly elections, the BGDUF won 71 of 80 seats in Benishangul-Gumuz parliament.<ref>[http://africanelections.tripod.com/et_2000state.html African Elections Database: 14 May & 31 August 2000 Regional State Council Elections in Ethiopia]</ref> In the August 2005 Regional assembly elections, the party won 85 out of 99 seats in the Benishangul-Gumuz.<ref>[http://africanelections.tripod.com/et_2005state.html African Elections Database: 15 May & 21 August 2005 Regional State Council Elections in Ethiopia]</ref> In the [[Ethiopian by-elections, 2008|2008 by-elections]] for the Regional legislature, the BGPDUF won 5 seats.<ref>[http://www.waltainfo.com/CurrentIssues/2008/May/election_results.htm "The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia Official Result of the Local and By-Elections Held on April 13 and April 20, 2008"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525163405/http://www.waltainfo.com/CurrentIssues/2008/May/election_results.htm |date=May 25, 2011 }}, [[Walta Information Center]], May 2008 (accessed 17 March 2009)</ref>

In December 2019, the party merged with the [[Afar National Democratic Party]] (ANDP), the [[Amhara Democratic Party]] (ADP), the [[Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party]] (ESPDP), the [[Gambela People's Democratic Movement]] (GPDM), the [[Hareri National League]] (HNL), the [[Oromo Democratic Party]] (ODP) and the [[Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement]] (SEPDM) to form the [[Prosperity Party]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gedamu|first1=Yohannes|title=The new political party of Ethiopia's Abiy holds much promise but faces significant hurdles|url=https://qz.com/africa/1767933/ethiopia-prime-minister-abiys-prosperity-party-faces-big-hurdles/|website=Quartz Africa|publisher=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]|access-date=15 December 2019|date=13 December 2019}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Ethiopia political parties}}

[[Category:1996 establishments in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:2019 disestablishments in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 2019]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1996]]