Coalition for Unity and Democracy

Coalition for Unity and Democracy ቅንጅት ለአንድነት እና ዴሞክራሲ
Leader	Birtukan Mideksa
Founded	2004
Headquarters	Addis Ababa
Youth wing	CUD Youth League
Membership  (2004)	4.6 million
Ideology	Social democracy, Social liberalism, Economic liberalism, Feminism
Website
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The Coalition for Unity and Democracy (Ge'ez : ቅንጅት ለአንድነት እና ዴሞክራሲ), commonly referred to by its English abbreviation CUD, or occasionally CDU; its Amharic abbreviation, used in Ethiopia, is Qinijit, in English writing often referred to as Kinijit) is a coalition of four existing political parties of Ethiopia which combined to compete for seats in the Ethiopian General Elections held on May 15, 2005. Its leader is Dr. Hailu Shawul.

The four parties that combined to form the CUD are: Ethiopian Democratic League, All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP), United Ethiopian Democratic Party-Medhin Party and Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice. At the legislative elections, 15 May 2005, the party won 89 out of 527 seats in the House of People's Representatives, representing the Regions of Amhara, Oromia, and of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNPR), as well as in the chartered cities of Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa.

Despite the CUD winning 99% of Addis Ababa, the ruling party continued to govern the city. The CUD and the EU election observers said there was heavy election rigging and the opposition might have won more seats.

Engr. Hailu was placed under house arrest in early June 2005 after a government investigation into his alleged involvement in the planning of riots which the government claims over 40 were killed, but were referred to by the CUD as street protests, concluded he was responsible.

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Wikipedia