Umma Party wins 1986 election; Sadiq al-Mahdi becomes prime minister

After the 1985 popular uprising toppled Jaafar Nimeiry, the Umma Party won the largest share in Sudan's 1986 multiparty election and its leader Sadiq al-Mahdi — great-grandson of the Mahdi — became prime minister on 6 May 1986, heading a coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party. It was Sudan's last freely elected government for more than three decades.

Referenced entities

Parties

National Umma Party

Politicians

Sadiq al-Mahdi party-leader

Sources

Permalink: https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/pulse/e253711a-2f01-4d1b-80e4-6de7fba96e61

How to cite

Each record carries a retrieval date because the dataset is live — individual entries update as verification deepens. Use the per-record citation when referencing this specific profile; use the dataset citation below when referencing the project as a whole.

In-text: (Gara, 2026)

Per-record citation

APA 7Reference list · academic default

Gara, T. (2026). Umma Party wins 1986 election; Sadiq al-Mahdi becomes prime minister [Event record]. Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset. Retrieved July 27, 2026, from https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/pulse/e253711a-2f01-4d1b-80e4-6de7fba96e61

Chicago author-dateCommon in political-science journals

Gara, Tarek. 2026. "Umma Party wins 1986 election; Sadiq al-Mahdi becomes prime minister." Event record, Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/pulse/e253711a-2f01-4d1b-80e4-6de7fba96e61.

BibTeXFor LaTeX / Zotero / reference managers

@misc{tayyar-event-e253711a-2f01-4d1b-80e4-6de7fba96e61,
  title     = {{Umma Party wins 1986 election; Sadiq al-Mahdi becomes prime minister}},
  author    = {Gara, Tarek},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset},
  type      = {Event record},
  url       = {https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/pulse/e253711a-2f01-4d1b-80e4-6de7fba96e61},
  urldate   = {2026-07-27},
  note      = {Event date: 1986-05-06. First-pass entry; second-pass external review planned before publication.}
}

Dataset / working-paper citation

If you're citing Tayyar as a project rather than this individual record.

APA 7Preprint

Gara, T. (2026). Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset [Preprint]. Retrieved July 27, 2026, from https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/paper

BibTeXPreprint

@unpublished{tayyar-preprint,
  title  = {{Tayyar: A MENA political-position dataset}},
  author = {Gara, Tarek},
  year   = {2026},
  type   = {Preprint},
  url    = {https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/paper},
  urldate = {2026-07-27},
  note   = {Living document, regenerated from the live dataset on page load.}
}

Event date: 1986-05-06. First-pass entry; second-pass external review planned before publication.