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 Yemenportal |
Before the Yemeni Revolution in 2011 and the following civil war, Yemen was a one party dominant state in which the General People's Congress (GPC) held power.
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| Yemenportal |
Before the Yemeni Revolution in 2011 and the following civil war, Yemen was a one party dominant state in which the General People's Congress (GPC) held power.
Yemen's Political Parties Law mandates that political parties be viable national organizations comprising at least 75 founders and 2,500 members and not restrict membership to a particular region. [1] The government provides financial support to political parties, including a stipend for newspaper publication. [1]
The GPC captured 238 of 301 seats in parliament in the 2003 elections. [1] In the September 2006 elections for local and governorate councils, the GPC garnered 315 seats in the governorates (74 percent of the popular vote) and 5,078 local council seats (74 percent of the popular vote). [1] In the September 2006 presidential election, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) backed opposition candidate Faisal bin Shamlan, whose success in garnering 22 percent of the popular vote was viewed at the time as a first step in challenging the political stronghold of President Saleh and the GPC. [1] However, disputes between the GPC and the JMP in 2007 over election law amendments, coupled with the JMP’s opposition to President Saleh’s proposed democratic reform measures, have halted initial attempts to forge a dialogue between the two parties. [1]
For the sake of clarity, this section is divided into three lists. These are major parties, minor parties and defunct parties. Major parties are defined as parties which gained a seat in the last elections in 2003. Since there has been a long time without elections with a lot of political shift in between, parties that either control territory with their armed wing (such as Ansar Allah) or have over 10.000 likes on facebook are also taken into this category. All other operating parties are listed under minor parties. Parties that are long inactive are listed as defunct, although some might be revived at some point.
| Party | Acronym | Leader | Political position & ideologies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General People's Congress المؤتمر الشعبي العام al-Muʾtamar aš-Šaʿbī al-ʿĀmm | GPC |
| ||
| Yemeni Congregation for Reform التجمع اليمني للإصلاح at-Tajammu’u al-Yamanī lil-Iṣlāḥ | Al-Islah | Mohammed al-Yadumi | ||
| Yemeni Socialist Party الحزب الاشتراكي اليمني al-Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Yamani | YSP | Abdulraham Al-Saqqaf | ||
| Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation التنظيم الوحدوي الشعبي الناصري at-Tanẓīm al-Waḥdawī al-Shaʿbī al-Nāṣirī | NUPO | Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi | Yemeni unionism Nasserism Anti-Houthi | |
| Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī | ASBP | Qassam Salam (pro-Houthi) | Ba'athism Arab socialism | |
| Ansar Allah أَنْصَار ٱللَّٰه ʾAnṣār Allāh | Houthis | Abdul-Malik al-Houthi | ||
| Yemeni Rashad Union اتحاد الرشاد اليمني Ittihād ar-Rashād al-Yamanī [2] | - | Ahmad Muhammad Nasir | Salafism Islamic democracy Yemeni unity | |
| National Solidarity Party حزب التضامن الوطني Ḥizb al-Taḍāmun al-Watanī [3] | Tadhamon | - | Centrism | |
| Southern National Coalition الائتلاف الوطني الجنوبي al-I'tilāf al-Watanī al-Janūbī [4] | SNC | Ahmad Salih al-Issa | South Yemeni separatism | |
| Al-Ahrar Organization تنظيم الاحرار Tanẓīm al-Aḥrār [5] | - | Abduh Bashar | Center-left Anti-corruption pro-Houthi | |
| Yemen Renaissance Movement تيار نهضة اليمن Tayyār Nahḍah al-Yaman [6] | YRM | - | Anti-Zionism Big tent Yemeni unity Economic liberalism | |
| Union of Popular Forces اتحاد القوي الشعبية Ittiḥād al-Quwa ash-Sha'abiyah [7] | - | - | Arab nationalism Islamic Democracy [8] | |
| Party | Acronym | Leader | Political position & ideologies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yemeni Republican Federal Party الحزب الجمهوري الاتحادي اليمني al-Ḥizb al-Jumhūrī al-Ittihādī al-Yamanī [9] | YRFP | Sharifah al-Muqatari | Republicanism Yemeni unity Abolishment of militias Pan-Arabism | |
| New Yemen Party حزب اليمن الجديد Ḥizb al-Yaman al-Jadīd [10] | - | - | Centrism [11] anti-Houthi | |
| Free Yemen Party حزب اليمن الحر Ḥizb al-Yaman al-Ḥurr [12] | FYP | Nasir bin Yahya al-Arjali | Pro-Houthi | |
| National Accord Party حزب الوفاق الوطني Ḥizb al-Wafaq al-Watani [13] | - | - | Big Tent [14] Pro-Houthi | |
| Nasserist Reform Organisation تنظيم التصحيح الشعبي الناصري Tanzim at-Tashikh ash-Shabi an-Nasiri | NRO | - Mujahed al-Quhali | ||
| Liberal Party of Yemen الحزب الليبرالي اليمني al-Ḥizb al-Lībrālī al-Yamanī [15] | - | - | Liberalism | |
| Peace and Development Party حزب السلم والتنمية Ḥizb as-Salam wal-Tanmiyah [16] | SLM | Murad al-Qudsi | Islamic Democracy | |
| Social Nationalist Party - Yemen الحزب القومي الاجتماعي - اليمن al-Ḥizb al-Qawamī al-Ijtimā'ī - al-Yaman [17] | SNPY | Abdul Aziz al-Bakir | Anti-Zionism Pro-Houthi Syncretic politics Yemeni nationalism | |
| Southern Arabian League Party حزب رابطة الجنوب العربي Ḥizb Rabitah al-Janub al-'Arabi [18] | - | Muhammad 'Ajrumuh al-Awlaqi | Southern Separatism Conservatism | |
| Yemeni Labour Party حزب العمل اليمن Ḥizb al-'Amal al-Yamani [19] | - | Mukhtar al-Qushaybi | Center-left Social Democracy | |
| National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي القومي Ḥizb al-Ba‘th al-‘Arabī al-Ishtirākī al-Qawmi | NASB | Ahmad Shutri Qasem Salam (pro-Houthi) | Ba'athism Arab socialism | |
| Yemenyoon Current تيار يمنيون Tayyār Yamaniyūn [20] | Yemenyoon | - | Big tent Yemeni unity | |
| National Democratic Front Party حزب الجبهة الوطنية الديمقراطية Ḥizb al-Jabhat al-Wataniyah ad-Dīmuqrātiyah [21] | NDFP | Nasir an-Nasiri (pro-Houthi) | Center-left Arab nationalism | |
| Justice and Development Youth Party حزب شباب العدالة والتنمية Ḥizb ash-Shabab al-'Adālah wat-Tanmiyah [22] | - | Bakil al-Humayni | pro-Houthi | |
| an-Nahdhah Movement for Peaceful Change حركة النهضة للتغيير السلمي Ḥarakat an-Nahḍah li-t-Taghayīr as-Salamī [23] | an-Nahdhah | Ali al-Ahmadi | Social Conservatism Islamic democracy | |
| Justice and Building Party حزب العدالة والبناء Ḥizb al-'Adālah wal-Bināʾ [24] | JBP | - | Islamic democracy | |
| Arab Hope Party حزب الأمل العربي Ḥizb al-Amal al-'Arabī [25] | - | Layla ath-Thawr | Center-left Civic nationalism | |
| Social Labour Party (Wazef) حزب العمل الاجتماعي الوزف Ḥizb al-'Amal al-Ijtimā'ī al-Wazif [26] | Wazef | - | Center-left to left-wing | |
| National Progress Party حزب التقدم الوطني Ḥizb at-Taqadum al-Watani [27] | - | - | Centrism [28] | |
| Yemeni Workers' Party حزب العمال اليمني Ḥizb al-'Ummāl al-Yamanī [29] | - | - | Left-wing | |
| Yemeni Dignity Party حزب الكرامة اليمني Ḥizb al-Karamah al-Yamanī [30] | - | Ahmad Abdurrahman al-'Ammari | Patriotism Centrism [31] Militarism pro-Houthi | |
| Liberation Front Party حزب جبهة التحرير Ḥizb Jabhat at-Tahrīr | - | - | Arab nationalism | |
| People's Democratic Party حزب الشعب الديمقراطي Hizb ash-Sha'ab ad-Dimuqrati [32] | Hashd | - | Center-left Arab nationalism pro-Houthi | |
| Yemeni Social Peace Party حزب السلام الاجتماعي اليمني Ḥizb al-Salām al-Ijtimā'ī al-Yamanī [33] | - | - | Center-left | |
| Party of the Democratic Union of Popular Forces حزب الاتحاد الديمقراطي للقوى الشعبيه Hizb al-Ittihad ad-Dimuqrati lil-Quwa ash-Sha'abiyah [34] | - | - | Arab nationalism pro-Houthi | |
| Democratic Nasserist Party الحزب الناصري الديمقراطي al-Ḥizb al-Nasiri al-Dimuqrati | DNP | -Yassin Abdu Saeed | Center-left Nasserism Arab nationalism | |
| Hizb ut-Tahrir حزب التحرير Ḥizb at-Taḥrīr | HT | Ata Abu Rashta | Islamism Caliphalism | |
| Party of Truth حزب الحق Ḥizb al-Haqq | HP | - | Zaydi Islamism [35] | |
| Party of the League of the Sons of Yemen حزب رابطة أبناء اليمن Hizb Rabitah Abna' al-Yaman [36] | Rai | - | Conservatism Islamic Democracy | |
| Unionist Popular Liberation Party حزب التحرير الشعبي الوحدوي [37] | UPLP | - | Center-left Arab nationalism | |
| Yemeni Unionist Congregation التجمع الوحدوي اليمني at-Tajammu' al-Wahdawī al-Yamanī | - | - | Center-left Arab nationalism [38] | |
| Party | Acronym | Leader | Political position & ideologies | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Unionist Party الحزب الوحدوي الديمقراطي Ḥizb al-Wahdawi ad-Dimuqrati | - | - | Center-left Arab nationalism | |
| Democratic Septembrist Organization التنظيم السبتمبري الديمقراطي at-Tanẓīm as-Sabtambarī ad-Dīmuqrātī | - | - | Center-left Arab nationalism | |
| People's Vanguard Party (South Yemen) حزب الطليعة الشعبية Ḥizb at-Tali'ah ash-Sha'abiyah | - | Abdallah Badhib | Ba'athism | |
| Popular Democratic Union الاتحاد الشعبي الديمقراطي Ittihad ash-Sha'abi ad-Dīmuqrātī | - | - | Center-left Arab nationalism | |
| Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen الاتحاد الشعبي الديمقراطي اليمن Ḥizb ad-Dīmuqrātī ath-Thawrī al-Yaman | - | Sultan Omar | Marxism-Leninism Arab nationalism | |
| Yemen Green Party حزب الخضر الاجتماعي Ḥizb al-Khadhr al-Ijtimā'ī | - | - | Green politics | |
| Yemeni League Party حزب الرابطة اليمنية Ḥizb ar-Rabitah al-Yamaniyah | - | - | Center | |
| Yemeni Popular Unity Party حزب الوحدة الشعبية اليمنية Ḥizb al-Wahdah ash-Sha'abiyah al-Yamaniyah | YPUP | - | Center-left Arab nationalism | |
| Yemeni Progressive Organization التنظيم التقدمي اليمني at-Tanzim at-Taqadumi al-Yamani | - | - | Center-left | |
The Politics of Yemen are in an uncertain state due to the Houthi takeover in Yemen. An armed group known as the Houthis or Ansar Allah seized control of the Northern Yemeni government and announced it would dissolve parliament, as well as install a "presidential council", "transitional national council", and "supreme revolutionary council" to govern the country for an interim period. However, the deposed president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, has declared he is still in office and is working to establish a rival government in Aden.
Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar was a Yemeni politician who served as the first President of the Republic of Yemen, from Yemeni unification on 22 May 1990, to his resignation on 27 February 2012, following the Yemeni Revolution. Previously, he had served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic, or North Yemen, from July 1978, to 22 May 1990, after the assassination of President Ahmad al-Ghashmi.
Ali Nasir Muhammad Al-Husani is the former leader of South Yemen serving as General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party between 1980 and 1986. He was twice president of South Yemen and once the Prime Minister. He served as the Prime Minister from 2 August 1971 until 14 February 1985 and as Chairman of the Presidential Council from 26 June 1978, after overthrowing and executing Salim Rubai Ali, until 27 December 1978.
Elections in Yemen take place within the framework of a presidential system, with both the President and House of Representatives elected by the public. Due to political instability, elections have not been held regularly since the early 2000s.
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region is the Yemeni regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen. A successor of Yemen's National Liberation Front, it was the ruling party in South Yemen until Yemeni unification in 1990. Originally Marxist–Leninist, the party has gradually evolved into a social democratic opposition party in today's unified Yemen.
Faisal Othman Bin Shamlan was a Yemeni intellectual, technocrat, political reformist and public figure. He was a Yemeni member of parliament who had held the post of Oil and Mineral Resources Minister in the post-unification government of Yemen. Prior to the reunification of Yemen in 1990, Shamlan was the Minister of Infrastructure and Oil in the socialist government of South Yemen. He was the recognized presidential candidate of the Yemeni opposition coalition, a coalition which consists of the Islamist Islah, the Yemen Socialist Party and several smaller parties, in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated by incumbent president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Yemeni unification took place on May 22, 1990, when the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen was united with the Yemen Arab Republic, forming the Republic of Yemen.
Presidential elections were held in Yemen on 20 September 2006, alongside local elections. Incumbent president Ali Abdullah Saleh of the General People's Congress received 77% of the vote, defeating opposition coalition candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan.
The modern history of Yemen began with the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1839 the British set up a protective area around the southern port of Aden and in 1918 the northern Kingdom of Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. North Yemen became a republic in 1962, but it was not until 1967 that the British Empire withdrew from what became South Yemen. In 1970, the southern government adopted a communist governmental system. The two countries were formally united as the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.
Direct presidential elections were held in Yemen for the first time on 23 September 1999. Candidates had to be approved by at least 10% of the 301 members of the House of Representatives; however, in practice this meant that only two parties, the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) and Al-Islah had enough seats to nominate their candidates. However, al-Islah backed the GPC candidate, incumbent President Ali Abdullah Saleh rather than running a candidate of their own.
The National Democratic Front was founded as an umbrella of various opposition movements in North Yemen on February 2, 1976 in Sana'a. The five founding organisations of NDF were the Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen, Organisation of Yemeni Revolutionary Resistors, the Labour Party, the Popular Vanguard and the Popular Democratic Union.
Parliamentary elections were held in Yemen on 27 April 1997. The governing General People's Congress of President Ali Abdullah Saleh won a landslide victory, taking 187 of the 301 seats, although several opposition parties including the Yemeni Socialist Party boycotted the election alleging that the government had harassed and arrested their party workers. The main opposition party, al-Islah, attacked the government for not carrying out economic reforms and for corruption. Voter turnout was 61.0%.
The Yemeni Civil Warof 1994, also known as the 1994 Summer War, was a civil war fought between the two Yemeni forces of the pro-union northern and the socialist separatist southern Yemeni states and their supporters. The war resulted in the defeat of the southern separatists and the reunification of Yemen, and the flight into exile of many leaders of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) and other separatists.
The Yemeni Revolution followed the initial stages of the Tunisian Revolution and occurred simultaneously with the 2011 Egyptian revolution and other Arab Spring protests in the Middle East and North Africa. In its early phase, protests in Yemen were initially against unemployment, economic conditions and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify Yemen's constitution. The protesters' demands then escalated to calls for the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mass defections from the military, as well as from Saleh's government, effectively rendered much of the country outside of the government's control, and protesters vowed to defy its authority.
The Yemeni Congregation for Reform, frequently called al-Islah, is a Yemeni Sunni Islamist movement established in 1990 by Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, with Ali Saleh's blessing. The first article of Islah basic law defines it as "a popular political organization that seeks reform of all aspects of life on the basis of Islamic principles and teachings".
Hamid bin Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar is a Yemeni politician currently living in exile alongside the rest of the Sunni politicians that fled Yemen during the Houthi takeover of Sana'a September 2014. He is the former general secretary of the Preparatory Committee of the National Dialogue for the JMP and a member of opposition party Yemeni Congregation for Reform, commonly known as Islah.
Sultan Saeed Abdullah al-Barakani is a Yemeni politician and the current speaker of the Yemeni House of Representatives since 2019.
Mohammed Abdullah al-Yadoumi is a Yemeni politician serving as chairman of Yemeni Islah Party since 2008. He previously served as an officer in the Yemen's interior ministry and intelligence agency. He is considered the most powerful political leader inside the Islah party.
The National Solidarity Party, is a centrist political party in Yemen. It was founded on 24 November 2012, where the founding committee chose Sheikh Husayn bin Abdullah al-Ahmar as president and chairman. Husayn is the son of al-Islah's leader Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar and had left the governing General People's Congress on 26 February 2011. In 2016, he was named as presidential advisor to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The party was joined by some opposition activists and an unspecified number of members of parliament. At the founding conference in March 2013, Sadiq al-Ahmar, the leader of the Hashid tribal confederation, held a speech in which he blessed the founding of the party. Several other ministers and advisors were present at the conference as well. The leader Husayn was a prominent Sheikh of the Hashid tribal confederation and one of the first to oppose the Houthi movement. On 4 April 2015, the Houthis stormed and searched the party's headquarters in ar-Rabat street in Sana'a. On 5 September 2016, president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi met with the party to discuss the developments in the country, such as steps towards peace and the hardships brought by the war, which both sides made the Houthis responsible for.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
