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Politics of Yemen

  • Country name:
    • conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
    • conventional short form: Yemen
    • local long form: ‫ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻬﻮﺭﯾّﺔ ﺍﻟﯿﻤﻦ‬ (Al-Jumhuriyyah al-Yamaniyah)
    • local short form: ‫ﺍﻟﯿﻤﻦ‬ (Al-Yaman)
  • Data code: YM
  • Administrative divisions: 17 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Ataq, Dhamar, Hadhramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Ta'izz
note
there may be three new governorates - the capital city of Sanaa, Amran, Dala'a
  • National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)
  • Legal system: based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
  • Executive branch:
    • chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
    • head of government: Prime Minister Dr. Abd al-Karim Ali al-IRYANI (since NA April 1998)
    • cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister
    • elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
    • election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote: Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najeeb Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7%
  • Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
    • elections: last held 27 April 1997 (next to be held NA April 2001)
    • election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GPC 189, Islah 52, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 54, election pending 1
note
in May 1997, the president created a consultative council, sometimes referred to as the upper house of Parliament; its 59 members are all appointed by the president
  • Political parties and leaders: there are over 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Baath Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MYQBIL]
note
President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election
  • Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band
Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13