Politics of Yemen
Encyclopedia
Politics of Yemen
takes place in a framework of a presidential
representative democratic
republic
, where the President of Yemen
is the head of state
, while the Prime Minister of Yemen
(who is appointed by the President) is the head of government
. Although it is notionally a multi-party system
, in reality it is completely dominated by one party, the General People's Congress, and has been since unification. Executive power
is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government
and parliament. The Judiciary
is theoretically independent but in reality it is prone to interference from the executive branch.
Yemen is a republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the constitution
, an elected president, an elected 301-seat House of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is head of state, and the prime minister is head of government. The constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by Parliament; the prime minister is appointed by the president. The presidential term of office is 7 years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is 6 years. Suffrage is universal over 18.
Ali Abdullah Saleh
has been head of state in Unified Yemen since 1990 (since 1978 in North Yemen
) and was democratically elected in 1999. In the September 2006 presidential elections Saleh was challenged by a coalition of five leading opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), which fronted the candidate Faisal bin Shamlan
. President Saleh was reported to have decided in 2005 not to run for another term in office, but was later convinced by a public demonstration calling him to continue as leader of the country to run again.
|President
|Ali Abdullah Saleh
|General People's Congress
|23 September 2011
|-
|Prime Minister
|Ali Muhammad Mujawar
|General People's Congress
|31 March 2007
|-
|President-designate
|Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi
|General People's Congress
|23 December 2011
|-
|Prime Minister-designate
|Mohammed Basindawa
|Independent
|23 December 2011
|}
(Majlis al-Nuwaab) has 301 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies. 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. The president of the Consultative Council was Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani
prior to his death in August 2011.
(GPC) maintained an absolute majority. International observers described the elections as "another significant step forward on Yemen’s path toward democracy; however, sustained and forceful efforts must be undertaken to remedy critical flaws in the country’s election and political processes." There were some problems with underage voting, confiscation of ballot boxes, voter intimidation, and election-related violence; moreover, the political opposition in Yemen has little access to the media, since most outlets are owned or otherwise controlled by the government.
The 2006 elections were described in positive wording, and the elections were monitored by a number of international observers. The EU's Election Observation Mission to Yemen has published this final report on the elections: http://web.archive.org/www.eueom-ye.org/pdf/EU_EOM_Yemen_final_report_.pdf Yemeni media reported on the 22.01.2007 that the opposition coalition JMP has set up a Shadow government
"to play an effective role in the political, economic and social life". The ruling party GPC called upon the opposition to "acquaint themselves with constitutional systems before starting to talk every now and then about...rosy dreams and illusions".
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
takes place in a framework of a presidential
Presidential system
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it....
representative democratic
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
, where the President of Yemen
President of Yemen
The President of the Republic of Yemen is the head of state of Yemen.Under the Constitution of Yemen, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Yemeni government....
is the head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
, while the Prime Minister of Yemen
Prime Minister of Yemen
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Yemen is the head of government in that country. The current Prime Minister, Ali Muhammad Mujawar, has held the position since 7 April 2007. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President...
(who is appointed by the President) is the head of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
. Although it is notionally a multi-party system
Multi-party system
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...
, in reality it is completely dominated by one party, the General People's Congress, and has been since unification. Executive power
Executive Power
Executive Power is Vince Flynn's fifth novel, and the fourth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...
is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and parliament. The Judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
is theoretically independent but in reality it is prone to interference from the executive branch.
Yemen is a republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the constitution
Constitution of Yemen
The Constitution of Yemen was ratified by popular referendum on May 16, 1991. It defines the republic as an independent and sovereign Arab and Islamic country and establishes sharia, or Islamic law, as the basis of all laws...
, an elected president, an elected 301-seat House of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is head of state, and the prime minister is head of government. The constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by Parliament; the prime minister is appointed by the president. The presidential term of office is 7 years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is 6 years. Suffrage is universal over 18.
Executive branch
The President is elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term. The vice-president, prime minister and deputy prime ministers are appointed by the President. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President on the advice of the prime minister. PresidentPresident of Yemen
The President of the Republic of Yemen is the head of state of Yemen.Under the Constitution of Yemen, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Yemeni government....
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Field Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first President of the Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1978 until 1990, at which time he assumed the office of chairman of the Presidential Council of a post-unification Yemen. He is the...
has been head of state in Unified Yemen since 1990 (since 1978 in North Yemen
North Yemen
North Yemen is a term currently used to designate the Yemen Arab Republic , its predecessor, the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen , and their predecessors that exercised sovereignty over the territory that is now the north-western part of the state of Yemen in southern Arabia.Neither state ever...
) and was democratically elected in 1999. In the September 2006 presidential elections Saleh was challenged by a coalition of five leading opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), which fronted the candidate Faisal bin Shamlan
Faisal Bin Shamlan
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...
. President Saleh was reported to have decided in 2005 not to run for another term in office, but was later convinced by a public demonstration calling him to continue as leader of the country to run again.
|President
President of Yemen
The President of the Republic of Yemen is the head of state of Yemen.Under the Constitution of Yemen, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Yemeni government....
|Ali Abdullah Saleh
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Field Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first President of the Republic of Yemen. Saleh previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1978 until 1990, at which time he assumed the office of chairman of the Presidential Council of a post-unification Yemen. He is the...
|General People's Congress
|23 September 2011
|-
|Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Yemen
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Yemen is the head of government in that country. The current Prime Minister, Ali Muhammad Mujawar, has held the position since 7 April 2007. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President...
|Ali Muhammad Mujawar
|General People's Congress
|31 March 2007
|-
|President-designate
President of Yemen
The President of the Republic of Yemen is the head of state of Yemen.Under the Constitution of Yemen, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Yemeni government....
|Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi
Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi
Major General Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi is a Yemeni politician who has been the Vice President of Yemen since 3 October 1994. Between 4 June and 23 September 2011 he was the acting president of Yemen, when Ali Abdullah Saleh left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, after being wounded in an...
|General People's Congress
|23 December 2011
|-
|Prime Minister-designate
Prime Minister of Yemen
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Yemen is the head of government in that country. The current Prime Minister, Ali Muhammad Mujawar, has held the position since 7 April 2007. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President...
|Mohammed Basindawa
Mohammed Basindawa
Mohammed Salij Basindawa is a Yemeni politician who was designated as Prime Minister of Yemen in November 2011. Born in Aden, Basindawa served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1994...
|Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
|23 December 2011
|}
Legislative branch
The Assembly of RepresentativesAssembly of Representatives of Yemen
The Assembly of Representatives is the legislature of Yemen. The Assembly has 301 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies.-See also:* List of Speakers of the Assembly of Representatives of Yemen...
(Majlis al-Nuwaab) has 301 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies. 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. The president of the Consultative Council was Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani
Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani
Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani was a Yemeni politician who served as Prime Minister of Yemen from 1994 to 1997, under President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Ghani was a member of the General People's Congress party....
prior to his death in August 2011.
Political parties and elections
In April 2003 parliamentary elections, the General People's CongressGeneral People's Congress
The General People's Congress is the ruling political party in Yemen.Was founded in August 24, 1982 in Sana'a, YemenAt the last legislative elections, 27 April 2003, the party won 58.0% of the popular vote and 238 out of 301 seats in the Assembly of Representatives of Yemen....
(GPC) maintained an absolute majority. International observers described the elections as "another significant step forward on Yemen’s path toward democracy; however, sustained and forceful efforts must be undertaken to remedy critical flaws in the country’s election and political processes." There were some problems with underage voting, confiscation of ballot boxes, voter intimidation, and election-related violence; moreover, the political opposition in Yemen has little access to the media, since most outlets are owned or otherwise controlled by the government.
- For an overview of the 2006 election results, see Elections in YemenElections in YemenYemen elects on national level a head of state and a legislature. The president is elected for a seven year term by the people. The Assembly of Representatives of Yemen has 301 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies.Yemen is usually considered a dominant-party state...
The 2006 elections were described in positive wording, and the elections were monitored by a number of international observers. The EU's Election Observation Mission to Yemen has published this final report on the elections: http://web.archive.org/www.eueom-ye.org/pdf/EU_EOM_Yemen_final_report_.pdf Yemeni media reported on the 22.01.2007 that the opposition coalition JMP has set up a Shadow government
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
"to play an effective role in the political, economic and social life". The ruling party GPC called upon the opposition to "acquaint themselves with constitutional systems before starting to talk every now and then about...rosy dreams and illusions".
Judicial branch
The constitution calls for an independent judiciary. The former northern and southern legal codes have been unified. The legal system includes separate commercial courts and a Supreme Court based in Sanaá. The Quran is the basis for all laws, and no law may contradict it. Indeed many court cases are debated by the religious basis of the laws i.e. by interpretations of the Quran. For this reason, many judges are religious scholars as well as legal authorities.Administrative divisions
Yemen is divided in 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. There may be four new governorates - the capital city of Sanaa, Amran, Dala'a, Raimah.Provincial and local government
Formal government authority is centralized in the capital city of Sanaa. Yemen’s Local Authority Law decentralized authority by establishing locally elected district and governorate councils (last elected in September 2006), formerly headed by government-appointed governors. After the September 2006 local and governorate council elections, President Salih announced various measures that would enable future governors and directors of the councils to be directly elected. In May 2008, governors were elected for the first time. However, because the ruling party, the General People’s Congress (GPC), continues to dominate the local and governorate councils, the May 2008 elections retained this party’s executive authority over the governorates. In rural Yemen, direct state control is weak, with tribal confederations acting as autonomous sub-states.See also
- Foreign relations of YemenForeign relations of YemenThe foreign relations of Yemen are the relationships and policies that Yemen maintains with other countries. Yemen is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Yemen participates in the nonaligned movement. The Republic of Yemen accepted...
- Constitution of YemenConstitution of YemenThe Constitution of Yemen was ratified by popular referendum on May 16, 1991. It defines the republic as an independent and sovereign Arab and Islamic country and establishes sharia, or Islamic law, as the basis of all laws...
- 2011 Yemeni protests
- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian PeninsulaAl-Qaeda in the Arabian PeninsulaAl-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. It was named for al-Qaeda, and says it is subordinate to that group and its now-deceased leader Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen whose father was born in Yemen...
(AQAP) - State feminism (section: Yemen)
External links
- Government at the Yemen National Information Service
- Yemen Parliament
- Yemen list at the CIA Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members, as of February 9, 2011
- Yemen Political Development Forum (PDF-Yemen), an "independent, non-profit, non-governmental institution for intellectual and cultural activities"