Yemen
Country in SW Asia, bounded N by Saudi Arabia, E by Oman, S by the
Gulf of Aden, and W by the Red Sea.
Government
The 1991 constitution, amended 1994, provides for a president and 301-member
house of representatives. Both are directly elected for a five-year
term, with the president's term being renewable only once. The
president appoints a council of ministers.
History
The last king of North Yemen, Imam Muhammad, was killed in a military
coup 1962. The declaration of the new Yemen Arab Republic (YAR)
provoked a civil war between royalist forces, assisted by Saudi
Arabia, and republicans, helped by Egypt. By 1967 the republicans,
under Marshal Abdullah al-Sallal, had won. Later that year Sallal
was deposed while on a foreign visit, and a Republican Council
took over.
South Yemen republic founded The People's Democratic Republic
of Yemen (South Yemen) was founded 1967 by the union of Aden and
the Federation of South Arabia, both of which had been under British
rule or protection. Before Britain withdrew, two rival factions
fought for power, the Marxist National Liberation Front (NLF)
and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen. The
NLF eventually won and assumed power as the National Front (NF).
On the third anniversary of independence, 1 Nov 1970, the country
was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, and a provisional
Supreme People's Council was set up 1971 as the nation's parliament.
The accession of the left-wing NF government caused hundreds
of thousands of people to flee to North Yemen, where a more moderate
regime was in power. This resulted in clashes between the South
Yemen government and mercenaries operating from North Yemen, and
war broke out 1971. The Arab League arranged a cease-fire 1972,
and the two countries signed an agreement to merge, but the agreement
was not honoured.
In North Yemen the pro-Saudi Col Ibrahim al-Hamadi seized power
1974, and by 1975 there were rumours of an attempt to restore
the monarchy. In 1977 Hamadi was assassinated and Col Ahmed ibn
Hussein al-Ghashmi, another member of the Military Command Council
which Hamadi had set up 1974, took over. In 1978 a gradual move
towards a more constitutional form of government was started,
with the appointment of a constituent people's assembly, the dissolution
of the Military Command Council, and the installation of Ghashmi
as president.
In 1979 South Yemen's neighbours became concerned when a 20-year
Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed, allowing the
USSR to station troops in the country, and three years later an
aid agreement between the two countries was concluded. A subsequent
aid agreement with Kuwait helped to reduce anxieties.
War broke out again between the two Yemens but Arab League again
intervened to arrange a cease-fire 1979, and for the second time
the two countries agreed to unite. This time definite progress
was made so that by 1983 a joint Yemen council was meeting at
six-monthly intervals, and in March 1984 a joint committee on
foreign policy sat for the first time in Aden.
A draft constitution of the unified state of Yemen was published
Dec 1989 and in Jan 1990 the border between the two countries
was opened to allow free movement for all citizens. The unification
was proclaimed 22 May, with Ali Abdullah Saleh as leader of the
new Republic of Yemen and San'a as its capital. The new constitution
was approved May 1991.
In the country's first free elections April 1993, the northern
based General People's Congress (GPC), led by President Ali Abdullah
Saleh, won most seats in the assembly but failed to secure an
overall majority over the southern-based, ex-Marxist YSP, led
by Salim al-Baidh. In Oct parliament elected a five-member presidential
council, which included Ali Abdullah Saleh as president and Salim
al-Baidh as vice president. Following months of tense relations
between the president and vice president, civil war re-erupted
April 1994 and in May al-Baidh announced South Yemen's secession
from the union. In July 1994 the northern forces of President
Saleh inflicted a crushing defeat on those of al-Baidh, effectively
ending the nine- week civil war. In Oct 1994 a new coalition of
the centrist GPC and the right-of-centre Islamic al-Islah party
was formed, and in the same month Saleh was re-elected president.
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