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Politics of Yemen |
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The following is a list of the heads of state of modern Yemen, from the establishment of the Kingdom of Yemen in 1918 to the present day.
Yemen is in a tumultuous state since the start of the Arab Spring-related Yemeni crisis in 2011; the crisis resulted in the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012, after 33 years in power. [1] The presidency was then transferred to Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Since 2014–2015, the country has been in a civil war (alongside the Saudi-led military intervention aimed at restoring Hadi's government after the Houthi takeover) with several proto-state entities claiming to govern Yemen: the internationally recognized Cabinet of Yemen/Presidential Leadership Council, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee/Supreme Political Council, and the secessionist Southern Transitional Council. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Portrait | Imam (Birth–Death) | Reign | House | Claim | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reign start | Reign end | Duration | |||||
Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (1869–1948) | 30 October 1918 | 17 February 1948 ( assassinated.) [7] | 29 years, 110 days | Rassid | Son of Muhammad Al-Mansur Imam of the Zaydis since 4 June 1904 | ||
Ahmad bin Yahya (1891–1962) | 17 February 1948 | 19 September 1962 [8] | 14 years, 214 days | Rassid | Son of Yahya | ||
Muhammad al-Badr (1926–1996) | 19 September 1962 | 26 September 1962 ( deposed.) [9] | 7 days | Rassid | Son of Ahmad |
Portrait | Imam (Birth–Death) | Reign | House | Claim | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reign start | Reign end | Duration | |||||
Muhammad al-Badr (1926–1996) [a] | 27 September 1962 | 1 December 1970 | 8 years, 65 days | Rassid | Son of Ahmad |
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
President of the Republic | ||||||
Abdullah al-Sallal (1917–1994) [b] | 27 September 1962 | 5 November 1967 (deposed.) | 5 years, 39 days | Military | ||
Chairman of the Republican Council | ||||||
Abdul Rahman al-Eryani (1910–1998) | 5 November 1967 | 13 June 1974 (deposed.) [10] | 6 years, 220 days | Independent | ||
President of the Republic | ||||||
Ibrahim al-Hamdi (1943–1977) [c] | 13 June 1974 | 11 October 1977 (assassinated.) [11] | 3 years, 120 days | Military | ||
Ahmad al-Ghashmi (1938–1978) [d] | 11 October 1977 | 24 June 1978 (assassinated.) [12] | 256 days | Military | ||
Chairman of the Presidential Council | ||||||
Abdul Karim Abdullah al-Arashi (1934–2006) | 24 June 1978 | 18 July 1978 | 24 days | Independent | ||
President of the Republic | ||||||
Ali Abdullah Saleh (1947–2017) | 18 July 1978 [13] | 22 May 1990 [14] | 11 years, 308 days | Military (until 24 August 1982) | ||
General People's Congress |
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
President of the Republic | ||||||
Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi (1920–1981) | 30 November 1967 | 22 June 1969 ( deposed.) [15] | 1 year, 204 days | National Liberation Front | ||
Chairman of the Presidential Council | ||||||
Salim Rubaya Ali (1935–1978) | 23 June 1969 | 26 June 1978 (assassinated.) [16] | 9 years, 3 days | National Liberation Front | ||
Ali Nasir Muhammad (born 1939) | 26 June 1978 | 27 December 1978 | 184 days | National Liberation Front (until 21 December 1978.) | ||
Yemeni Socialist Party | ||||||
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Council | ||||||
Abdul Fattah Ismail (1939–1986) | 27 December 1978 | 21 April 1980 [17] | 1 year, 116 days | Yemeni Socialist Party | ||
Ali Nasir Muhammad (born 1939) | 26 April 1980 | 24 January 1986 ( deposed.) | 5 years, 273 days | Yemeni Socialist Party | ||
Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas (born 1939) | 24 January 1986 [18] | 22 May 1990 [14] | 4 years, 118 days | Yemeni Socialist Party |
Portrait | President (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
Ali Salem al-Beidh (born 1939) ( in rebellion ) | 21 May 1994 [19] | 7 July 1994 [20] | 47 days | Yemeni Socialist Party |
Portrait | President (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Political party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi (born 1967) ( in rebellion ) | 11 May 2017 | Incumbent | 7 years, 202 days | Southern Movement |
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected | Term of office | Political party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
President of the Republic | |||||||
Ali Abdullah Saleh (1947–2017) [e] | 1999 2006 | 22 May 1990 | 27 February 2012 ( resigned.) [21] | 21 years, 281 days | General People's Congress | ||
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (born 1945) | — | 4 June 2011 [22] | 23 September 2011 | 111 days | General People's Congress | ||
23 November 2011 | 27 February 2012 | 96 days | |||||
2012 | 27 February 2012 | 7 April 2022 ( resigned.) [23] | 10 years, 39 days | ||||
Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council | |||||||
Rashad al-Alimi (born 1954) | — | 7 April 2022 [23] | Incumbent | 2 years, 236 days | General People's Congress | ||
President of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee | |||||||
Mohammed al-Houthi (born 1979) [f] ( in rebellion ) | — | 6 February 2015 | 15 August 2016 | 1 year, 191 days | Houthis | ||
President of the Supreme Political Council | |||||||
Saleh Ali al-Sammad (1979–2018) [f] ( in rebellion ) | — | 15 August 2016 | 19 April 2018 ( killed .) [24] | 1 year, 247 days | Houthis | ||
Mahdi al-Mashat (born 1986) [f] ( in rebellion ) | — | 25 April 2018 | Incumbent | 6 years, 220 days | Houthis |
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, commonly known by his last name Affash, 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 the fourth and last President of the Yemen Arab Republic, from July 1978 to 22 May 1990, after the assassination of President Ahmad al-Ghashmi. al-Ghashmi had earlier appointed Saleh as military governor in Taiz.
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.
Saada, situated in the northwest of Yemen, is the capital and largest city of the governorate of the same name, and the seat of the eponymous district. The city is located in the mountains of Serat (Sarawat) at an altitude of about 1,800 meters. In 2004, it was the tenth-largest city in Yemen and had an estimated population of 51,870.
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the president of Yemen from 2012 until 2022, when he stepped down and transferred executive authority to the Presidential Leadership Council, with Rashad al-Alimi as its chairman. He was the vice president to Ali Abdullah Saleh from 1994 to 2012.
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 Cabinet of Yemen refers to the governing body of the internationally recognized government of the Republic of Yemen, led by its President Rashad al-Alimi, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the governing body of Yemeni republic.
Ali Mohsen Saleh al-Ahmar, sometimes spelled Muhsin, is a Yemeni military officer and politician who served as the vice president of Yemen from 2016 to 2022, when he was dismissed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who transferred the powers of the president and vice president to the Presidential Leadership Council. He is a lieutenant general in the Yemeni Army and was the commander of the northwestern military district and the 1st Armoured Division. He played a leading role in the creation of the General People's Congress.
The following is a timeline of the 2011–2012 Yemeni revolution from 3 June through 22 September 2011. The Yemeni revolution was a series of major protests, political tensions, and armed clashes taking place in Yemen, which began in January 2011 and were influenced by concurrent protests in the region. Hundreds of protesters, members of armed groups, army soldiers and security personnel were killed, and many more injured, in the largest protests to take place in the South Arabian country for decades.
Yemeni peace process refers to the proposals and negotiations to pacify the Yemeni crisis by arranging a power transfer scheme within the country and later cease-fire attempts within the raging civil war. While initially unsuccessful, the reconciliation efforts resulted with presidential elections, held in Yemen in February 2012. The violence in Yemen, however, continued during the elections and after, culminating in Houthi seizure of power and the ensuing civil war.
The Houthi takeover in Yemen, also known by the Houthis as the September 21 Revolution, or 2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état, was a popular revolution against Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi led by the Houthis and their supporters that pushed the Yemeni government from power. It had origins in Houthi-led protests that began the previous month, and escalated when the Houthis stormed the Yemeni capital Sanaa on 21 September 2014, causing the resignation of Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa, and later the resignation of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and his ministers on 22 January 2015 after Houthi forces seized the presidential palace, residence, and key military installations, and the formation of a ruling council by Houthi militants on 6 February 2015.
The Yemeni crisis began with the 2011–2012 revolution against President Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for 33 years. After Saleh left office in early 2012 as part of a mediated agreement between the Yemeni government and opposition groups, the government led by Saleh's former vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, struggled to unite the fractious political landscape of the country and fend off threats both from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and from Houthi militants that had been waging a protracted insurgency in the north for years.
The aftermath of the Houthi takeover in Yemen refers to developments following the Houthis' takeover of the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and dissolution of the government, which eventually led to a civil war and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.
The Supreme Political Council is an executive body formed by the Houthi movement and the pro-Houthi faction of the General People's Congress (GPC) to rule Yemen. Formed on 28 July 2016, the presidential council consists of thirteen members and was headed by Saleh Ali al-Sammad as president until he was killed by a drone strike on 19 April 2018, with Qassem Labozah as vice-president. Presently the council is headed by Mahdi al-Mashat as Chairman.
The following is a timeline of the Yemeni civil war, which began in September 2014.
The Battle of Sanaa (2017) was fought between forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a. Both sides were allied during the 2014–15 Houthi takeover of the government but the alliance ended when Saleh decided to break ranks with the Houthis and call for dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who are leading a military intervention in Yemen. Fighting then broke out between the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh as the Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi areas, ultimately resulting in Saleh's death and a Houthi victory.
Tareq Mohammed Abdullah Saleh is a Yemeni military commander and the nephew of the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He is currently a member of the presidential council of Yemen. His father was Major General Mohammed Abdullah Saleh. Prior to the national crisis beginning in 2011, he headed the elite Presidential Guard. In 2012, he was ordered to stand down from this position. On 10 April 2013, he was appointed as a military attaché to Germany in an effort to remove the remnants of the previous regime. He re-emerged as a commander in the Houthi-Saleh alliance when the Yemeni Civil War broke out in 2015. When this alliance collapsed in 2017, Tareq Saleh commanded troops loyal to his uncle. Prior to the collapse of the pro-Saleh forces, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya reported that negotiations were ongoing to form a military council in Saleh-held areas, which would have been headed by Tareq.
The Presidential Leadership Council is the executive body of Yemen's internationally recognized government, formed on 7 April 2022. It is chaired by Rashad Muhammad Al-Alimi and has a membership of eight, including representatives from Southern Transitional Council. The decree claims all powers of the president and vice president have been transferred to this council. However, it also vests the chairman with sweeping personal powers, including the ability to unilaterally command the military and appoint governors and other key officials.
With this declaration a Presidential Leadership Council shall be established to complete the implementation of the tasks of the transitional period. I irreversibly delegate to the Presidential Leadership Council my full powers in accordance with the constitution and the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism.