List of political parties in Yemen

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.

Legal status

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]

Elections 2003–2006

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]

List of parties

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. As there has been a long time without elections, parties that control territory with their armed wing (such as Ansar Allah) are also listed here. All other operating parties are listed under minor parties. Parties that are long inactive are listed as defunct.

Major parties

Party		Acronym	Leader	Political position & ideologies
	General People's Congress المؤتمر الشعبي العام al-Muʾtamar aš-Šaʿbī al-ʿĀmm	GPC	Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (pro-Hadi faction) Sadeq Amin Abu Rass (pro-Houthi faction) Ahmed Saleh (pro-Saleh faction)	Centre Arab nationalism Yemeni nationalism Pan-Arabism Big tent
	Yemeni Congregation for Reform التجمع اليمني للإصلاح at-Tajammu’u al-Yamanī lil-Iṣlāḥ	Al-Islah	Mohammed al-Yadumi	Anti-Zionism Sunni Islamism Salafism Tribalism
	Yemeni Socialist Party الحزب الاشتراكي اليمني al-Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Yamani	YSP	Abdulraham Al-Saqqaf	Islamic socialism Arab nationalism Social democracy
	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	Anti-Zionism Autocrat Irredentism Shia Islamism

Minor parties

Party		Acronym	Leader	Political position & ideologies
	New Yemen Party حزب اليمن الجديد Ḥizb al-Yaman al-Jadīd	-	-	Centrism [2] anti-Houthi
	National Accord Party حزب الوفاق الوطني Ḥizb al-Wafaq al-Watani [3]	-	-	Big Tent [4] Pro-Houthi
	Nasserist Reform Organisation تنظيم التصحيح الشعبي الناصري Tanzim at-Tashikh ash-Shabi an-Nasiri	NRO	- Mujahed al-Quhali	Nasserism Arab nationalism Arab socialism
	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
	Yemeni Dignity Party حزب الكرامة اليمني Ḥizb al-Karamah al-Yamanī	-	Ahmad Abdurrahman al-'Ammari	Patriotism Centrism [5] Militarism pro-Houthi
	Liberation Front Party حزب جبهة التحرير Ḥizb Jabhat at-Tahrīr	-	-	Arab nationalism
	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 [6]
	Yemeni Unionist Congregation التجمع الوحدوي اليمني at-Tajammu' al-Wahdawī al-Yamanī	-	-	Center-left Arab nationalism [7]

Defunct parties

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

List of coalitions

• The National Council for the Forces of the Peaceful Revolution was declared on 17 August 2011, amidst the Yemeni Revolution, to unite the opposition groups, parties, coalitions, and youth protesters. Among the 143 representatives elected to sit on it are leaders from Al-Islah, the South Yemen Movement, the Alliance of Yemeni Tribes, and the defected First Armoured Division. ^{[8] [9]}
  • The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) was formed in 2005 by five opposition parties to effect political and economic reform. ^[1] It includes the northern-based, tribal, and Islamist-oriented Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah) and the secular Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), which represents the remnants of the former South Yemeni leadership. ^[1] According to Al Jazeera English , it was formed in 2002 and includes Islah, Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), Hizb Al-Haq (a semi-religious party), the Unionist party, and the Popular Forces Union party. ^[10] The spokesperson as of 23 March 2011 is Muhammad Qahtan, who replaced Mohammed Al-Sabri. ^[11] Following the fall of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the coalition disappeared without a formal dissolution. ^[12]
  • The Common Forum includes the five biggest opposition groups in Yemen, including Reform, Socialist, Nasserist, Popular Force and al-Haq. ^{[13] [14]} (Likely just another name for the JMP.)

See also

• 2011–2012 Yemeni revolution

References

1. Country profile: Yemen. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (August 2008). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
2. Staff member. "Tomorrow, the national political party "New Yemen" will be founded (in Arabic)". Radfan Press. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
3. "National Accord Party's page on facebook". facebook. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
4. Wasil, Abdurrahman (4 April 2013). "Sana'a: The National Accord Party was announced (in Arabic)" . Retrieved 15 September 2022.
5. Staff member. "حزب الكرامة اليمني يعقد مؤتمره التأسيسي، وينتخب الحجري أميناً عاماً للحزب". Huna Aden. Archived from the original on August 21, 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
6. Quinn Mecham & Julie Chernov Hwang (2014) Islamist Parties and Political Normalization in the Muslim World, University of Pennsylvania Press, p140
7. "حزب التجمع اليمني يعلن تأييده لانتفاضة المواطنين ضد ارتفاع الأسعار". Mashhad al-Yemeni. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
8. "Yemen's National Council". Notes by Noon. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
9. "Yemen opposition forms council to lead transition". Khaleej Times. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
10. Who's who in Yemen's opposition? Archived March 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , Al Jazeera English , 28 February 2011
11. Yemen passes emergency laws to quell protests, The Guardian , 23 March 2011
12. "An Unsteady Path Forward for Yemen's National Political Bloc - The Yemen Review, January-March 2025". Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
13. Yemen activists breaking new ground, BBC News , 2 February 2011
14. Yemeni police struggle to break up clashing protesters, Al Arabiya News Channel , 14 February 2011