General People's Congress (Yemen)

Not to be confused with the General People's Congress (Libya).
General People's Congress
المؤتمر الشعبي العام
Chairperson Ali Abdullah Saleh
Spokesperson Abdo Janadi
Founded 24 August 1982
Headquarters Sana'a, Yemen
Ideology Yemeni nationalism,
Arab nationalism,
Big tent[1]
Political position Centre[2]
International affiliation None
House of Representatives
238 / 301
Website
www.almotamar.net

The General People's Congress (Arabic: المؤتمر الشعبي العام‎‎, GPC; transliterated: Al-Mo'tamar Ash-Sha'abiy Al-'Aam) is a political party in Yemen. The party is dominated by a nationalist line, and its official ideology is Arab nationalism, seeking Arab unity.

History

The party was established on 24 August 1982 in Sana'a, North Yemen, by President Ali Abdullah Saleh,[3] becoming an umbrella organisation that sought to represent all political interests.[4] Following Yemeni unification in 1990, and with Saleh continuing as president of the united country, it emerged as the largest party in the 1993 parliamentary elections, winning 123 of the 301 seats.[3] It went on to win a majority (187) of seats in the 1997 elections amidst a boycott by the Yemeni Socialist Party.

Saleh was re-elected as President in the first direct presidential elections in 1999, and the party won a landslide victory in the 2003 parliamentary elections, winning 226 of the 301 seats. Following the elections, several independent MPs also joined the party. Saleh was re-elected again in 2006. After he was forced to stand down as a result of the Yemeni revolution, the party's Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was elected as his successor.

References

  1. ↑ Burrowes, Robert D. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 134.
  2. ↑ Burrowes, p111
  3. 1 2 Al Yemeni, Ahmed A. Hezam (2003). The Dynamic of Democratisation – Political Parties in Yemen (PDF). Toennes Satz + Druck GmbH. ISBN 3-89892-159-X.
  4. ↑ Frank Tachau (1994) Political parties of the Middle East and North Africa, Greenwood Press, p633
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