National holiday:
Unification Day, 22 May (1990)
Constitution:
16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001
Legal system:
based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local
tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990,
the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger
of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab
Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL; Deputy
Prime Ministers Rashid Muhammad al-ALIMI, Alawi Salah al-SALAMI,
Ahmad Muhammad Abdallah al-SUFAN
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
advice of the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
election last held 20 September 2006 (next to be held September
2013); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and
deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of
vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 77.2%, Faysal BIN SHAMLAN 21.8%
Legislative branch:
a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created
a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats;
members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives
(301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held in April 2009)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab
Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
there are more than 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of
the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President
Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh
Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdal Malik
al-MAKHLAFI]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qasim SALAM];
Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory),
ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer),
OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNOCI,
UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)