UN General Assembly
1983

104. What is significant is that all the genuine national forces have taken part in drafting the charter in a democratic atmosphere unprecedented in our country. This would not have happened without the determination of the political leadership, led by Colonel Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic and Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces and Secretary-General of the People's General Congress, who embodied the true spirit of democracy and of the national charter when he stood before the representatives of the people and proclaimed that, in keeping with the provisions of the constitution, he would not stand for re-election for a second term at the end of his first term of office. This deepened the great esteem of the people for him and their insistence on re-electing him to guide the march towards the next stage.