# 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. The government provides financial support to political parties, including a stipend for newspaper publication.

## Elections 2003–2006

The GPC captured 238 of 301 seats in parliament in the 2003 elections. 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). 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. 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.

## 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. Since there has been a long time without elections with a lot of political shift in between, parties that either control territory with their armed wing (such as Ansar Allah) or have over 10.000 likes on facebook are also taken into this category. All other operating parties are listed under minor parties. Parties that are long inactive are listed as defunct, although some might be revived at some point.

### 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 |
| Yemeni Rashad Union اتحاد الرشاد اليمني Ittihād ar-Rashād al-Yamanī | - | Ahmad Muhammad Nasir Muhammad Musa al-Amri | Salafism Islamic democracy Yemeni unity |
| National Solidarity Party حزب التضامن الوطني Ḥizb al-Taḍāmun al-Watanī | Tadhamon | - | Centrism |
| Southern National Coalition الائتلاف الوطني الجنوبي al-I'tilāf al-Watanī al-Janūbī | SNC | Ahmad Salih al-Issa | South Yemeni separatism |
| Al-Ahrar Organization تنظيم الاحرار Tanẓīm al-Aḥrār | - | Abduh Bashar | Center-left Anti-corruption pro-Houthi |
| Yemen Renaissance Movement تيار نهضة اليمن Tayyār Nahḍah al-Yaman | YRM | - | Anti-Zionism Big tent Yemeni unity Economic liberalism |
| Union of Popular Forces اتحاد القوي الشعبية Ittiḥād al-Quwa ash-Sha'abiyah | - | - | Arab nationalism Islamic Democracy |

### Minor parties

| Party | Acronym | Leader | Political position & ideologies |
| Yemeni Republican Federal Party الحزب الجمهوري الاتحادي اليمني al-Ḥizb al-Jumhūrī al-Ittihādī al-Yamanī | YRFP | Sharifah al-Muqatari | Republicanism Yemeni unity Abolishment of militias Pan-Arabism |
| New Yemen Party حزب اليمن الجديد Ḥizb al-Yaman al-Jadīd | - | - | Centrism anti-Houthi |
| Free Yemen Party حزب اليمن الحر Ḥizb al-Yaman al-Ḥurr | FYP | Nasir bin Yahya al-Arjali | Pro-Houthi |
| National Accord Party حزب الوفاق الوطني Ḥizb al-Wafaq al-Watani | - | - | Big Tent 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 |
| Liberal Party of Yemen الحزب الليبرالي اليمني al-Ḥizb al-Lībrālī al-Yamanī | - | - | Liberalism |
| Peace and Development Party حزب السلم والتنمية Ḥizb as-Salam wal-Tanmiyah | SLM | Murad al-Qudsi | Islamic Democracy |
| Social Nationalist Party - Yemen الحزب القومي الاجتماعي - اليمن al-Ḥizb al-Qawamī al-Ijtimā'ī - al-Yaman | SNPY | Abdul Aziz al-Bakir | Anti-Zionism Pro-Houthi Syncretic politics Yemeni nationalism |
| Southern Arabian League Party حزب رابطة الجنوب العربي Ḥizb Rabitah al-Janub al-'Arabi | - | Muhammad 'Ajrumuh al-Awlaqi | Southern Separatism Conservatism |
| Yemeni Labour Party حزب العمل اليمن Ḥizb al-'Amal al-Yamani | - | Mukhtar al-Qushaybi | Center-left Social Democracy |
| 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 |
| Yemenyoon Current تيار يمنيون Tayyār Yamaniyūn | Yemenyoon | - | Big tent Yemeni unity |
| National Democratic Front Party حزب الجبهة الوطنية الديمقراطية Ḥizb al-Jabhat al-Wataniyah ad-Dīmuqrātiyah | NDFP | Nasir an-Nasiri (pro-Houthi) | Center-left Arab nationalism |
| Justice and Development Youth Party حزب شباب العدالة والتنمية Ḥizb ash-Shabab al-'Adālah wat-Tanmiyah | - | Bakil al-Humayni | pro-Houthi |
| an-Nahdhah Movement for Peaceful Change حركة النهضة للتغيير السلمي Ḥarakat an-Nahḍah li-t-Taghayīr as-Salamī | an-Nahdhah | Ali al-Ahmadi | Social Conservatism Islamic democracy |
| Justice and Building Party حزب العدالة والبناء Ḥizb al-'Adālah wal-Bināʾ | JBP | - | Islamic democracy |
| Arab Hope Party حزب الأمل العربي Ḥizb al-Amal al-'Arabī | - | Layla ath-Thawr | Center-left Civic nationalism |
| Social Labour Party (Wazef) حزب العمل الاجتماعي الوزف Ḥizb al-'Amal al-Ijtimā'ī al-Wazif | Wazef | - | Center-left to left-wing |
| National Progress Party حزب التقدم الوطني Ḥizb at-Taqadum al-Watani | - | - | Centrism |
| Yemeni Workers' Party حزب العمال اليمني Ḥizb al-'Ummāl al-Yamanī | - | - | Left-wing |
| Yemeni Dignity Party حزب الكرامة اليمني Ḥizb al-Karamah al-Yamanī | - | Ahmad Abdurrahman al-'Ammari | Patriotism Centrism Militarism pro-Houthi |
| Liberation Front Party حزب جبهة التحرير Ḥizb Jabhat at-Tahrīr | - | - | Arab nationalism |
| People's Democratic Party حزب الشعب الديمقراطي Hizb ash-Sha'ab ad-Dimuqrati | Hashd | - | Center-left Arab nationalism pro-Houthi |
| Yemeni Social Peace Party حزب السلام الاجتماعي اليمني Ḥizb al-Salām al-Ijtimā'ī al-Yamanī | - | - | Center-left |
| Party of the Democratic Union of Popular Forces حزب الاتحاد الديمقراطي للقوى الشعبيه Hizb al-Ittihad ad-Dimuqrati lil-Quwa ash-Sha'abiyah | - | - | Arab nationalism pro-Houthi |
| 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 |
| Party of the League of the Sons of Yemen حزب رابطة أبناء اليمن Hizb Rabitah Abna' al-Yaman | Rai | - | Conservatism Islamic Democracy |
| Unionist Popular Liberation Party حزب التحرير الشعبي الوحدوي | UPLP | - | Center-left Arab nationalism |
| Yemeni Unionist Congregation التجمع الوحدوي اليمني at-Tajammu' al-Wahdawī al-Yamanī | - | - | Center-left Arab nationalism |

### 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.
** The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) was formed in 2005 by five opposition parties to effect political and economic reform. 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. 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. The spokesperson as of 23 March 2011 is Muhammad Qahtan, who replaced Mohammed Al-Sabri.
** The Common Forum includes the five biggest opposition groups in Yemen, including Reform, Socialist, Nasserist, Popular Force and al-Haq. (Likely just another name for the JMP.)