# Talk:Corrective Move

Is coup even the right word? Wasn't the removal of the right-wing factions done legally and without military interference? A coup is an illegal removal of other people from power. This removal seemed highly legal: it was the decision of the General Command. If this was illegal, the text does not make it clear at all. I mean, the 1964 removal of Nikita Khrushchev has by many Western liberal scholars been referred to as a coup, but it was not a coup: the CPSU Central Committee had the powers to remove a general secretary, and it did. So was this a coup, @Abo Yemen:? TheUzbek (talk) 10:05, 8 August 2025 (UTC)

We'll need to see what most sources call it tbh 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 10:42, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
If you use the term, you have to make clear to the readers if the removal was done legally or illegally. Everything in this articles points to it being legally, right? TheUzbek (talk) 11:03, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
what term do you suggest that we use then? 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 11:08, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
I would describe it as a power struggle, which was what it was, right? Ouster could also be used. I think it should also be clarified that this was a power struggle within the General Command of the NF, grounding this article institutionally. In that light, if you had more information on the GC, its membership and its factional composition, this article would improve even more.
The thing is: this was an overt power struggle in which a majority in the GC ousted a minority, right? And the minority had tried to gain the upper hand by purging the majority, right? This should be stated with a more clearer language than it currently does in the lead so that uninformed leaders can get an easier grasp on what actually occured.  TheUzbek (talk) 11:24, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
@TheUzbek I've went through most of the sources and found that most sources described it as just an event of some sort, except for Halliday 2002, p.23, who indeed calls it a bloodless coup:But in June 1969 he was forced to resign after a clash with the Minister of the Interior,Muhammad Ali Haytham. He dismissed Haytham on 16 June 1969, but Haytham had built up good connections in the armed forces and, in alliance with Muhammad Salih Awlaki, the Minister of Defence, and with the regrouped forces of the left, organised a bloodless coup on 22 June 1969, in which the President and his supporters were removed from government and replaced by a coalition of the left and other opponents of Kahtan al-Shaabi. [Emphasis mine] 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 12:01, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
Good.. Maybe rewrite the first two sentences of the lead to this: "The Corrective Move began with the political defeat and expulsion of the right-wing faction of the National Front, South Yemen's sole legal party, on 22 June 1969. The victors, a left-wing faction that espoused Marxism-Leninism headed by front leader Abdul Fattah Ismail, instituted a set of transformative policies that collectively contributed to turning South Yemen into a communist state."
The Corrective Move, to my understanding, was two things: firstly, the political defeat of the rightist line, and secondly, the first Marxist-Leninist policies instituted in the immediate aftermath that "corrected the course" of South Yemen's development. I think those two sentences nearly says it all. But this sentence can also be improved :) TheUzbek (talk) 14:20, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
Hm, I dont think that calling it just a political defeat and expulsion of the right-wing faction a fair way to describe it, since according to Stookey, The government apparatus, both civil and military, was so thoroughly purged that when the process was complete hardly a trace of personnel continuity with the colonial regime was left. (referring to the South Arabian Army that was part of the right wing). Pinging @Paprikaiser for their thoughts here since they've contributed to this article greatly 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 14:29, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
You can stress the purge more; that is fine by me, as long as the term "coup" goes :) TheUzbek (talk) 14:40, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
I double-checked my books, and they do mostly describe the events as an ousting, purge, struggle, shift, or similar terms. I'd be in favor of rewording the current opener to reflect that. I agree with Uzbek re: focusing on the purge. Paprikaiser (talk) 20:34, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
@Paprikaiser@TheUzbek feel free to do the change with an emphasis on the purge. I also recommend using Stookey in the reforms and aftermath section and a creation of a "Party reforms" section. I'll work on this tomorrow unless someone gets to it before me :) 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 20:39, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
For the lead, what about something like:
The Corrective Move[a][note 1] was a significant political shift that took place in South Yemen on 22 June 1969, resulting in the overthrow and purge of the ruling right-wing faction of the National Front (NF) by the party's left-wing faction. The change in leadership was followed by a series of socialist policies and reforms.
The shift occurred following internal disagreements among various NF factions, leading the party to convene its 4th Congress in an attempt to resolve the disputes. The congress adopted several pro-left-wing measures. The right-wing faction, dissatisfied with the outcomes, initially attempted to sideline the left through purges. When that effort failed, the left attempted a counter-purge, which was also unsuccessful. The eventual transfer of power came amid growing unpopularity of then-president Qahtan al-Shaabi, who was also the informal leader of the right-wing faction. Leadership was assumed by Abdul Fattah Ismail and Salim Rubaya Ali, who removed Qahtan, along with Prime Minister Faysal al-Shaabi and his cabinet.
Social and political reforms followed the leftist takeover; the state was transformed into a Communist state, institutions were nationalized, schools and universities were built, education became freely accessible to everyone, and a new Family Law was enacted, ensuring equality between men and women.
Perhaps it could be a bit less repetitive. I'm open to feedback! Paprikaiser (talk) 01:22, 9 August 2025 (UTC)
 I've adopted this wording 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 07:30, 9 August 2025 (UTC)
@Abo Yemen and Paprikaiser: Its much stronger, but you also need to make further clarifications. It should be clarified that the term Corrective Movement denotes both the removal of power of the right-wing faction and the ensuing reforms. It must be clarified even further. "The change in leadership was followed by a series of socialist policies and reforms." These are Marxist–Leninist reforms we are speaking of, and this should be stated. As for the right-wingers; they were not right-wingers, but moderate socialists. This is not stated in the article, and the article's continued use of vague terminology of "left-wing" and "right-wing" does not clarify this. You need to state clearly the policy positions of these two groups. For example, the left-wingers proposed at the 4th Congress to institute a "national democratic revolution".
You also write that leadership was assumed by Abdul Fattah Ismail, but that is wrong. He was the general secretary of the front during the crisis. The state leadership has to step down. Again, the institutional positions of the parties are not clarified. --TheUzbek (talk) 08:54, 9 August 2025 (UTC)
@TheUzbek As for the right-wingers; they were not right-wingers, but moderate socialists. This is not stated in the article, and the article's continued use of vague terminology of "left-wing" and "right-wing" does not clarify this. You need to state clearly the policy positions of these two groups.All the sources in here use this terminology, although I remember one of them clarifying something along the lines of "Although they were referred to as right-wing, they were Nasserists". Ill try to look for the source that clarified this and ill add an efn on the first mention of "right-wing" in both the lead and the main body. Feel free to add something about the national democratic revolution part 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 09:02, 9 August 2025 (UTC)
The national democratic revolution was the thing, and it was articulated proudly at the 1st YSP Congress:
"All this affirms that despite the unnatural situations of the false division of the Yemeni land and people, its struggle in the two parts is dialectically related in its unity, not only against imperialist and reactionary conspiracies against the Yemeni homeland, but also for the purpose of finally liquidating the division and restoring the natural situation for the democratic unity of Yemen . . The struggle of the Yemeni people will continue until the realisation of all the tasks of the national democratic revolutionary stage, the strategy of the Yemeni revolution, including the construction of the United Democratic Yemen under the leadership of its allies and the rest of the groups of the democratic and national movement - in our Yemeni homeland
The bookRevolution and Foreign Policy: The Case of South Yemen has a lot of valuable information. I can add some of it!
As for the terminology. We need to say what the sources say, but we must also remember that the terminology of the sources is a reflection of the material in that given source. Most readers who stumble on this article have not read about South Yemenite national liberation struggle and have no clue of what is left-wing and right-wing. We as Wikipedians must write what the sources say, but also simplify to the greatest extent possible so that what the sources say becomes as comprehensible as possible. TheUzbek (talk) 09:33, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

I managed to find the announcement in Lackner 1985 p.60:

individualist actions which caused the revolution to deviate from its proper course to a different course... Thus, the action by the General Command in carrying out a natural corrective operation within its ranks was in response to an urgent necessity felt by every citizen, and especially by all the members of the organization . . . 
The General Command emphasizes the following points:
1 The revolution can only avoid dangers and faults if it makes use of the popular political authority found in the National Front.
2 It is the only popular democratic authority that is going to save the country and people from the dangers of individualist inclination.
3 The National Charter of the National Front is the guide for the revolution.
4 To safeguard the 26 September and 14 October revolutions from the conspiracies of the imperialists and reactionaries are the immediate task of the revolution in the South and the National Guard in the North.
5 It is necessary to strengthen the relations with fraternal Arab countries, especially the UAR... and to support the popular Palestine armed resistance... and the popular Arab armed revolution in the Gulf.
6 It is necessary to strengthen relations with the socialist bloc, especially the Soviet Union.

Long live the revolution of 14 October under the leadership of the National Front
Let individualist inclination end for good
Long live the collective will 

Long live our struggling people.
I'm not sure if we're supposed to place this in the article, but I thought that i'd place it somewhere where we could find easily 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 10:48, 8 August 2025 (UTC)

And this, again, does not seem illegal. "The General Command" has made a decision. Remember Wikipedia:Neutral point of view: "All encyclopedic content on Wikipedia must be written from a neutral point of view (NPOV), which means representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic." Referring to it as a coup when the other position is that it was legally seems to fail that.  TheUzbek (talk) 11:04, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
My congradulations with GA article, @Abo Yemen Algirr (talk) 17:43, 21 September 2025 (UTC)
Thank you! 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 04:34, 22 September 2025 (UTC)