Ali Abdullah Saleh
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| Ali Abdullah Saleh علي عبد الله صالح |
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 President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2004. |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 22, 1990 |
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| In office July 18, 1978 – May 22, 1990 |
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| Preceded by | Abdul Karim Abdullah al-Arashi |
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| Born | March 21, 1942 |
| Political party | General People's Congress |
| Religion | Islam |
Field Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh (Arabic: علي عبد الله صالح) (born March 21, 1942) is the current President of Yemen. He was President of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) from 1978 to 1990 and became president of the new merged state of Yemen in 1990.[1]
Saleh was Yemen's first directly elected president in 1999, winning 96.2% of the vote, in an internationally observed election. The only other candidate, Najib Qahtan al-Shaabi, is the son of a former President of South Yemen and a member of Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) party. However, Qahtan ran as an independent.[2]
On February 20, 2001 a referendum was held and passed, extending presidential terms from five to seven years, parliamentary terms from four to six years, and creating a 111-member, presidentially appointed council of advisors with legislative power. This move prompted the non-profit organization Freedom House to downgrade their rating of political freedom in Yemen from 6 to 5.[3]
Saleh announced in July 2005, during the 27th anniversary celebrations of his term in office as President of Yemen, that he would "not contest the (presidential) elections" in September 2006. He expressed hope that "all political parties - including the opposition and the General People's Congress - find young leaders to compete in the elections because we have to train ourselves in the practice of peaceful succession." [4] However, in June 2006 Saleh changed his mind and accepted his party's nomination as the presidential candidate of the GPC, saying that when he initially decided not to contest the elections his aim was "to establish ground for a peaceful transfer of power" but that he was now bowing to the "popular pressure and appeals of the Yemeni people." Political analyst Ali Saif Hasan said he had been "sure [President Saleh] would run as a presidential candidate. His announcement in July 2005 – that he wouldn’t run – was exceptional and unusual." Mohammed al-Rubai, head of the opposition supreme council, said the president's decision "shows that the president wasn’t serious in his earlier decision. I wish he hadn’t initially announced that he would step down. There was no need for such farce."[2]
In the 2006 presidential election, held on September 20, Saleh won with 77.2% of the vote. His main rival, Faisal bin Shamlan, received 21.8%.[5] According to US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, "Yemen and President Saleh, who did win re-election in those elections, should be congratulated on the fact that they ran some good elections that met international criteria for free and fair elections." [6] Saleh was sworn in for another term on September 27.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Dresch, Paul (2000). A History of Modern Yemen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 184. ISBN 0-521-79482-X.
- ^ a b In eleventh-hour reversal, President Saleh announces candidacy, IRIN News
- ^ Freedom in the World - Yemen (2002) Freedom House
- ^ Yemen leader rules himself out of polls Al Jazeera
- ^ "Saleh re-elected president of Yemen", Aljazeera.net, September 23, 2006.
- ^ "Bush Congratulates President Saleh and Yemen on Elections", USINFO - U.S. State Department, September 27, 2006.
- ^ "Yemeni president takes constitutional oath for his new term", Xinhua, September 27, 2006.
[edit] External link
| Preceded by Al-safeer Abdul Karim Abdullah al-Arashi Al-taeeb |
President of North Yemen 1978–1990 |
Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by none |
President of Yemen 1990– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
