Yemen's General People's Congress: 44 Years and a Nation Divided

As Yemen navigates one of the most complex periods in its modern history, a renewed debate surrounds the nation's political trajectories since the establishment of the Republic. An enduring conflict has profoundly impacted state institutions and society, transforming Yemen into a battleground for competing political and sectarian agendas.

Political analysts suggest that the shift from unifying national political parties to the rise of Islamist and sectarian groups is key to understanding the transformations that led to Yemen's division and ongoing war. Political competition has devolved from national programs to a struggle over religious and sectarian identity and influence.

The General People's Congress (GPC), founded on August 24, 1982, exemplifies an early political experiment aimed at uniting diverse currents under a national banner during a time of internal strife and regional tensions following decades of political turmoil. The GPC was conceived not as an exclusive ideological party but as a broad, centrist political framework accommodating nationalists, leftists, Islamists, and independents under the "National Charter" to mitigate intellectual and political conflicts that had previously characterized the Yemeni landscape.

Naji Babaker, a writer and politician, told "Khaba" agency that a significant achievement of this experience was fostering a culture of political dialogue and creating a space for competition within institutions rather than confrontation outside them. This approach contributed to a considerable degree of stability for an extended period, contrasting with earlier phases marked by armed conflict between political forces.

The unification of Yemen on May 22, 1990, marked a pivotal moment, with the GPC and the Yemeni Socialist Party agreeing to end the division between North and South Yemen. This transition from political partition to the establishment of a unified state based on political pluralism saw the nation's first multi-party parliamentary elections in the Arabian Peninsula in 1993, along with the establishment of constitutional institutions based on elections and political competition.

However, this burgeoning democratic experiment faced significant challenges in the first decade of unity, exacerbated by escalating foreign interference. Local religious, ideological, and nationalist factions, backed by external powers, attempted to alter the political system's structure. The ruling GPC managed to steer the country away from this precipice, largely due to its adherence to moderation and avoidance of extremism.

In subsequent decades, the influence of political Islamist groups and sectarian-oriented movements grew significantly. Political competition gradually shifted from a contest over programs and visions for state governance to a struggle for religious, social, and political dominance. Naji Babaker, a prominent leader in the Democratic People's Party (Hashed), asserts that these groups weakened the concept of the national state by prioritizing ideological and sectarian loyalties over institutional allegiance. This deepened social and political divisions, the initial sparks of which ignited in 2011 and intensified into the Houthi militia's Iran-backed coup in September 2014, leading to the seizure of the capital, Sana'a, and their subsequent military expansion.

Researchers specializing in Yemeni politics view the current war as more than a military confrontation; it reveals a deeper conflict between two projects: one advocating for a civil state based on pluralism and institutions, and others seeking to impose a political model rooted in religious and sectarian references.

During the decades when the GPC was the dominant political force, Yemen witnessed the implementation of numerous infrastructure projects in roads, education, health, and dams, including the reconstruction of the Marib Dam and the development of the oil and gas sectors following the country's entry into the phase of natural resource production and export. This era also saw efforts to resolve complex regional issues, notably border demarcation with Saudi Arabia and Oman through formal agreements that ended decades-long disputes and contributed to regional stability.

More than four decades after the GPC's founding, Yemen finds itself in a drastically altered political reality. The space for partisan political activity has diminished, supplanted by armed factions and ideological groups that have asserted their presence through military force. Researchers emphasize that restoring stability in Yemen requires re-establishing the concept of the national state and strengthening political pluralism, eschewing exclusionary religious or sectarian agendas. They argue that the continuation of identity-based conflicts will trap the nation in a cycle of war and division.

They further contend that while national political parties, despite their flaws and criticisms, operated on the principle of competition within the state framework, the rise of armed ideological groups has shifted political disagreements from dialogue to conflict, plunging Yemen into one of the gravest humanitarian and political crises of the modern era.