View source for General People's Congress (Yemen)

{{Short description|Ruling party of Yemen since 1993}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{distinguish|text=the [[General People's Congress (Libya)]]}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode        = {{party color|General People's Congress (Yemen)}}
| name             = General People's Congress
| native_name      = {{Big|{{Nobold|{{Lang|ar|المؤتمر الشعبي العام}}}}}}
| logo             = Logo of the General People's Congress (Yemen).png
| founder          = [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]]
| native_name_lang = ar
| leader1_title    = Chairperson {{small|(disputed)}}
| leader1_name     = [[Rashad al-Alimi]] (pro-Hadi/Alimi faction)<ref name="Sanaa Center">{{cite web |author1=Tawfeek al-Ganad |title=Weak and Divided, the General People's Congress Turns 40 |url=https://sanaacenter.org/publications/analysis/18710 |website=Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies |access-date=11 February 2023 |location=[[Sanaa]] |date=20 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The General People's Congress in Ma'rib Governorate salutes its leadership, members and supporters on the 40th anniversary of its founding |url=https://almethaqnews.com/news58016.html |website=Al-Methaq News |publisher=General People's Congress |access-date=11 February 2023 |date=25 August 2022 |lang=ar}}</ref><br />[[Sadeq Amin Abu Rass]] (pro-[[Houthis|Houthi]] faction)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security/yemeni-party-names-new-leader-after-saleh-killed-idUSKBN1EW0JN|title = Yemeni party names new leader after Saleh killed|work = Reuters|date = 7 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Sanaa Center" /><br />[[Ahmed Saleh]] (pro-Ahmed Saleh faction)<ref name="Sanaa Center" />
| leader2_title    = Spokesperson
| leader2_name     = Abdo al-Janadi
| foundation       = 24 August 1982<br>({{age in years and days|1982|08|24}})
| headquarters     = [[Sanaa]]
| ideology         = [[Yemen]]i [[nationalism]]<br />[[Arab nationalism]]<br />[[Pan-Arabism]]<br />[[Economic liberalism]]<br />[[Neoliberalism]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deeproot.consulting/en/publications/ali-abdullah-saleh-autocracy-and-neo-liberalism-in-yemen|title=Ali Abdullah Saleh, autocracy and neo-liberalism in Yemen|website=Deeproot Consulting|accessdate=11 March 2025}}</ref><br />[[Big tent]]<ref name="Yemen Dict 134">{{cite book |last=Burrowes |first=Robert D. |title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2010 |page=134}}</ref>
| position         = [[Centrism|Centre]]<ref name="Yemen Dict 111">Burrowes, p111</ref>
| international    = 
| seats1_title     = [[House of Representatives (Yemen)|House of Representatives]]
| seats1           = {{Composition bar|170|301|hex={{party color|General People's Congress (Yemen)}}}}
| website          = {{plainlist|
*{{URL|http://almotamar.net}} (pro-Houthi)
*{{URL|https://almethaqnews.com}} (pro-Hadi/Alimi)
}}
| newspaper        = Al-Motamar
| country          = Yemen
| flag             = General People's Congress flag.svg
}}
{{Politics of Yemen}}
{{Ali Abdullah Saleh series}}
The '''General People's Congress''' ('''GPC'''; {{langx|ar|المؤتمر الشعبي العام}}) is a [[political party]] in [[Yemen]]. It has been the ''de jure'' ruling party of Yemen since 1993, three years after [[Yemeni unification|unification]]. The party is dominated by a [[Nationalism|nationalist]] line, and its official ideology is [[Arab nationalism]], seeking [[Pan-Arabism|Arab unity]]. 

In the course of the [[Yemeni civil war (2014–present)|Yemeni Civil War]], the party's founder and Leader [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]] was killed, while the GPC fractured into three factions backing different sides in the conflict.<ref name="leader dies">{{cite news|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/when-leader-dies-how-yemen-gpc-fell-apart-after-murder-saleh-tareq-saudi-uae-aden-sanaa-1966816018 |title=Death of a leader: Where next for Yemen's GPC after murder of Saleh? |work=[[Middle East Eye]] |date=23 January 2018 |access-date=31 May 2018}}</ref>

==History==
The party was established on 24 August 1982 in [[Sana'a]], [[Yemen Arab Republic|North Yemen]], by President [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]],<ref name="leader dies"/><ref name=herzan2003/> becoming an [[umbrella organisation]] that sought to represent all political interests.<ref name="FT">[[Frank Tachau]] (1994) ''Political parties of the Middle East and North Africa'', Greenwood Press, p633</ref> Following [[Yemeni unification]] in 1990, and with Saleh continuing as president of the united country, it emerged as the largest party in the [[1993 Yemeni parliamentary election|1993 parliamentary elections]], winning 123 of the 301 seats.<ref name=herzan2003>{{cite book|last=Al Yemeni|first=Ahmed A. Hezam|title=The Dynamic of Democratisation – Political Parties in Yemen|year=2003|publisher=Toennes Satz + Druck GmbH|isbn=3-89892-159-X|url=http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/01459.pdf}}</ref> It went on to win a majority (187) of seats in the [[1997 Yemeni parliamentary election|1997 elections]] amidst a boycott by the [[Yemeni Socialist Party]].

Saleh was re-elected as president in the first direct [[1999 Yemeni presidential election|presidential elections]] in 1999, and the party won a landslide victory in the [[2003 Yemeni parliamentary election|2003 parliamentary elections]], winning 226 of the 301 seats. Following the elections, several independent MPs also joined the party. Saleh was re-elected again in [[2006 Yemeni presidential election|2006]]. On 25 February 2012, he resigned from the presidency as a result of the [[Yemeni Revolution|Yemeni protests (2011-2012)]], and [[Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi]] of the same party was [[2012 Yemeni presidential election|elected]] as his successor. Saleh attempted to regain power over the country and the GPC Party in the following [[Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)|2014 civil war]]. Rallying a large part of the GPC in 2015, he sided with the [[Houthis]] and effectively split the party into a pro-Hadi and a pro-Saleh faction.<ref name="leader dies"/>

The two factions were at war with each other until Saleh attempted to overthrow the Houthis. This power grab failed, however, and the former president as well as party secretary general Aref al-Zouka were killed in the [[Battle of Sanaʽa (2017)|Battle of Sana'a]] of late 2017. Following Ali Abdullah Saleh's death, the GPC fractured further, with a large part of the former Saleh followers pledging allegiance to the Houthis. This pro-Houthi part of the GPC continued to support the rebel government in Sana'a, and elected [[Sadeq Ameen Abu Rass]] as the new GPC chairman. One member of the pro-Houthi faction explained that "Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed by the Houthis. If we follow his direction and resist the Houthis, we will meet the same end as Saleh. So we prefer to support the strongest force on the ground."<ref name="leader dies"/>

Another group of Saleh loyalists fled from the Houthis. Though this GPC faction then allied itself with Hadi and the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|Saudi Arabia-led international coalition]], it still remained completely separate and chose Ali Abdullah Saleh's son [[Ahmed Saleh]] as new ''de facto'' leader. Meanwhile, the former president's nephew [[Tareq Saleh]] began to organize a new [[private army]] for this GPC faction.<ref name="leader dies"/>

== Electoral history ==

=== Presidential elections ===
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Party candidate
!Votes
!%
!Result
|-
|[[1999 Yemeni presidential election|1999]]
|rowspan=2|[[Ali Abdullah Saleh]]
|3,584,399
|96.2%
|'''Elected''' {{Y}}
|-
|[[2006 Yemeni presidential election|2006]]
|4,149,673
|77.2%
|'''Elected''' {{Y}}
|-
|[[2012 Yemeni presidential election|2012]]
|[[Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi]]
|6,621,921
|100.0%
|'''Elected''' {{Y}}
|}

=== House of Representatives elections ===
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Party leader
!Votes
!%
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
!Result
|-
|[[1993 Yemeni parliamentary election|1993]]
|rowspan=3|[[Ali Abdullah Saleh]]
|640,523
|28.7%
|{{Composition bar|123|301|hex={{party color|General People's Congress (Yemen)}}}}
|{{increase}} 123
|{{increase}} 1st
|style="background-color:#CCCCFF" |Minority government
|-
|[[1997 Yemeni parliamentary election|1997]]
|1,175,343
|43.1%
|{{Composition bar|187|301|hex={{party color|General People's Congress (Yemen)}}}}
|{{increase}} 64
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Majority government}}
|-
|[[2003 Yemeni parliamentary election|2003]]
|3,429,888
|58.0%
|{{Composition bar|226|301|hex={{party color|General People's Congress (Yemen)}}}}
|{{increase}} 39
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Supermajority government}}
|}

== See also ==
*[[List of political parties in Yemen]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Yemeni political parties}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arab nationalism in Yemen]]
[[Category:Political parties in Yemen]]
[[Category:Parties of one-party systems]]
[[Category:Yemeni revolution]]
[[Category:Arab nationalist political parties]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in North Yemen]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1982]]
[[Category:Yemeni nationalism]]
[[Category:Organizations of the Arab Spring]]
[[Category:Organizations of the Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)]]