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Yemen: Political situation
Yemen has democracy, but the political structures are still weak. Even with the end of the civil war (1994), there are strong geographical tensions, and many areas are under limited or no control of the government.
Yemen was united in 1990, according to plans almost 20 years old. The constitution of Yemen is based on sharia, and was accepted in a referendum in 1991. Elections were held in 1993, were 301 seats in the parliament was fought over by several parties. People's Congress (the old ruling party in the north) won 40%, the southern-based Socialist Party won 19%, while the Islamists' Restoration Party got 20% of the ballots.
Tensions between north and south, especially between leaders of the two regions, resulted in the 6 months civil war of 1994, where the south wanted to leave the unified Yemen. The civil war ended with the south being forced back to Yemen.
Since 2004 a new conflict began, in which the group, The Young Believers, took up arms against government institutions. Fights were fought in the northwestern governorate of Sa'dah.
The freedom of speech in Yemen is only moderately developed, and under government control. There are few medias, only 1 TV-station and 2 newspapers, and the spread of information is also difficult due to distances between peoples and regions, and sometimes inadequate infrastructure.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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