Ali Abdullah Saleh

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6th President of North Yemen
Ali Abdullah Saleh علي عبد الله صالح
Image:Ali Abdullah Saleh 2004.jpg President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2004.<small/>
1st President of Yemen
Incumbent
Assumed office May 22 1990
Preceded by	none
In office July 18, 1978 – May 22, 1990
Preceded by	Abdul Karim Abdullah al-Arashi
Succeeded by	none

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.<ref>Dresch, Paul (2000). A History of Modern Yemen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 184. ISBN 052179482X.</ref>

Saleh was Yemen's first directly elected president in 1999, winning 96.2% of the vote, but the main opposition socialist party was barred from the 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.<ref name=REVERSAL>In eleventh-hour reversal, President Saleh announces candidacy, IRIN News</ref>

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 5 to 6.<ref name=FH>Freedom in the World - Yemen (2002) Freedom House</ref>

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." <ref name=NOCONTEST>Yemen leader rules himself out of polls Al Jazeera</ref> 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."<ref name=REVERSAL/>

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%.<ref>"Saleh re-elected president of Yemen", Aljazeera.net, September 23 2006.</ref> Opposition parties disputed the results, accusing the government of fraud, citing that their candidate lost by a wider margin than predicted. The opposition threatened to call for large street protests to dispute the election results. <ref>"Yemeni Opposition Threatens Protest", Guardian Unlimited, 22 September 2006.</ref> Saleh was sworn in for another term on September 27.<ref>"Yemeni president takes constitutional oath for his new term", Xinhua, September 27, 2006.</ref>

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Ali Abdullah Saleh

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President Ali Abdullah Saleh Official Website

Preceded by: Abdul Karim Abdullah al-Arashi	President of North Yemen 1978–1990	Succeeded by: none
Preceded by: none	President of Yemen 1990–	Succeeded by: Incumbent