Yemen Socialist Party

The Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) was the sole legal political organization in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen). This Marxist regime determined government policy and controlled the state administrative system, legislature, and military. South Yemen, which became a Marxist state in the early 1970s, underwent a radical restructuring of its economy and society along communist lines.12

The YSP evolved from the National Liberation Front (NLF) and experienced internal ideological and practical fissures. These divisions led to violent civil strife in January 1986, resulting in the death of its major ideologue, Abd al-Fattah Ismail, and the exile of his successor, Ali Nasir Muhammad. The party's ability to build popular support and revive the faltering development of South Yemen was tested in the late 1980s.2

Following the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990, a multiparty representative democracy was established, a significant departure from the previous systems. While political parties are regulated by law and cannot be based on regional, tribal, sectarian, or ethnic persuasion, the General People's Congress has been the most successful party.1