Salih, Ali Abdullah
(1942–)

Ali Abdullah Salih became president of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), better known as North Yemen, in 1978 following the assassinations of his two predecessors. Along with Ali Salim al-Bid, he oversaw the unification of the YAR with the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) in 1990. He became president of the newly formed Republic of Yemen (ROY), while al-Bid served as vice president. The delicate balance of power lasted until al-Bid and the former PDRY attempted to secede in 1994. Salih defeated his rival and forced him into exile, subsequently strengthening his position as the head of the country. Salih won re-election in 1999 and again in 2006.

PERSONAL HISTORY

Salih was born on 21 March 1942 in the village of Bayt al-Ahmar in the governorate of San'a. The village is located southeast of the capital in the district of Sanhan, which takes its name from a local tribe. Prior to the revolution of 1962 that overthrew Muhammad al-Badr Hamid al-Din and the Imamate system of government, the region was known for producing soldiers for the Imam. The Sanhan tribe, of which Salih is a member, is a Zaydi tribe that is part of the Hashid tribal confederation headed by Shaykh Abdullah al-Ahmar. Despite this alliance, different tribal subsections of the confederation have traditionally acted with a great deal of independence.

BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Name: Ali Abdullah Salih

Birth: 1942, Bayt al-Ahmar, North Yemen

Nationality: Yemeni

Education: Primary school in Bayt al-Ahmar, attended military school in 1960 and again in 1964; he received an MA in military science in 1989, and two honorary doctorates from universities in Sudan and South Korea

PERSONAL CHRONOLOGY:

• 1960s: Corporal in the Republican Army, and a member of a tank crew
• 1970s: Rises through the ranks of the Yemeni military, eventually achieving the rank of major, and command of the garrison at Ta'izz.
• 1978: Named president of the Yemen Arab Republic
• 1982: Convenes the General People's Congress
• 1990: Oversees unification of the YAR and the DPRY
• 1994: Preserves unification following a failed seccession attempt by Ali Salim al-Bid
• 1999: Elected president of the Republic of Yemen in nationwide voting
• 2000: Successfully amends the constitution, allowing for, among other things, an extension of the president's term of office from six years to seven years
• 2006: Re-elected president in nationwide elections

Salih was raised by his stepfather, a full brother of his deceased father. He was born into a poor family whose members traditionally served in the Imam's army. They filled the lower ranks of the military, and none of his relatives rose to prominence under the Imam. This was partly due to the relative weakness of the Sanhan tribe at the time, as well as the lack of social mobility under the Imamate.

Salih in the Military

In 1958 when Salih turned sixteen he traveled to San'a to enlist in the army, following his older brother, Muhammad Abdullah Salih. He attended the military school for noncommissioned officers in San'a in 1960, leaving as a corporal. Both brothers fought in the eight-year civil war following the 1962 overthrow of the Imamate. Along with his stepbrothers and cousins, Salih supported the Republicans against the Royalist forces loyal to the Imam. This largely stemmed from the popular support the revolution gained amongst Salih's peers in the military. Salih spent much of the war as a member of a tank crew. In 1963 he achieved the rank of second lieutenant, the first of many promotions.

His official biography claims that he defended the revolution in numerous battles throughout different governorates in Yemen during the civil war, and that he was wounded while fighting in 1963. His role in the civil war, however, was minimal as he was both young and held a relatively low rank. Both he and his brother were involved in defending San'a during the 70 Day Siege in 1967–68 that broke the back of Royalist resistance. Paul Dresch in A History of Modern Yemen writes that as a tank driver, he was remembered as "motoring along Abd al-Mughni Street in San'a, during the fighting of 1968, and shelling point-blank such symbols of leftist progress as the pharmacy and the Bilqis cinema."

The civil war, and particularly the fighting of August 1968, enhanced the power of the military as an institution in its own right. The army now represented a path out of poverty for those lacking traditional connections. Salih made the most of his opportunities, and Dresch and many other observers have noted that he is largely a self-made man. Over the next decade, Salih made his way up the ranks of the Yemeni army, an increasingly more powerful force within the country.

The military's role as the major political power within the country solidified after the 1974 military coup sent President Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani into exile and installed Ibrahim al-Hamdi, a popular military leader, as president. Al-Hamdi and his brother, Abdullah, were murdered in 1977, and Ahmad al-Ghashmi, a tank officer, replaced him as president. Al-Ghashmi was himself assassinated with a briefcase bomb in June 1978 after only eight months in power. Abd al-Karim al-Arashi was appointed interim president. Eventually he declined the job, leaving the way open for Salih.

Salih's YAR Presidency

Salih had been close to al-Hamdi and had worked with al-Ghasmi, but he was still a relative unknown when he put himself forward for president in July 1978. Prior to becoming president he had risen to the rank of major and headed a large military garrison at Ta'izz since 1975. His political inexperience led many foreign observers to question whether he would survive the year. Salih since has made much of the fact that the international community never had faith in his ability to rule Yemen.

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination of his two predecessors, Salih was wary of suffering the same fate. He took a number of precautionary measures that helped to save his own life. The most important and far-reaching of these was Salih's decision to surround himself with trusted relatives. Important military and intelligence posts were quickly occupied by stepbrothers, cousins, and other family members. This helped to derail an early threat to his rule in October 1978, when an attempted coup failed. Salih survived his early days in power by bringing in former opponents and managing deftly to play one interest group against another. He used a delicate balance of shifting alliances, as well as maintaining and encouraging deep-rooted and personal networks of patronage, to maintain his position of power.

In 1982 Salih opened the General People's Congress (al-Mu'tamar al-Sha'bi al-Amm). This eventually transformed into a general organization that became known as the official government party in the aftermath of unification in 1990. Throughout the 1980s, Salih strongly supported Iraq in its war against Iran. At home, he attempted to limit Saudi influence, while moving skillfully between the different local power blocs in the country and expanding his patronage networks.

Salih's ROY Presidency

In November 1989 Salih and Ali Salim al-Bid, the head of the Marxist PDRY, jointly announced that the two countries, the YAR and the PDRY, would unify within the year. Unification took place on 22 March 1990 with Salih as president of the newly formed Republic of Yemen (ROY) and al-Bid as his vice president. The delicate power sharing agreement that the two had worked out lasted until the parliamentary elections in 1993, when al-Bid's Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) fared worse than expected. Al-Bid retreated to Aden and eventually declared his intention to secede from the union.

Fighting between the two sides broke out in April 1994 and continued until July, when northern forces sacked the city of Aden. Al-Bid and a number of his supporters went into exile, although some have since taken advantage of an amnesty offered by Salih and returned to the country. In the aftermath of the civil war, Salih was reaffirmed as the president of the country.

He ran virtually unopposed for election in 1999, as even his opponent, Najib Qahtan al-Sha'bi, a member of Salih's own GPC party, publicly endorsed Salih for president. Not surprisingly, he won with more than 96 percent of the vote. Yemen's major opposition parties including Islah and the YSP failed to nominate a candidate for the country's top office.

Following his overwhelming victory in 1999, Salih submitted a series of constitutional amendments to a popular referendum in 2000. Among the changes were the extension of the presidential term of office from six years to seven years, the right for the president to disband parliament (which as of 2007 has not been used), and expansion to a 111-seat consultative council appointed by the president.

Bowing to international pressure and accusations of rampant government corruption, Salih stepped down as head of Yemen's judiciary in 2006. Later that year, he won re-election against an aging opposition candidate, Faysal bin Shamlan. Despite the outcome never being in doubt, the election was fiercely contested by the opposition. His September 2006 victory cleared Salih to rule Yemen until 2013, giving him thirty-five years as the head of Yeman.

INFLUENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Salih was strongly influenced by both his impoverished youth and his military experiences. His ability to play off rival groups against one another and maintain an evershifting and delicate balance of power stems from his military experiences in mediating conflicts and learning how to lead.

He also has styled himself after other Arab leaders, including Saddam Hussein, who used the military as a path to power. In the aftermath of the Iraq War in 2003 and the subsequent execution of Hussein in 2006, Salih has somewhat tempered this emulation. Numerous pictures and billboards featuring him in various poses and costumes came down shortly after the invasion.

Salih is fiercely loyal to his family, often forgiving shortcomings in their behavior that he would not overlook in others. At times this natural inclination has led to anger and resentment from powerful families, who feel that Salih's networks of patronage are slowly forcing them out of their established positions of power. The influence of his family often pulls Salih away from what is in the best interest of the country in favor of what is in the best interest of his relatives. This is particularly the case with his son and heir-apparent, Ahmad.

In many ways, Salih was viewed as a savior when he first came on the Yemen scene in 1978. He steered the country out of a turbulent time that had witnessed the assassinations of his two predecessors and into a period of relative stability. In addition to his role in stabilizing Yemen during the 1980s, Salih's other major contributions were his role in unifying the country in 1990 and preserving its unification during the 1994 Civil War.

Salih's largest contribution, however, is still ahead of him. He has the choice of either setting a precedent for democracy following the end of his term in 2013 or solidifying his family's rule. If he refuses to stand for president again and actively discourages Ahmad from running for the country's top office, he would chart a new course for contemporary Yemeni politics. This would dwarf all of his previous accomplishments and secure his place in history.

THE WORLD'S PERSPECTIVE

The international community was initially skeptical of Salih's chances for surviving and ruling Yemen when he first came to power in 1978. This early doubt has since given way to admiration and respect for the way that Salih has managed to unify and preserve Yemen throughout the 1990s.

CONTEMPORARIES

Ali Salim al-Bid (1939–), along with Ali Abdullah Salih, was responsible for bringing about the unification of the YAR and the PDRY in 1990. He was born in the eastern province of Hadramawt to a prominent family that traces its ancestors back to the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Bid played a major role in most of the governments formed following Britain's withdrawal from South Yemen in 1967. He served as secretary general of the Yemeni Socialist Party and head of the PDRY from 1986–1990. In November 1989 Salih and al-Bid jointly announced in Aden that the two countries would unite within the year. Al-Bid became Salih's vice president under the new power-sharing agreement that lasted until the first nationwide elections in 1993. Al-Bid's YSP party fared poorly in those elections, and by 1994 he attempted to secede from the union. The Southern forces were defeated and al-Bid was forced into exile.

Salih fell out of favor with many in the international community—most notably the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait—after his support for Saddam Hussein and Iraq during the 1990–91 Gulf War. This was particularly egregious as Yemen then occupied a seat on the UN Security Council. Its consistent abstentions and "no" votes on resolutions aimed at Iraq did not endear it to many in the international community. Unlike other Arab leaders such as King Hussein of Jordan, Salih lacked the diplomatic chits to restore relations with the United States and other Western powers after miscalculating the ramifications of his decision.

Not until after the September 11, 2001, attacks did Salih truly restore positive relations with the United States and most other Western powers. He was wary of making the same mistakes that had cost Yemen so dearly a decade earlier. Salih made a strong statement of support for the U.S.-led "war on terror" during a visit to the United States in November 2001. Since then he has traveled to the United States on numerous occasions. The United States and other international powers have responded by praising Salih's achievements in leading his country toward full democracy. This response by the international community tacitly acknowledges that Salih's continued rule in Yemen is in the best interest of the stability of the country. For his part, Salih is not shy about making this clear to his foreign counterparts, often pointing toward Yemen's neighbor Somalia as an example of the chaos that can ensue when a skilled and experienced leader is removed from power.

LEGACY

Salih's ultimate legacy largely will depend on how he prepares Yemen for its future during what he says will be his last term in office, running from 2006–2013. Yemen is facing drastically shrinking oil reserves and sharp decreases in its water table. Revenue from oil exports make up roughly 75 percent of Yemen's budget, and the economy needs to diversify away from oil. The lack of water will also have a negative impact on Yemen's agricultural sector that employs more than half of all Yemenis. Salih has the political capital to deal with these issues, although solving or even managing them will require difficult decisions.

Salih has done a great deal of good for the country. He constructed a stable form of government out of the chaos that followed the assassinations of al-Hamdi and al-Ghashmi. He not only unified the country, but also held it together through a brief but bloody civil war. Since then he has slowly brought the country along a path that he likes to call an "emerging democracy." This stability, however, has been pursued at the expense of building sustainable institutions that could outlast his rule. History will judge Salih as to whether he will be able to fulfill his promise to leave Yemen as a functioning democracy—with free and fair elections, devoid of nepotism, and fully prepared to meet its post-oil future.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dresch, Paul. A History of Modern Yemen. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Dresch, Paul, and Haykel, Bernard. "Stereotypes and Political Styles: Islamists and Tribesfolk in Yemen." International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27, no. 4 (November 1995): 405-431.

Johnsen, Gregory D. "Salih's Road To Reelection." Middle East Report Online, 13 January 2006. Available from: http://www.merip.org/mero/mero011306.html.

                                          Gregory D. Johnsen

HUMAN RIGHTS ARE TIGHTLY CONNECTED TO DEMOCRACY

Democracy is the choice of the modern age for all peoples of the world and the rescue ship for political regimes particularly in our third world. It is the way to achieve security, stability, development and better futures for our countries. Human rights are tightly connected to democracy and the state of law and order. Therefore, we should remove anything that contradicts them and stand against all forms of discrimination, oppression and exploitation of the human being and his rights. Ladies and Gentlemen, respect of states' sovereignty, non-intervention in their internal affairs and protection of human rights in the world should be a priority of the international organizations which call for democracy and the bolstering of international law in combating the flagrant violations of human rights. There is no doubt that not all of the world's peoples can enjoy freedom, democracy, and human rights as long as there are gaps that widen everyday in the fields of development, economic growth and knowledge and as long as international justice is absent. Double standards prevail and human rights violations continue in many countries of the world.

  DELIVERED AS THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS FOR THE SAN'A INTER-GOVERNMENTAL REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ROLE OF THE ICC, SAN'A. 11 JANUARY 2004.