Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen
Encyclopedia
Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen was a political party
in North Yemen
, founded by a conference of the members of the Arab Nationalist Movement
in North Yemen in June 1968. The conference resolved to break its organizational ties with the central structures of the ANM and form the Revolutionary Democratic Party as an independent Marxist-Leninist
party. Sultan Omar was the general secretary of the new party. The objectives of the party included resistance against the feudalists
and the comprador bourgeoisie, recover lands claimed by Saudi Arabia
and reunification with South Yemen. The party supported the struggle of the National Liberation Front
in South Yemen against the rule of Qahtan ash-Sha'bi.
The party supported the idea of taking up armed struggle, but initially the party leadership considered the conditions for guerrilla struggle in North Yemen premature. Generally the party had its main base in urban areas, and could not muster rural tribal forces against the government. The party had some links with junior army officers, but could not build up a strong military structure. On August 23-24 1968 clashes erupted between government troops attacked militants of the party, resulting in a temporary setback for the party. In early 1970 the party founded the People's Revolutionary Army as its military wing. Alongside the Organisation of Revolutionary Resistors of Yemen, it began guerrilla warfare against government and tribal forces.
On March 23, 1973, the party signed a joint appeal of political forces in North Yemen against the ceding of Yemeni territories to Saudi Arabia.
The party was led by a Politburo
and a Central Committee
. At its founding conference, an 11-member Central Committee was elected.
On February 2, 1976, the party, together with the Organisation of Revolutionary Resistors of Yemen, the Labour Party, the Popular Vanguard and the People's Democratic Union, founded the National Democratic Front
in San'a.
On March 5, 1979 the party merged with the other founding parties of the NDF, forming the Yemeni Popular Unity Party. Four days later, the Popular Unity Party merged into the Yemeni Socialist Party
(but retaining the name 'Popular Unity Party' for activities in North Yemen). The NDF did however continue to exist as a separate structure, with other groups joining and leaving it.
A party with the same name, led by Mabkhut Az-Zanibi, was later refounded, and active during the early 1990s. It might have been disbanded.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in North Yemen
Yemen Arab Republic
The Yemen Arab Republic , also known as North Yemen or Yemen , was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen...
, founded by a conference of the members of the Arab Nationalist Movement
Arab Nationalist Movement
The Arab Nationalist Movement , also known as the Movement of Arab Nationalists and the Harakiyyin, was a pan-Arab nationalist organization influential in much of the Arab world, most famously so within the Palestinian movement.-Origins & Ideology:The Arab Nationalist Movement had its origins in a...
in North Yemen in June 1968. The conference resolved to break its organizational ties with the central structures of the ANM and form the Revolutionary Democratic Party as an independent Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
party. Sultan Omar was the general secretary of the new party. The objectives of the party included resistance against the feudalists
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
and the comprador bourgeoisie, recover lands claimed by Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and reunification with South Yemen. The party supported the struggle of the National Liberation Front
National Liberation Front (Yemen)
The National Liberation Front or NLF was a military organization operating in the Federation of South Arabia in the 60s. During the North Yemen Civil War fighting spilled over into South Yemen as the British tried to exit its Federation of South Arabia colony...
in South Yemen against the rule of Qahtan ash-Sha'bi.
The party supported the idea of taking up armed struggle, but initially the party leadership considered the conditions for guerrilla struggle in North Yemen premature. Generally the party had its main base in urban areas, and could not muster rural tribal forces against the government. The party had some links with junior army officers, but could not build up a strong military structure. On August 23-24 1968 clashes erupted between government troops attacked militants of the party, resulting in a temporary setback for the party. In early 1970 the party founded the People's Revolutionary Army as its military wing. Alongside the Organisation of Revolutionary Resistors of Yemen, it began guerrilla warfare against government and tribal forces.
On March 23, 1973, the party signed a joint appeal of political forces in North Yemen against the ceding of Yemeni territories to Saudi Arabia.
The party was led by a Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
and a Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
. At its founding conference, an 11-member Central Committee was elected.
On February 2, 1976, the party, together with the Organisation of Revolutionary Resistors of Yemen, the Labour Party, the Popular Vanguard and the People's Democratic Union, founded the National Democratic Front
National Democratic Front (Yemen)
National Democratic Front was founded as an umbrella of various opposition movements in North Yemen on February 2, 1976 in San'a. The five founding organisations of NDF were the Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen, Organisation of Revolutionary Resistors of Yemen, the Labour Party, the Popular...
in San'a.
On March 5, 1979 the party merged with the other founding parties of the NDF, forming the Yemeni Popular Unity Party. Four days later, the Popular Unity Party merged into the Yemeni Socialist Party
Yemeni Socialist Party
The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen.It was the ruling party in South Yemen, the only Marxist Arab state, before unification in 1990...
(but retaining the name 'Popular Unity Party' for activities in North Yemen). The NDF did however continue to exist as a separate structure, with other groups joining and leaving it.
A party with the same name, led by Mabkhut Az-Zanibi, was later refounded, and active during the early 1990s. It might have been disbanded.