President of Yemen

Ali Abdallah Salih, President of Yemen

Ali Abdallah Salih, President of Yemen

1942: Born in Bayt al-Ahmar as a member of the Sanhan tribe of the Hashid tribe.
1958: Joins the army only 16 years old.
1962 September 26: Saleh leads a coup that replaces the Muslim monarchy of North Yemen with a civilian government.

1974: Saleh takes part in the coup that brings Ibrahim al-Hamdi to power as president.

1978 April: Assists the chairman of the Military Council, Ahmad Ghashmi in his crushing of a rebellion staged by rival officers. Saleh is appointed commander-in-chief of the army.— June: Ghashmi is assassinated, and Saleh is appointed chief of staff and member of the Presidential Council.
— July 17: Is elected president by 76 of the 96 members of the People’s Constituent Assembly.

— October An attempted coup by troops in the army is stopped.1980: Saleh and the rebellious forces of the National Democratic Front (NDF) makes a deal about a national unity government with land reform and non-aligned foreign policy as the main political issues. Saleh would not keep his promise of inviting NDF into the government.
— August: After that Saudi Arabia had stopped their US$300 billion annual aid to Yemen, Saleh manages through a visit to get a partial resumption of the aid.
— October: Replaces Prime minister Ghani with Abdul Karim Iryani.
1981 October: Forms the General People’s Congress (GPC) with 1,000 members, most by appointment and the rest by indirect election. This would develop into a political party.
1983: Reelected as president. Saleh calls Ghani back as Prime minister.
1984: Signs a Friendship and Cooperation Treaty with the Soviet Union.
1988: Reelected as president.
1989: Brings North Yemen into the Arab Cooperation Council together with Egypt, Iraq and Jordan.
1990 May 22: North and South Yemen unites, with Saleh becoming the country’s president, while the president of South Yemen becomes Vice President.
1991: Following Yemen’s refusal to join the alliance against Iraq in the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia imposes heavy sanctions on Yemen, damaging the country’s economy.
1993: Saleh’s party, GPC, becomes the largest party in the parliament with 123 of 301 seats.
1994 May 5-July 7: Civil war between the south and north, which Saleh wins. The victory earned him great popularity in the areas of former North Yemen.
1999 September: The first direct elections for president gives Saleh 96% of the votes, but most of the opposition boycotts the election.