Yemen’s Constitutional Process after the 2011 Revolution
 - December 2023

Yemen’s Constitutional Process after the 2011 Revolution

This paper focuses on the constitutional process that Yemen embarked on following the 2011 Revolution. It examines its achievements, the historical stations it experienced, and the reasons it stumbled. The paper is divided into three sections.
The first section focuses on the extent to which public participation was taken into account in the constitutional process. It compares the 1994 war and the 2015 on-going war, by looking into their causes and consequences, as well as the political and constitutional process that was proposed at the time with the aim of building a state based on the rule of law and achieving broad power and wealth-sharing. It further examines the manner in which the members of the Constitution Drafting Committee were selected, to assess the extent of public participation in the constitutional drafting stage. Lastly, it turns to the Constitution Drafting Committee that was established in Yemen following the 2011 Revolution, revealing the multiple stages it went through and its traits. It concludes that the committee acted as both a political and a technical body.
The second section assesses the extent to which the Yemeni draft constitution meets the aspirations and demands of the people. In this regard, the concept of overthrowing the regime – the slogan that was raised during the revolution, and across most of the governorates of the Republic – is explored both organically and substantively. In addition, the key constitutional guidelines that resulted from the National Dialogue are addressed, namely, comprehensive change and the establishment of a civic and federal state.
The third section examines the extent to which the Yemeni draft constitution could be effectively implemented, highlighting the features that distinguish it from the current constitution. It further outlines the objections that were directed at the draft constitution, such as the rejection of the federal state by the same actors who demanded its establishment, as well as the rejection of comprehensive change by some political actors who had previously called for such change. These objections are addressed and clarified.
The paper concludes that the key to the solution in Yemen is to end the war, establish comprehensive peace, and seriously endeavour to build a civic and federal state that guarantees broad power and wealth-sharing, as per the draft constitution, which no political faction should be allowed to violate in the future. Peace in Yemen hinges upon building a new state that accommodates and protects everyone.