Yemen’s Failed Constitutional Transition

Abstract

This chapter examines why Yemen’s constitutional transition during the period 2011–15 failed. In 2011 a popular uprising forced Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. Neighboring Arab countries soon got involved in steering the constitutional process, which included a National Dialogue to address the design of a new constitution. The dialogue recommended a new federal regime, but failed to resolve the critical issue of the number and boundaries of states. The document presented in January 2015 by the Constitutional Drafting Committee tasked to draft a new constitution was deeply flawed and became the trigger for civil war. The chapter first considers the context leading up to the National Dialogue before discussing the outcomes of the constitutional process and three lessons that can be drawn from it: the role and design of sub-national governance arrangements; political legitimacy and process in a constitutional transition; and a more integrated approach to transitions.