In a formal address to the Yemeni people on National Unity Day (May 22sd) President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi was keen to dub Yemen's unification as the country "most historical achievement" and the most defining moment of the republic.
Just as factions both north and south of Yemen are increasingly calling for secession, arguing that the Republic of Yemen in its current political form does not reflect the people's will any longer, President Hadi reinforced the need for unity, on a territorial and political level.
The Path to Unity
Yemen's path toward unity was first spurred on in the 1980s when oil explorations at both countries border (Yemen Arab Republic and People's Democratic of Yemen) led leaders to realize that their respective nation would benefit greatly from closer bilateral relations as to lift their economies and generate sustainable growth.
If not for a few frictions here and there, the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic of Yemen so far had enjoyed sufficiently friendly relations to envision an economic and political rapprochement.
In May 1988, the first step toward unity was taken int he form of an economic agreement through the creation of a joint oil exploration area; the Joint Investment Area. The move was followed within weeks by the creation of the Yemeni Company for Investment in Mineral and Oil Resources (YCIMOR).
In 1989, then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh and then-President Ali Salem al-Baydh decided it was to further join up forces and unite both their nations by agreeing on a draft unity constitution, which text had been already devised in 1981, when the Yemens first contemplated territorial and political unification.
After much deliberation, the Republic of Yemen was declared on May 22sd, 1990 with President Ali Abdullah Saleh as its president and Ali Salem al-Baidh as its head of government. A 30-month transitional period was set as to smoothly allow all state institutions to blend in and become one cohesive unite, including the armed forces.
In May 1991 the new constitution was ratified by the people. It established Yemen as a democratic state, committed to free elections, a multiparty political system, the right to own private property, equality under the law and respect of basic human rights.
Amid Gulf monarchies, Yemen republican flag flew high in the Arabian Peninsula, carrying the seeds of change.
The new republic's honeymoon period was however short lived. After months of political in-fightings and growing tensions between northerners and southerners civil war broke out in May 1994, three months only after the signature of the Amman Accord, a truce which should have paved the way to political reconciliation.
On May 21st, 1994, southern leaders seceded and proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Yemen four years to the day after they had pledge allegiance to the Republic of Yemen.
Offering little resistance to a galvanized republican army, the southern rebellion could not withstood the might of the central government's military power. After Aden, the former capital of South Yemen was captured on July 7th, 1994 all resistance collapsed and the south surrendered completely and unequivocally.
Beaten, disillusioned but not discouraged the Southern Secessionist Movement was born was the ashes of South Yemen failed attempt to independence.
Two decades on and secessionists are still ringing the trumpets, calling for their right to self determination amid calls for unity.
A President Calls
Calling on to his people' sense of nationalism, President Hadi urged all Yemenis to consider unity as a mean to ward off instability , poverty and insecurity. He stressed that should Yemen divide the entire region and to an extent the world would be thrown out of balance, endangering all.
"We must realize that we have no choice but to succeed in this national dialogue which is the only lifeline for all Yemenis. Therefore, we should join the efforts of all political parties and civil society groups to develop root and fair solutions to all problems and issues, especially the southern issue confirmed unanimously by political parties as the key solution to all issues”, the president said, adding, “We have a rare historical opportunity you should not miss it in political or sectarian conflicts and that we must seize it to correct the path of the Yemeni revolution and avoid the mistakes that deprived Yemenis of comprehensive development”.
Drumming on the importance of national unity, President Hadi noted how very fiercely Yemen's allies (the Gulf Cooperation Council and Western nations) were opposed to secession and therefore how dire the role of the National Dialogue Conference's representatives.
While President Hadi' speech was warmly received in the capital, where people are naturally incline to agree with the government when it comes to issues related to territorial and political unity, the president's call fell on deaf ears in Aden where thousands of Haraki supporters came to demand secession at whatever cost.