View source for Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen

{{Short description|1968–1979 political party in North Yemen}}
{{Infobox political party
|name               = Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen
|native_name        = الحزب الديمقراطي الثوري اليمن
|logo               =
|colorcode          = <!-- HTML color code (e.g. red, #FF0000 or Party metadata color template) or transparent for no coloring -->
|leader             =
|chairman           = <!-- or chairperson, but not both -->
|chairperson        = <!-- or chairman, but not both -->
|president          =
|secretary_general  = [[Sultan Omar]]
|spokesperson       =
|founder            =
|slogan             =
|founded            = June 1968
|dissolved          = 5 March 1979
|merger             =
|split              =
|predecessor        =
|merged             =
|successor          = [[Yemeni Socialist Party]]
|headquarters       =
|newspaper          =
|wing1_title        = Military wing
|wing1              = [[People's Revolutionary Army (Yemen)|People's Revolutionary Army]]
|student_wing       =
|youth_wing         =
|membership_year    =
|membership         =
|ideology           = [[Marxism–Leninism]]
|religion           =
|national           = [[National Democratic Front (Yemen)|National Democratic Front]]
|colors             = <!-- use "colours" for British English -->
|symbol             =
|flag               =
|website            =
|state              = Yemen
}}
'''Revolutionary Democratic Party of Yemen''' ({{langx|ar|الحزب الديمقراطي الثوري اليمن}}) was a [[political party]] in [[Yemen Arab Republic|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 [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] party.<ref name="new">[http://newleftreview.org/?getpdf=NLR06201 New Left Review<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="yem">{{Cite web |url=http://www.al-aalam.com/personinfo.asp?pid=16454 |title=16454<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-04-24 |archive-date=2007-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811165144/http://www.al-aalam.com/personinfo.asp?pid=16454 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="merip">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3012273 Armed Struggle in North Yemen], in [[MERIP Reports]], No. 22. (Nov., 1973), pp. 24-26.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.altaliaalkawmya.net/013.htm |title=Wayback Machine has not archived that URL. |website=www.altaliaalkawmya.net |access-date=2023-08-25}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}</ref><ref>http://www.rezgar.com/debat/show.art.asp?aid=43872</ref> Sultan Omar was the general secretary of the new party.<ref name="fred">Halliday, Fred. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3011110 '' The Arabian Peninsula Opposition Movements''], in MERIP Reports, No. 130, The Contest for Arabia. (Feb., 1985), pp. 13-15.</ref> The objectives of the party included resistance against the [[feudalism|feudalists]] and the [[comprador bourgeoisie]], recover lands claimed by [[Saudi Arabia]] and reunification with [[South Yemen]].<ref name="merip"/> The party supported the struggle of the [[National Liberation Front (Yemen)|National Liberation Front]] in [[South Yemen]] against the rule of [[Qahtan ash-Sha'bi]].<ref name="new"/>
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.<ref name="new"/><ref name="merip"/>
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.<ref name="merip"/>
The party was led by a [[Politburo]] and a [[Central Committee]]. At its founding conference, an 11-member Central Committee was elected.<ref name="new"/><ref name="yem"/>
On February 2, 1976, the party, together with the Organisation of Revolutionary Resistors of Yemen, the [[Labour Party (Yemen)|Labour Party]], the [[People's Vanguard Party (Yemen)|Popular Vanguard]] and the [[Popular Democratic Union (Yemen)|Popular Democratic Union]], founded the [[National Democratic Front (Yemen)|National Democratic Front]] in [[San'a]].<ref name="fred"/>
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).<ref>http://www.rezgar.com/debat/show.art.asp?aid=23500</ref> The NDF did however continue to exist as a separate structure, with other groups joining and leaving it.<ref name="fred"/>
A party with the same name, led by Mabkhut Az-Zanibi, was later refounded, and active during the early 1990s.<ref>[http://www.yezen.info/yemen-history.htm العربية السعيدة - Arabia Felix<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://project.knowledgeforge.net/ukparse/svn/trunk/undata/pdf/S-1994-641.pdf|title = Open Knowledge Labs}}</ref> It might have been disbanded.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.broadleft.org/ye.htm |title=Leftist Parties of Yemen<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-04-24 |archive-date=2017-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019201739/http://www.broadleft.org/ye.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== See also ==
*[[List of political parties in Yemen]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1968 establishments in North Yemen]]
[[Category:Arab nationalism in Yemen]]
[[Category:Arab nationalist militant groups]]
[[Category:Arab Nationalist Movement breakaway groups]]
[[Category:Arab socialist political parties]]
[[Category:Communist parties in Yemen]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Yemen]]
[[Category:North Yemen]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1968]]
[[Category:Predecessors of the Yemeni Socialist Party]]
[[Category:Rebel groups in Yemen]]