The specified transitional period was mentioned in the Declaration of the Yemeni Republic Agreement as two and a half year in order to accommodate the process of preparation process of arranging the status of government institutions, appealing for the constitution, and holding parliamentary elections. In accordance with the provisions of paragraph C of Article 7 of the Declaration of the Yemeni Government Agreement, the Presidency Council, based on the request of the transitional parliament, proposed a draft constitution to a plebiscite on 15 and 16 May 1991. The Presidency Council’s decree No. 4 of 1992 was issued. It assigned the members of the Higher Elections Council, formed of 17 members representing different prominent political parties on the Yemeni arena. The formation of the Higher Elections Council in this manner is considered an advanced step in the course of democratic work and a strong guarantee of the neutrality and integrity of supervision on the progress of the election process procedures.

The committee since its founding began implementing the functions assigned to it in light of the provisions of the constitution and the electoral law. Among the most prominent of these functions was dividing the republic intro 301 constituencies, recording the names of voters in public election list, and distributing the elections card. The committee realized that the remaining time from transitional period is insufficient to complete the functions of preparation and to implement the parliamentary election work. The committee submitted a report to the Presidency Council . An expanded consultation meeting was held. It included the Presidency Council, the Presidency Association of the parliament, the Prime Minister, his delegates, and party and political organization leaders. The meeting affirmed the necessity of the preservation of existing constitutional institutions until the holding of the public parliamentary elections scheduled for 27/4/1993 and the formation of new constitutional institutions.

In accordance with Article 48 of Law no. 41 of 1992 on public elections, the first parliamentary elections were held on the above-mentioned day by public free direct and equal secret ballot after the founding of the Yemeni Republic and under political and party pluralism. The elections resulted in the triumph of 8 parties of membership in the parliament out of 14 parties that presented election programs . The National Congress Party won 41% of parliament seats, the Yemeni Reform Group won 21%, the Yemeni Socialist Party won 19.2%, and the independent won 16.5%. After them were some of the political forces and organizations that were newly founded or that were related to individual vision and do not constitute political weight. These include the Baath parties, Haqq parties, and the three Nasserite parties . A large group of independents was distributed between each of the National Congress Party, the Socialist Party, and the Yemeni Reform Group.

Regarding the parliament’s functions and jurisdictions, the jurisdictions suspended by Article 7 of the Declaration of the Republic Agreement were restored and consisted in the following:
1- Candidacy and election of Presidency Council members.
2- Charging the Presidency Council to continue performing its duties in exceptional cases in which it is impossible to hold elections.
3- Accepting or rejecting the resignation of the President or Presidency Council members.
4- Approving amendments to any Article of the constitution.

These functions and privileges did not change much as a result of constitutional amendments that were made to Articles of the constitution in 28/9/194 and which followed the end of the division crisis in Yemen. The most important amendments consisted in the following:
1- Regarding the candidacy and elections of the President of the Republic, these were amended in the new constitution to the “enhancement of candidates to conduct competitive public elections for the post of President of the Republic”.
2- Regarding amending an Article or more of the constitution, this was amended in the new constitution to “approval on amending one or more Article of the constitution before presenting them to the people for a plebiscite” .
3- Affirming that Islamic Law is the source of all legislations (Article 3).
4- Clearly stipulating that the founding of a Yemeni political system on the foundation of political and party pluralism, which is based on the principle of the peaceful exchange of power and the inappropriateness of using public post or funds for the private interest of a particular political party or organization (Article 5) .

1- The Parliament’s Legislative Performance
This parliament faced many dilemmas during its activities in that period and which were accompanied by many crises beginning with the political crisis and ending with the separation war that almost tore apart the country after it had been unified. Despite the existence of political pluralism in Yemen, some analyses considered this pluralism an important indicator of securing the democratic transformation process in the country, yet it became clear that this relative balance is insufficient to limit itself due to the deep trust crisis between the main centers of power and their inability to reach an agreement on the constituents of the unified country and the foundations of the democratic game in it. The democratic mechanisms failed to solve the crisis, which led it to a dead end and made force the only means of ending it. Thus war broke on 4 May 1994 between armed forces of the previous divisions with a limited participation of civil forces .

For that reason, when considering the parliament’s achievements in that period, it is necessary in the beginning to state that the achievements must be measured by the nature of the surrounding circumstances. From this one can proceed to say that the parliament achieved many positive acts relative to the size of challenges that faced it from the beginning and continued to challenge it, making the likelihood of its success narrow compared to that of its failure. It is sufficient that the parliament was the only institution that continued working and remained unified during the separation war (and was considered one of the regulators of unity) .

The fact is that the effects resulting from the war on this experience are considered composite ones. In the short term, these conflicts were followed by a limitation of political liberties and numerous attempts of the regime at threatening its enemies. On another level, in the long term, the war shed light on the capability and flexibility of some political institutions and among them the parliament. Developments since 1995 reveal that despite the attempts of President Ali Abdallah Al-Saleh to impose his vision, the Yemeni political systems continued to be pluralistic, and the parliament did not weaken as many analysts have noted. Despite certainly being influenced by political struggles, it continued in its work and represented a public arena in which conflicting sides interacted. What indicates this is that many parliament members from the Socialist Party decided to stay in the parliament and to respect the constitutional framework. This reveals their desire to solve the conflict through the parliament, and this desire consolidated its importance in the political system. Socialist Party president Sheikh Abdallah Al-Ahmar continued to be one of the main keys of the country whom President Saleh could not ignore. (There is other evidence—according to this viewpoint—that the parliament was not marginalized), and among them the wide debate generated in the country by the 1997 parliamentary elections and their timing, and supervision on them by international supervisors to ensure their integrity. Had the parliament’s role not been important and influential, such a debate on a wide scale would not have been generated . Moreover, despite the adoption of constitutional amendments that strengthened the President’s power at the parliament’s expense, the Speaker of Parliament emerged as an equal or equivalent to the President in terms of power. The balance of power was not deeply affected—this was revealed in the year 1995-96 in parliament conflicts with the government on topics related to parliamentary immunity and fiscal plan approval .

The parliament is considered to have completed the legislative foundations of the unified country through unifying the two division’s laws and to have made constitutional amendments and approved political pluralism . Amending the electoral law and completing and approving the comprehensive economic and social development plan for the years 1996-2000 . It may generally be said that the parliament made some achievements in the legislative and legal fields. It approved a large number of presidential decretal laws and approved a number of laws. Among them are the following:

• The presidential decretal law no. 27 of 1992 regarding the official gazette.
• The presidential decretal law no. 33 of 1992 regarding salaries and rewards for armed forces and security.
• The presidential decretal law no. 22 of 1992 regarding arbitration.
• The presidential decretal law no. 23 of 1992 regarding legal arrest.
• The presidential decretal law no. 21 of 1991 regarding the Central Bank.
• The presidential decretal law no. 46 of 1991 regarding the law of transit.
• The presidential decretal law no. 36 of 1992 regarding regulating the agencies and branches of foreign companies and houses.
• The presidential decretal law no. 14 of 1994 regarding the provisions related to the advisory council.
• The presidential decretal law no. 26 of 1991 regarding government issues.
• The presidential decretal law no. 39 of 1992 regarding the Central Body for Supervisions and Accountability.
• The presidential decretal law no. 18 of 1995 regarding Yemeni universities.
• The presidential decretal law no. 8 of 1996 regarding the official holidays and vacations..
• The presidential decretal law no. 24 of 1991 regarding the duties and privileges of the police.
• The presidential decretal law no.91 of 1994 regarding the intellectual right.

B- With Regard to Laws:

• Law no. 3 of 1994 by adding a new paragraph to Article 57 of Law no. 1 of 1991 on judicial power.
• Law no. 8 of 1994 by amending some of the provisions of the presidential decision of law no. 33 of 1992 on salaries and rewards for armed forces.
• Law no. 1 of 1995 on ownership for public benefit.
• Law no. 6 of 1995 on the accusation and trial procedures of those performing executive power functions.
• Law no. 20 of 1995 on urban planning.
• Law no. 30 of 1996 on government issues.
• Law no. 31 of 1995 on social care.
• Law no. 33 of 1996 on amending some of the Articles of the Presidential decretal law no. 38 of 1991 on cable and wireless communications.