The Shura Council or Consultative Council ( ar, مجلس الشورى, Majlis ash-Shūrā) is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

of the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, with the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

being the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Unlike the House it does not take on a legislative role, instead primarily being charged with an advisory role to the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. Per the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

it has 111 members who are appointed by the president. There currently exist two Shura Councils as a result of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, one in

Sanaa Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...

aligned with the

Houthis The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...

, and one aligned with the

Presidential Leadership Council The Presidential Leadership Council (PLC; ar, مجلس القيادة الرئاسي) is the executive body of Yemen's internationally-recognized government, formed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by a presidential decree on 7 April 2022, to seek a "c ...

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

History

The Shura Council was established on 20 February 2001 by amendments to the constitution. Following the amendments, then-president

Ali Abdullah Saleh Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar (, ''ʿAlī ʿAbdullāh Ṣāliḥ al-Aḥmar;'' 21 March 1947There is a dispute as to Saleh's date of birth, some saying that it was on 21 March 1942. See: However, by Saleh's own confession, he was born in 1947 al ...

appointed 111 members to the new council on 28 April 2001. As a result of the civil war, two bodies use the name of the Shura Council: One is based in Sanaa under Houthi control, with the other aligned with the Presidential Leadership Council, based in Aden. Some proposals have come forward to make changes to it: in 2015 it was proposed to expand the membership of the council, while in the same year it was also proposed during talks with the UN that the Shura Council be replaced with a transitional upper house which would consist more of underrepresented groups.

Role

The constitution outlines a number of duties for the Shura Council, primarily consisting of consultative roles to the president, though also including a role in the presidential election process: presidential nominees are vetted for qualifications by, and confirmed in joint sessions of the Council and the House of Representatives. The constitution also creates a number of qualifications for candidates to the Council, and provides for the method of selection thereto: The Council also meets with the House to vote on budgets and treaties, among other purposes as outlined by the President.

Leadership

The leader of the council is known as the Speaker. Currently this role is fulfilled in the Aden-based council by Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher, who was appointed in 2021 along with two deputies, Abdullah Muhammad Abu Al-Ghaith and Taha Abdullah Jaafar Aman. This decision was criticized, however, by the

Southern Transitional Council The Southern Transitional Council (STC; ''al-Majlis al-Intiqālī l-Janūbiyy'') is a secessionist organization in South Yemen. The 26 members of the STC include the governors of five southern governorates and two government ministers. It was f ...

, as undermining the

Riyadh Agreement The Riyadh Agreement ( ar, إِِتِّفَاقَ ﭐلرِّيَاض, translit=Ittifāq ar-Rīyāḍ) was signed in the capital city of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, between the Saudi-backed Hadi-led government of Yemen and the UAE-backed Southern T ...

. The speaker of the Sanaa council is Muhammad Hussein al-Aidarous.

Notes

References

External links