In 1990, the Republic of Yemen was unified by a merger of North and South Yemen and became the Yemen Arab Republic. This followed the mass departure of thousands of Yemenis from the South to the North which had created hostility between the two. North and South Yemen were formally unified in May of 1991 after the passage of a democratic constitution. The Yemeni government that oversees the unified states consists of three branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial. In 1994 the former ruler of North Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, was elected to office to oversee the unified Yemen. The nation held its first ever nationwide elections in 2001 and passed a large number of constitutional amendments. The amendments extended the terms of elected officials and expanded the presidential powers. They allowed an extension of the president's term to seven years and an extension of the parliament's term to six years. The amendments also provided for over a hundred members to be added to the council. .
The results of the elections during early 1994 rekindled political differences between the two states. This caused the South to withdraw which initiated a civil war. However, stability returned with resolution of the conflict in July, 1994. After the resolution of the conflict, Yemen was ruled by a coalition government. The General People's Congress GPC and the Gathering for Reform (al-Islah) both had important roles. The GPC supported and continues to support the incorporation of the educational system, the privatization of the banking system, and economic growth. Al-Islah supported and continues to support Islamic banking and the execution of Islamic law in the national program. During and after the 1994 Civil War, numerous human rights of Yemeni citizens were violated. Many illegal tactics were used during this war. Hundreds of civilians were killed and injured by shellings of cities.