30 November 1989

Both sides in the two parts of the homeland:

BELIEVING in Yemeni unity and the goals of the immortal revolutions of 26 September and 14 October;

IN FULFILMENT of the struggle of the Yemeni people and the sacrifices of its martyrs in building a united, independent Yemen;

DESIRING to progress the unionist activity between the two parts of the single homeland to an advanced stage which brings closer the day of unity, since unity is not only achievable but the destiny of our people in both parts;

ARISING from the aspirations of our people to achieve unity for the land and people of Yemen;

COMBINING to complete the achievement of stability, security, development and growth of the Yemeni homeland, especially since our unionist struggles contributed to a unionist climate with many instances of national and fraternal separation, which isolated it from unionist practices in the domain of people, government, institutions and public organisations, and which makes the Yemeni citizen more watchful as his national cause moves towards putting the final touches to the proclamation for the establishment of the single state;

FURTHER to the agreements and declarations expected by the leaderships and officials of the two parts;

CONTINUING to prepare the peaceful and democratic climate that is necessary to accomplish the unionist steps that lead to a single state;

AFFIRMING the commitment to the policy of discussion and mutual understanding between the two parts, and to preserving security and stability and channels of communication and unionist meetings between the two parts;

During the visit by the brother General Ali Abdullah Salih, President of the Republic, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Secretary-General of the General People's Congress, at the head of a large official and popular delegation to participate in the Yemeni people's celebrations of the 22nd anniversary of the independence of the south of the Yemeni homeland in the period 29-30 [November] 1989, the draft permanent constitution of the single state, which was completed by the joint committee on December 30, 1981 (equivalent to 4 Rabi'a al-Awwal, 1402), was approved and confirmed by the leaders of the two parts represented by brother General Ali Abdullah Salih, President of the Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Secretary-General of the General People's Congress, and Ali Salim al-Baid, Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Yemen Socialist Party, in implementation of the contents of the second part of the Kuwait Agreement, to complete the agreed measures in the previous agreements, in particular articles 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the Cairo Agreement, including taking the following steps:

• Article (1)

  1. To refer the draft constitution to the Consultative Council and People's Council in the two parts of the homeland for approval in accordance with the constitution system of each within a fixed period not exceeding six months.

  2. The president of both parts will obtain a mandate from the legitimate authorities and organise the referendum process for the draft constitution, and the election of a legitimate unified authority for the new state according to the new constitution.

  3. In implementation of that, the president of both parts will form a joint ministerial committee whose membership includes the two interior ministers to supervise this process, within not more than six months from the date of the approval of the draft constitution by the legitimate authorities; this committee will have all the necessary powers to carry out its task.

  4. The presidents of the two parts will invite the League of Arab States to delegate two of its representatives to participate in the business of the committee.

• Article (2)

  1. To complete all measures to implement the agreement of Ramadan (May) 1988, including those relating to activating the Supreme Yemeni Council, the Joint Ministerial Committee and the unity committees that exist between the two parts; to implement the results of the first session in 1989 of the Joint Ministerial Committee held in Sana'a on March 12-23, 1989, and to expedite the completion of work by the joint unity committees in a maximum of two months.

  2. To ensure speedy completion by the Committee for the Unified Political Organisation of the tasks that it began in its first session within a maximum of two months, so as to prepare the future of political practice for the single state in the light of the draft constitution of the single state, including reinforcing the democratic path of political practice.

• Article (3) The leaderships of both parts commit themselves to implementing the contents of this agreement within the period determined in its clauses.

Signed in Aden on November 30, 1989 (equivalent to Jumadi al-Awwal, 1410).

Ali Salim al-Baid, Secretary-General of the Yemen Socialist Party.

(General) Ali Abdullah Salih, President of the Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Secretary-General of the General People's Congress.

[Translated from: al-Ashmawy, Ibrahim: al-Wahida al-Yamaniyya bil 'Ayuun al-'Arabiyya. al-Thawabit, Sana'a, 1991.]