Democratic Yemeni Union of Peasants

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Democratic Yemeni Union of Peasants
AbbreviationAfid
Founded1976

The Democratic Yemeni Union of Peasants (Arabic: اتحاد الفلاحين اليمني الديمقراطي, ittihad al-fallahin al-yamani ad-dimuqrati), abbreviated Afid (افيد), was a mass organization of the peasantry in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen).

Founding[edit]

Dr. Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher addressing the October 7, 1986 congress of the Democratic Yemeni Union of Peasants

The Fifth Congress of the National Front Political Organization held in 1972 had resolved to create a revolutionary mass organization of peasants, but Afid was founded only in 1976.[1] The founding congress was held October 7-8, 1976.[2][3][4] Afid was conceptualized as "a voluntary mass economic, social, and political organization for cooperative farmers, individual farmers and nomadic Bedouins".[2] Afid organized farmers committees at district and village levels[5]

1978 Constitution[edit]

Afid was one of the main mass organizations in the South Yemen party-state framework.[6] The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen Constitution of 1978 enshrined role of Afid, [7] Article 66 of the Constitution stated that the "Democratic Yemeni Union of Peasants shall work for deepening the alliance between the peasants and the working class and creating brotherly relations between the co-operative peasants and the individual peasants. It shall convince the peasants, by means of presenting the positive example, that the economy is best organized on the basis of co-operative collectivism. It shall also work for obliterating the illiteracy of the peasants and raising their educational, political and cultural standard."[8][9]

Leadership[edit]

Abdul Baqi Hazza was the chairman of Afid from its founding in 1976 to June 1978.[10] In June 1978 Hazza was imprisoned in the purge that followed the seizure of power by Abdul Fattah Ismail in the lead-up to the first congress of the Yemeni Socialist Party.[10][11] Afid leaders would generally be Central Committee members of the party.[12] As of the early 1980s Said Saleh was the secretary of Afid.[13] Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher served as the Afid chairman until the Yemeni unification of 1990.[14][15]

International cooperation[edit]

Afid was affiliated to the Trade Union International of Agricultural, Forestry and Plantation Workers of the World Federation of Trade Unions.[16] The organization signed agreements of cooperation with its East German counterpart in the 1980s.[17][18]

Further reading[edit]

  • Mehra, R. N. (1978). "Democratic Yemen (South Yemen) Under Marxist Rule (1968-1978)-A Case Study". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 39 (II). Indian History Congress: 895–901. JSTOR 44139436.


References[edit]

  1. ^ Asien, Afrika, Lateinamerika. Vol. 13. Akademie Verlag. 1985. p. 225.
  2. ^ a b ملامح التطور في اليمن الديمقراطية خلال عشرين عاما،ً ٦٧-١٩٨٧ م (in Arabic). 1988. pp. 36–37.
  3. ^ Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa, Issues 5326-5361. British Broadcasting Corporation| Monitoring Service. 1976. p. 9.
  4. ^ Bidwell, Robin Leonard (2019). The Two Yemens. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-30652-1.
  5. ^ The Present Position and Potential of Rural Development in the LDC's of the ECWA Region. Economic Commission for Western Asia, Social Development and Human Settlement Division, Joint ECWA/FAO Agriculture Division. 1978. p. 55.
  6. ^ Burrowes, Robert D. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8108-5528-1.
  7. ^ Peaslee, Amos (2013). Constitutions of Nations: Volume II — Asia, Australia and Oceania. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 1784. ISBN 978-94-017-1147-0.
  8. ^ Blaustein, Albert P.; Flanz, Gisbert H. (1986). Constitutions of the Countries of the World: Yemen. Oceana Publications. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-379-00467-0.
  9. ^ Stookey, Robert W. (2019). South Yemen: A Marxist Republic In Arabia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-31228-7.
  10. ^ a b Aden al-Gad. "بحضور المحافظ .. أبين تقيم حفلاً تأبينياً للفقيد عبدالباقي هزاع" (in Arabic).
  11. ^ Linaj, Aden. "هزاع إبن بلد أصيل" (in Arabic).
  12. ^ Dār al-Fikr al-ʻArabī lil-Abḥāth wa-al- Nashr (in Arabic). 1990. p. 85. المنار
  13. ^ Near East/North Africa Report. Executive Office of the President. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Joint Publications Research Service. 1981. p. 118.
  14. ^ "أحد من ضمتهم قائمة الـ 16 المعفو عنها...عودة الاشتراكي أحمد عبيد". Al-Ayyam (in Arabic).
  15. ^ "بن دغر.. فرس رهان قوى الشرعية لإصلاح اليمن" (in Arabic). Al-Jazeera.
  16. ^ Shabon, Anwar (1981). "The Political, Economic, and Labor Climate in the Countries of the Arabian Peninsula". Industrial Research Unit, Wharton School. University of Pennsylvania. p. 257. ISBN 978-0-89546-032-5.
  17. ^ Near East/North Africa Report. Executive Office of the President. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Joint Publications Research Service. 1980. p. 176.
  18. ^ Yearbook on International Communist Affairs. Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. Stanford University. 1989. p. 508. ISBN 978-0-8179-8851-7.
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