The government of Yemen, also referred to as the Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG), is under a unitary semi-presidential system. The president is the head of state and appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government and is responsible for the cabinet. Since 2022, executive power is held by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), a body of eight members led by chairman Rashad al-Alimi.
Executive branch The president of Yemen is the head of state and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. It is the highest authority in Yemen per Article 119 of the constitution. The president appoints the prime minister, who has the responsibility of forming the cabinet (also known as the Council of Ministers) in consultation with the president. The cabinet consists of 32 ministers who propose and draft legislation to submit to parliament or to the president depending on circumstances.
By 2021, the executive branch was regarded as the only funcional branch of the government. Executive powers were transferred by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) in 2022, a body consisting of eight members each representing factions in the civil war opposed to the Houthis. The chairman has "primary executive authority" within the council, leading the body and representing Yemen internationally.
Legislative branch Since the amendments to the constitution in 2001, Yemen has operated under a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Representatives and the Shura Council. The House of Representatives is the lower house of the parliament, with 301 seats and members who are elected from single-member districts to serve six-year terms. It possesses oversight responsibilities over the executive branch and "discusses, ratifies, rejects, and amends legislation". It is required to approve the cabinet through a vote of confidence. The Shura Council is the upper house of the parliament and primarily serves an advisory role, with 111 members each selected by the president for indefinite terms.
The House of Representatives regularly convenes twice a year, although extraordinary sessions can be convened by the president, by a vote of two-thirds within the parliament or by the Presiding Board of the Parliament, which is composed of the speaker and three officials elected from among the MPs. The 2001 constitutional amendments granted the Shura Council limited roles in legislature, including participation in joint meetings with the House of Representatives to discuss and approve defense-related legislation, treaties, and agreements, or any matter presented by the president for a joint meeting.
The last parliamentary elections held in Yemen were during 2003. As of 2025, 132 of the 301 MPs elected in 2003 are still associated with the government, while the rest are either part of the Houthi-backed rival parliament, are identified as within a "gray zone", or have died in office. The faction of the House of Representatives aligned with the government convened in 2019 for the first time since the war began, doing so once more in 2022. Most remaining parliamentarians live abroad, while the parliament itself has faced difficulty convening in the temporary capital of Aden.
Judicial branch The judicial branches of the Yemeni government consist of the lower court and the supreme court. Both and nominally required to be independent, although the Supreme Judicial Council, a monitoring body appointed by the executive, retains de facto control over the system.
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