Faisal Bin Shamlan

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Faisal bin Shamlan
)

Faisal Othman Bin Shamlan
Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources
In office
October 1994 – March 1995
PresidentAli Abdullah Saleh
Prime MinisterAbdul Aziz Abdul Ghani
Succeeded byMuhammad Said al-Attar
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
22 May 1990 – 2003
Member of the Supreme People's Council
In office
1971 – 22 May 1990
Minister of Public Works and Transport
In office
1967–1969
PresidentQahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi
Prime MinisterFaysal al-Shaabi
Personal details
Born1934
Hadhramaut, Aden Protectorate
Died1 January 2010 (aged 74)
Aden, Yemen
Political partyYemeni Free Forum
Alma materKingston University
Bakht al-Ridha Institute

Faisal Othman Bin Shamlan (1934 – 1 January 2010) (فيصل عثمان بن شملان) (faiṣal bin šamlān) was a

2006 presidential election, but was defeated by incumbent president Ali Abdullah Saleh
.

Early life

Originally from

Bin Shamlan, along with his school mates, played an important role in the history of modern Yemen. As a young activist, he was a mild

nationalist
, who, with other intellectuals from Hadhramaut and other parts of Yemen, was a pioneering activist in a moderate Islamic thought movement. But he preserved an independent position at the centre of the political spectrum.

Role in South Yemen government

During the war of liberation of occupied South Yemen he was part of a broad coalition of activists who overthrew the Qu'aiti Sultanate in Hadhramaut on 17 September 1967. In the interim period, before independence on 30 November 1967, he was a member of the "Supreme Popular Committee" which was formed by the revolutionaries to run Hadhramaut province. Bin Shamlan was charged with the day-to-day running of the province.

After independence and the unification of South Yemen by the National Front for the Liberation of South Yemen (NLF), he was the first Minister of Public Works and Transport in the first cabinet of the independent

Qahtan Al-Shaabi's government).[2]
Bin Shamlan and Mohammad Abdul Qader Bafaqeeh, the Minister of Education, were the only non NLF members of the cabinet. One of the first tasks assigned to them by the NLF government was taking inventory of the palaces of the Sultans of Hadhramaut. Bin Shamlan and Bafaqeeh took stock of the palaces; made a record inventory; and preserved and stored every item.

In 1969, Bin Shamlan was appointed as Executive Chairman of the

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
).

Role in post-unification Yemeni government

After the 1990 unity, Bin Shamlan was a member of the Council of Representatives (the parliament of the

Republic of Yemen, as the head of the independent block. As the multi-party system was adopted in the new Yemen after unity he founded along with Mr. Omar Tarmoom, Dr. Mohammad A.Q. Bafaqeeh, Dr. Kramah Salyan, and others a new moderate party called the Yemeni Free Forum
, and issued a forum journal.

In the 1993 and 1997 parliamentary elections he ran again for parliament and kept his seat, with a 66% vote. During the 1994 crisis he was in the unity camp. On 29 September 1994, the parliament approved a series of amendments to the constitution which, among other things, abolished the presidential council and replaced it with a one-man presidency. Two days later, parliament elected Ali Abdullah Saleh as president for a five-year term. Faisal Bin Shamlan, (independent) was a candidate along with three other candidates representing Islah, YSP and Ba'ath parties. He continued a Member of Parliament until 2003, when he resigned in protest to the amendment to the Constitution by which the parliament extended its tenure for a further 2 years, which Bin Shamlan deemed an unconstitutional move and resigned on the ground that his 4-year mandate by the people is over.

He was appointed as Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources from October 1994, which he accepted on the condition that he would have power to reorganize and reform the Ministry. In March 1995, he resigned. In June 1995, in a Cabinet reshuffle President Saleh replaced Faisal Bin Shamlan with Mohammed Said al-Attar, formerly Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, as Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, in a move to tie the oil ministry closer to the President's office.

In 1998-99, Bin Shamlan along with several Yemeni public figures including Dr. Faraj Bin Ghanim (ex Prime Minister, Dr. Abubakar Al-Qirby (Current Foreign Minister), Engineer Mohammed Al-Tayyeb (ex minister, GPC), Mr. Mohammed Abdo Saeed (business man), Dr. Mohammed Al-Afandi (economist, Islah Party), Ahmed Saleh Al-Salami (

non-governmental organizations
; addressing national issues and concerns; to co-sponsor and promote the establishment of the Yemeni Transparency, an anti-corruption NGO; to help in the ongoing correction and reform efforts; and to publish data and analysis on a periodic basis, and to issue an annual "State of the Nation" report.

Presidential bid

On 2 July 2006 the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) opposition coalition officially announced that Bin Shamlan would be the JMP candidate for the presidential election of September 2006. In the election, held on 20 September, bin Shamlan received about 22% of the vote according to official results.

Death

Bin Shamlan died in Aden on 1 January 2010 after a lengthy battle with cancer and having sought treatment abroad.

References

  1. ^ "Yemen opposition candidate named". BBC News. 30 June 2006.
  2. ^ a b "Bin Shamlan applies for presidency". Yemen Times. 8 July 2006. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.

External links