Abdulwahab al-Homaiqani is a new face in Yemeni politics. He is the secretary-general of the (religious) Salafist Rashad Union Party, the party’s representative to the National Dialogue Conference (NDC), and one of the most prominent new faces in Yemeni politics and public affairs. His party’s proposals often stir controversy, and they are seen as progressive and practical for a Salafist party, especially if compared to old political parties. Homaiqani’s business card includes his contact information and party address, and — surprisingly — the party’s bank account number, which is a simple and smart mechanism to acquire financial resources for the party.

To establish a new party in Yemen, all you need is 2,500 signatures of real names, an internal system and a license application to submit to the Committee for Affairs of Political Parties and Organizations (CAPPO), as the party of Homaiqani and others did.

Over the past 23 years, since the Republic of Yemen was formed after the declaration of the unification of the two countries — South and North — in 1990, 38 political parties have been registered in Yemen. According to CAPPO Secretary Bagash al-Aghbari, 16 of these parties were registered in 2011, which means that the figure doubled at a 1600% rate. Thus, 16 new parties were granted licenses during one year, compared to the previous rate of one party per year.

Among these 16 new parties, Amal al-Thawr became the first Yemeni woman to head a political party — the Arab Spring Party — as well as two other parties which obtained the right of national representation through seven members for each out of the total 565 members of the NDC: the Rashad Union Party and the Justice and Construction Party, whose members defected from the former ruling General People's Congress (GPC).