In November 2011, conflicting Yemeni parties signed an international initiative to lead the country out of its crisis. It later came to be known as the Gulf Initiative, as it was adopted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — with the exception of Qatar, which pulled out of the project because former President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused for Doha to be involved.
Everyone was optimistic that the initiative would spare the country a civil war, rather than resolving other national problems. It was not long before concerned parties started to implement the terms of the initiative. Parliament convened to pass a law granting immunity to the former president and his regime from any accountability and prosecution, against the backdrop of the decisions taken during the period of his rule. The government of national consensus was then formed, between the General People’s Congress (the current ruling party) and the opposition parties in December of the same year.
