Thus unification brought with it a process of contingent legal liberalization that lifted restrictions on civic participation. Concomitant with these salutary processes, however, a political crisis was brewing that would culminate in the 1994 civil war. The supposedly co-equal parties to the unity coalition gradually but steadily retreated from the spirit and letter of the unity accords, the constitution, and democratizing legislation. Thus like earlier liberal experiments the civic opening rather quickly reached the limits of government tolerance, whereupon the space open to public activism contracted. Nonetheless, groups that emerged after unity sought by various means to forestall bloodshed and preserve constitutional liberties. The deeper the crisis within the state, the wider the civic pressure for reconciliation. Recalling earlier constitutional proposals emanating from non-ruling elites in times of acute state crisis, an independent committee backed by public rallies proposed a political compromise incorporating popular demands for personal liberty, freedom of information, local self-governance, limits on executive power, and less corruption. Although it failed to stop the war, the national dialogue – both within the committee and beyond – was a significant moment for civic involvement.

The rout of the more progressive of the ruling parties spelled a victory for conservative forces including the Islamist right, the political security organization, and a contorted private sector dominated by Sana'ani officer-shaykhs. In international and comparative terms, Yemen was one of many countries where formerly ruling socialist parties fell into defeat, disrepute, and despair in the 1990s. Nor was Yemen the first country where a combination of inflation, unemployment, and services deterioration have bolstered right-wing ideologies and social malaise.