Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to loosen restrictions on the press; for the first time state-controlled newspapers published statements from the opposition. In 1988, he changed the name of the ruling Destourian Socialist Party to the Democratic Constitutional Rally, and pushed through constitutional amendments that limited the president to three five-year terms, with no more than two in a row. However, the conduct of the 1989 elections was little different from past elections. The RCD swept every seat in the legislature, and Ben Ali appeared alone on the ballot in Tunisia's first presidential election since 1974. Although opposition parties had been legal since 1981, presidential
Ali Abdullah Saleh vicinity at the time. In early 2011, following the Tunisian revolution which resulted in the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition parties attempted to do the same in Yemen. Opposition elements started leading protests and demanding that Saleh end his three-decade-long rule because of the perceived lack of democratic reform, widespread corruption and human rights abuses carried out by him and his allies. His net worth was estimated to be between 32 and 64 billion dollars with his money spread across multiple accounts in Europe and abroad. On 2 February 2011, facing a major