In the course of the Yemeni Civil War, the party's founder and Leader Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed, while the GPC fractured into three factions backing different sides in the conflict.

[6] The party was established on 24 August 1982 in Sana'a, North Yemen, by President Ali Abdullah Saleh,[6][7] becoming an umbrella organisation that sought to represent all political interests.

[8] Following Yemeni unification in 1990, and with Saleh continuing as president of the united country, it emerged as the largest party in the 1993 parliamentary elections, winning 123 of the 301 seats.

Rallying a large part of the GPC in 2015, he sided with the Houthis and effectively split the party into a pro-Hadi and Saleh faction.

This power grab failed, however, and the former president as well as party secretary general Aref al-Zouka were killed in the Battle of Sana'a of late 2017.