Parliament rejects amendments, votes for 2001 elections law

JMP fails to present its nominees for Elections Committee

Monday’s session in the Parliament, deliberating on the elections law.

The Yemen Parliament voted unanimously on the compelling elections law that was issued in 2001 instead of the controversial new draft elections law that was supposed to be voted on Monday August 19.  After the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) had not presented their proposal of nominees, as promised by the head of the Islah Party, the Yemeni Parliament rejected amendments to the election law, underscoring escalating tensions between the Ruling party and the Opposition. 

General People's Congress Party (GPC), which dominates parliament, pushed through the vote after the Socialist Parties opposition failed to name representatives to an election committee for the April 2009 elections.

The parliament also voted on a list of members for the Supreme Elections Committee (SEC) consisted of the previous committee in addition to three new members, including a woman.  The rejected amendments included banning government officials from using their influence to affect the vote, and confining the registration of electors to their place of birth or residence while ruling out the place of work.

JMP’s spokesman, Mohammed Saleh al-Qubati, declared last Sunday that they did not submit an election committee nominees’ list to the Parliament. 

Al-Qubati, told the Newsyemen website that the SEC is the last issue to be addressed during these discussions. He pointed out that the JMP did not prepare any nominees’ list because there are still legal, debatable issues to be resolved, as well as the political detainees’ issue, which has not been released.  

The Islah Parties Parliamentary Official, Abdurrahman Ba Fadhl, had pledged to the parliament board that JMP’s nominees will be submitted for the SEC on Sunday, however JMP parliament members ensured media correspondents that Ba Fadhel’s pledge is not binding.

On Sunday’s session, the Parliament adjourned for ten minutes on deliberations over the election law and finally decided to postpone the vote for one day, thus taking into account Ba Fadhel’s pledge. However, the General People’s Congress’s (GPC) withdrew in protest to the Parliament’s board’s decision to delay the election committee’s vote. The GPC protested because the parliament accepted to wait for the JMP’s list, which was not submitted, while the GPC already submitted theirs on time. 

During Saturday’s session, the Parliament had debated the drafted amendments law, article by article. This was done in preparation for the final vote on Sunday which was postponed to Monday’s session. Yahia Al-Raie’, The Yemen Parliament speaker, had called the Party officials to submit their election committee nominee’s lists for vote.

“What the Parliament has done today (‘Monday’) was constitutional. The procrastination of the opposition and its failure to fulfill its promises is against the constitution,” GPC Parliamentary Chief Sultan al-Burkani told AFP.

"The Opposition Parties want us to subjugate laws and the Parliament to their wishes, and even want to postpone elections for another year. This is unacceptable," he charged.

The election draft law amendments' provisions stipulate that no individual should be forced to cast his vote for a certain nominee. Any civil or military official who is found to use his authority to force a voter or his employees to work in favor or against any political nominee, party or organization, will be tried according to the stated punishments as well as dismissal from their post-position. The SEC should set the regulations governing voting procedures, referendums, presidential and parliamentary elections, related to the voters who are not at their registration residence on Elections Day. These procedures should be in conformity with the law in order to prevent counterfeit. These measures should be prepared in a suitable time prior to the Elections Day. 

The voting guidelines and procedures should be edited, revised and amended within thirty days; once every two years. The two years' validity should start at the end of the voting guidelines preparation. They are also to be revised at least once every six months, following the call for any general elections or referendum.

The voting guidelines and procedures amendments should include the names of those who acquire eligibility for voting and the ones who were illegally ignored in previous lists. Also the list should omit the names of those who lost their legal eligibility. Those who were illegally listed should be omitted and those who transferred their residence should be added if the transfer is to a new permanent residence or to the family's residence even if they are not living in it.

The government should prepare electronic voting guidelines and procedures following the 2009 Parliamentary elections, which will be used in future elections, on the condition that the citizen be restricted to the permanent residence or the family's residence. This will also be true to the new voters registered prior to the next elections.

The head committee should publish a copy of the voting guidelines at their headquarters and branch premises during the revision and editing period. An official copy of the voting guidelines, sealed by the committee's manager, should be published at the committee premises and on public places, mainly in each local constituency, at the directorates, and the places determined by the SEC.  This should happen during seven days, starting from the end of the sixth day of the revisions and editing period. The political parties and organization's branches at the constituencies determined for publishing the guidelines are entitled to obtain replicas on their expense, and the main committee is obliged to enable them to have these procedures. Any citizen at the constituency is entitled to request the committee to enlist their names in their local constituency if it is illegally ignored, or to omit the names of those who are illegally placed in the guidelines. The voting requests are to be submitted at the main committee's premises 15 days following the second day of publishing the guidelines and procedures.

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