Al-Eryany calls for a mixed electoral system

The Political Advisor to the President of the Republic, Dr. Abdulkarim al-Eryany said Tuesday that discussion will begin on the electoral system and the proportional representation list after the 26th of April of this year. This will be done after the parliament votes on an agreement reached by the political parties questioning the extension of the Parliament’s term in office.
.
In a seminar on the proportional representation electoral system organized by the Saba Center for Strategic Studies, Dr al-Eryany made it clear that changing the present electoral system requires a constitutional amendment and a change in the existing constitutional article concerning this issue.

Al-Eryany conceded that there are disadvantages to the proportional representation electoral system, among them is the non-interaction between the candidate and the voting public due to electoral votes designated by a proportional list of districts, and also the lack of development seen on issues that the candidate has stood for, which tend to disappear after his being elected. He said that the proportional list system makes the candidate uninterested in these things because there is no certain constituency he directly represents, as it comes from the proportional list.

Dr al-Eryany also said that the parties cannot divide the homeland into a proportional list because the social and geographical situation does not allow for it due to the social, tribal, and historical circumstances that exist. He also called for a mixed electoral system that allows gathering the proportional list and keeping an individual list as well.

On his part, the Head of the Information Office of the General People’s Congress (GPC) Tareq al-Shamy, said that all electoral systems are democratic ones and that each society has its own peculiarities, especially in choosing the system that suits it. He added that all electoral systems depend on the level of political awareness in society, the level of illiteracy, and the level of development and cohesion of parties, explaining that the proportional representation system needs certain controls. He also called for a comprehensive study of all electoral systems and an agreement on the most suitable electoral system. Al-Shamy also pointed out that if the proportional representation system was applied, certain parties would control the existing list and other parties would not receive any representation at all.

On the other hand, the executive manager of the Saba Center, Ahmed Abdulkarim Saif, said that the question of the electoral system is among the most important decisions for any democratic regime. He added that in most cases the selection of a certain electoral system would have huge consequences on the future of political life in the concerned country. The selected electoral systems tend towards continuity at a time when political interests are focused on what can be gained from the incentives that those systems would provide. Regardless of the selection process of electoral systems, they must now be reached through a studied process that was not the case in the past.


After Mr. Saif’s statement, discussion sessions began and were enticed by many interruptions, among them was that of Peter Williams, Director of the IFES office in Yemen, in which he called for choosing an electoral system convenient for Yemen according to its environment and geography, saying that not every electoral system suitable in a different country would make sense to apply in Yemen.

On her part Ilham Abdulwahab, Director General of the Women in the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum, stressed the importance of women’s participation in the electoral system, which would be approved later, and also called for women to reach a rate of 30% of seats on the proportional list.

Related Content

•  Tribesmen abduct SJC head's brother
•  7 people arrested for possession of weapons
•  Al Qaeda member arrested
•  70 Ethiopians arrested in Yemen
•  Five killed, three wounded in floods
•  Eritrean pirates hijack 4 Yemeni fishing boats
•  Eritrean pirates capture 6 Yemeni fishing boats
•  Diesel smuggler seized in Hadramout
•  Documentaries enhance youths’ voice
•  Two and half tons of corrupt goods spoiled, municipality director of Addalea