Yemen's ruling party is determined to go ahead with April's parliamentary elections even in the absence of the opposition, writes Nasser Arrabyee With Yemen's ruling party still determined to go ahead with April's parliamentary elections even in the absence of the main opposition parties, the latter have threatened to boycott the elections and carry protest to the streets if electoral reforms are not first put in place. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, also the head of the country's ruling party, said on Monday that the opposition would be "committing political suicide" if it decided to boycott the elections, picking out the Islamist Islah Party for particular criticism. Saleh called on the coalition of the country's main opposition parties, which includes the Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites, to participate in the elections, which he said would be held on schedule and in the presence of international observers. A day before Saleh's call, the opposition said it would not participate in the elections if agreement on reforms was not reached first. It would only return to dialogue with the ruling party if the latter cancelled unilateral steps taken after negotiations failed last month. These steps included a vote on constitutional amendments that may allow President Saleh to stay in office for life. "I would like to assure the Yemeni people that the elections will be held on time and that international observers will be invited to participate. All those wishing to participate in the elections are welcome to do so, as are those wishing to boycott them, though this would be tantamount to suicide," Saleh said, addressing a rally at Hadhramout University in Mukalla in the east of the country. Saleh focussed his comments on the Islah Islamist Party, which is the country's second largest after the ruling party. Of the smaller Socialist Party, Saleh said it had contributed to ending the civil war in the south of Yemen, before north and south Yemen were united in 1990. The Islah Party has 46 seats in the current Yemeni parliament, and the Socialists seven. Both parties have been associated with the separatist movement in south Yemen, and neither has attended parliamentary sessions since 2007. "We call on our brothers in the opposition coalition, especially our brothers in the Yemeni Congregation for Reform [the Islah Party], to participate," Saleh said, playing down the influence of the Socialist and Nasserite parties. "The Nasserites only have two or three seats in parliament, and after the 1994 war most Socialist Party leaders joined the [ruling] Congress Party, with some of them joining Islah and leading extremist currents." "We will not accept amendments or dialogue outside the institutions of the state, and we will not engage in dialogue aiming to nullify the official institutions," Saleh said. "If you have a programme to solve the problems of the economy and unemployment, you should submit it to us. If you have a project to change the government and take power, you should go to the polls." Saleh said that when the opposition parties had been in power they had achieved little, a reference to the coalition unity government that ruled the country after 1990. The ruling party made common cause with the Islah and Socialist Parties for one year from 1993 to 1994, the Islah Party then ruling in coalition with the ruling party for almost three years after 1994. "You have no programme other than taking power," Saleh said of the opposition parties. "Many of you have been in power, but you did not achieve success." In the run-up to April's elections, the ruling party has also scheduled a vote on an amended electoral law and the formation of a supreme electoral commission made up of nine judges. The controversial amendments to the constitution, likely to be passed in March, will reduce the presidential term to five years from the current seven but will also cancel the two- term limit, allowing the president to be renominated for the post at the end of each term. This amendment has been interpreted by the opposition and other observers to mean that President Saleh intends to stay in office for life. Also among the amendments is a provision to give women 44 additional seats in parliament, increasing the total number of seats to 345 from the current 301. Under the amendments, the parliament will henceforth consist of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Shura Council, with 75 per cent of Shura Council members being elected by the country's 20 provinces and the president appointing the remaining 25 per cent. Decentralisation and local governance are also stipulated in the amendments. Hours before the ruling party was scheduled to vote on the amendments on Saturday, a representative of the US State Department called for a delay to the vote and a return to negotiation with the opposition, this being welcomed by many Yemenis. However, an official statement issued by the Yemeni parliament said the call was a violation of "sovereignty and an interference in internal affairs." "The Americans are aware that the Yemeni parliament is governed along constitutional and legal lines, and the will of the people does not need external approval," the official statement in the country's state-run media said. Meanwhile, opposition MPs, numbering some 50 out of the total of 301, organised a sit-in at the gates of the parliament in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday along with hundreds of supporters. They carried placards saying, "No to faked elections, no to corruption, yes to dialogue, no to the inheritance of power, and no to putting the clock back to zero," a reference to President Saleh's wish to start a new presidential term from scratch. According to the opposition, the ruling party has violated an agreement reached in February 2009 stipulating that political and electoral reforms take place before elections are held. It was agreed at the time to postpone the parliamentary elections for two years, from April 2009 to April 2011, in order to carry out reforms, with the constitution being amended to allow the postponement. However, no agreement on political and electoral reform has subsequently been reached.
