Bin Shamlan in the MSM
SANAA (AFP) – The main Yemeni opposition alliance chose a politician from the former communist south to stand in September presidential elections against veteran incumbent Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Faisal Shalman, who briefly served as a government minister in the then People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in the late 1960s, was chosen as the common candidate of the main opposition groups represented in parliament, a senior opposition politician told AFP.
He will stand for the Common Forum, an alliance grouping the main Islamist opposition Islah (Reform) party and the former ruling faction in the south, the Yemen Socialist Party, as well as five smaller groups.
Saleh, who first rose to power as president of the then North Yemen in 1978, has ruled the united country ever since it was formed in 1990, and is seen as overwhelming favourite following his decision earlier this month to seek a new seven-year term. Around a dozen other hopefuls have said they want to stand in the election but they are likely to struggle to secure the signatures of the five percent of lawmakers required for registration.
(AP) Sanaa: Five Yemeni opposition parties have chosen a well-known businessman and former Cabinet minister to challenge longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the coming presidential polls.
Faisal Bin Shamlan will be the main opposition challenger in the September elections, said a person who attended the Thursday meeting of representatives of the five parties at which the candidate was chosen. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the candidate is expected to be announced today by the parties the Islamic Islah Party, the Socialist Party, the Nasserist Party, Al Haq and the Popular Forces Union.
Bin Shamlan is a political liberal and oil industry executive who won wide respect for speaking out against corruption. In 1995 he resigned from parliament in protest against corruption in government. He served as minister of infrastructure and minister of oil in the socialist government of South Yemen before the country merged with North Yemen in 1990. His membership of the large Bin Shamlan tribe, which comes from the Hadramawt valley of southern Yemen, would give him a substantial base in any election.
However, observers say there is a strong record of fraud in elections conducted under President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Bin Shamlan is not expected to win in September. Saleh, who has been in power for 28 years including his time as president of North Yemen, provoked strong criticism last week when he reversed his pledge last year not to seek another seven-year term.
At a rally of tens of thousands of supporters in Sanaa, Saleh said last Saturday that he was ‘yielding to the people’s desire’ and standing again. Opposition leaders had been sceptical that Saleh would keep his promise to step down. They saw it as a ploy to provoke calls for him to run again, or to open the way for his son, Ahmad, 39, to stand.
In business, Bin Shamlan ran the Aden oil refineries of South Yemen during the 1970s and also worked as an executive for a Saudi oil company in London. His views on foreign policy are not known, but he has spoken out against the violence of Al Qaida.
