Women’s March for Representation
First the march:
SANA’A, Aug. 20 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh and vice president Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi received on Sunday women demonstrators from differentpolitical parties and civil society
organizations who marched to the presidency palace to protest the parties ignorance to give them more seats in local councils.The demonstrators expressed their objection to the ignoring of some parties for women as candidates for the coming local elections.
“Our system is multiparty and admits the right of all to participate in the political life and woman is the half of community and she has
to bea partner for the man in different political sides,” said Saleh.Saleh called all the political powers to commit to their promises and give women their rights in the participation in the political life as
voters and candidates.“The Yemeni women should enjoy all rights. Woman has a great history and she is a real partnership for man”, said Saleh , adding that SCER said that 42 women were included as candidates for the General Peoples Congress.
“If the political parties do not nominate you, you can run the elections as independents and you will get all the support from SCER,” he said.”Woman now is a professor in university, doctor, teacher, ambassador andminister. We will work to give her all rights to participate activelyin different fields.”
President said he wished if there were female candidates in the upcoming presidential
elections. He said that he would talk with SCER and other parties to determine 15 % of local seats for women, asking the GPC to do fulfill
its promisesto women in this regard.
SANA’A, Aug. 20 — President Ali Abdullah Selah yesterday called on the other political parties to allocate a fair portion of their local council seats for women, adding that he hoped a woman would be nominated in the presidential election.
Saleh received approximately 200 women at the presidency office, representing various political parties, women’s organizations and civil society organizations, who arranged a march yesterday morning, demanding political parties fulfill their promises to support and encourage women candidates to run in local elections.
As head of the ruling party, the General People’s Congress (GPC), Saleh confirmed that the GPC will fulfill its promise to grant women 15 percent of its local council seats. He pointed out that he ordered the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) to support female candidates, whether they belong to political parties or are independent.
Rashida Al-Hamadani, head of the Women’s National Committee, appreciated the president’s attitude; however, she pointed to the difficulties of achieving notable change in such limited time. “Unfortunately, Monday is the last day to receive candidacy applications, which means women have a very limited time to apply,” Al-Hamadani noted.
Women’s National Committee Vice Chairwoman Huryah Mashhoor said only 53 women candidates – including 26 women representing the GPC (21 at the district level and five at the governorate level) – will run in local council elections. “We depend on the parties’ promises to encourage and support women’s nomination; however, we were shocked to learn the number of women candidates,” she remarked.
Mashhoor pointed out obstacles women face within their political parties or if they’re independent candidates. “Many parties prefer to support powerful social figures that impact society instead of supporting a woman. Additionally, independent candidates face legal restrictions; for example, they must receive a portion of votes for recommendation,” she explained.
Mashhoor also called for local and international support to pressure political parties to encourage women to run in the elections and support independent women candidates by removing obstacles facing their nomination.
“We call on all Yemeni women not to vote for parties refusing to support women for local council seats,” Yemeni Women’s Union president Ramzia Al-Eryani stated, referring to the Islah party, which offers no women’s nomination.
She noted that such parties are mobilizing women to vote, but have discouraged them from standing as candidates.
According to government statistics, the number of registered female voters has nearly tripled – from 15 percent of total voters in 1993 to 42 percent in 2003. However, during the same period, the number of female candidates running in elections fell from 42 percent to 11 percent.
Thirty-six of 125 women candidates won local council elections in 2001, including two at the governorate level in Aden and Abyan. At the district level, three women won the post of secretary-general – in the Capital secretariat, Ibb and Lahj – and one woman won Tahrir district’s director-general post, the only Yemeni woman in such a position. The remaining 30 councilwomen are ordinary members of local district councils.
The UN calls on all concerned parties to encourage and facilitate women’s participation.
Saleh, head of the GPC, suddenly is powerless to impact party policy, although the party said it could not exist without him as they cried for him to run in the election:
The security authorities prevented on Sunday representatives of the official weekly, 26 September, and some local websites including NewsYemen, almotamar.net, Nabanews and raynews to enter the presidency palace to cover a march for Yemeni women protesting to the parties ignorance to give women more seats in the local councils, and allowed correspondent of al-Jazeera, alarabia and MBC to cover the protest.
Correspondent of local media means felt disturbance over giving priority for foreign media and preventing the local.
The women protest was described as “silent protest” as the 140 women were collected and moved by buses to Al-Sabeen Square where they waited for one hour before they could enter the presidency palace.
The deputy chairwoman of the National Women Committee, Huriyah Mashhur, said women aimed at meeting with the president “who can gather all parties and convey to them the message of women”.
Mashhur told NewsYemen that women preferred to meet president because “president always supports women either in elections or through appointments”.
“Parties did not change their stances and Yemeni woman cannot remain just like “fuel” for men to reach high positions,” said Mashhur.
Member of the National Women Committee, Najwa al-Adhi, said the Yemeni woman was always exploited by men and she could occupy a political position.
“Women cannot be a shadow,” said al-Adhi, pointing that the political position is on the top of women’s priorities.
After the meeting with president Saleh, some participants in the protest told NewsYemen- on condition of anonymity, that they were angry as the protest was changed into election propaganda for president Saleh who broke his promise to give women 15% of its seats in municipality, according to the participants.
They said president Saleh renewed his promises today to support women in local elections, but said he called them to run the elections as independent candidates. So the women members of GPC inquired about the benefit to be members in GPC.
The Women National Committee stated that applying quota, 30% in minimum, will remain a strategic request for women.
“Meeting this request may not be possible in the upcoming elections or elections in 2009, but it will remain a strategic request,” said the statement.
The statement, entitled “Nation Alliance”, reminded the political parties about their moral commitments and promises to support women members as candidates for local councils according to quota system.
The statement also confirmed that nominating a number of women for local elections is not enough without supporting them to succeed.
The ruling party, the General People’s Congress, nominated only 40 women for local councils, out of 6000 candidates who will run the elections for the GPC.
The Yemeni Socialist Party nominated just three women and there are 11 independents who are in a great need of support.
