Armies of Liberation

ADNKI:

Sanaa, 26 Sept. (AKI) - Thirty-three women were elected in the recent administrative elections in Yemen held on 20 September, which also saw the victory of the incumbent president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The electoral commission in the capital Sanaa, said that six women, all from the ruling General Peoples’ Congress Party were elected to the provincial councils, while another 27 women were elected to the city councils. Out of this group, 24 women are from the governing party while another two ran as independent candidates and one woman was elected from the Socialist party.

The Islamic party, al-Islah, did not field a single female candidate because religious leaders in the country had not made a decision on whether to issue a fatwa or religious decree allowing for women to participate in politics.

The election of 33 women was warmly welcomed by the government in Sanaa and by women’s groups, especially since only one woman was elected in the last administrative elections in 2001.

In order to stand by the Sudanese people.

As if the over one million people “living” in the desert of Sudan aren’t Sudanese citizens who were driven from their homes and into the baren desert by the government sponsered Janjaweed. They are mostly women and children because a lot of the men are dead. As if it was not brotherly Muslims who are being denied food, water and medicine and who are being murdered and raped as they daily starve to death. The tactic of the systematic rape of women and children as a tool of war is among the most repugnant aspects of the crisis in Darfur. Some villages have been bombed from the air, others scorched with fire from the ground.

Some analysts frame the conflict as a land conflict between herders and farmers, others as between Wahabbi Islamists and Sufis, or Arabs and blacks. Regardless of the reasons, the government of Sudan is engaged is a mass murder of its own citizens. And the government of Yemen supports it right to do so based on its soverignty.

SANAA’A-Head of Political Office at the General People’s Congress Abdullah Ahmed Ghanim said UN resolution 1706 contradicts the interest of the Sudanese people and the peace agreement signed by the government and Darfur armed movements in Abuja.
He affirmed the UN resolution would affect the sovereignty of Sudan more than maintain peace in Darfur.
Speaking to the Sudan News Agency( SUNA) Ghanim said, “We strongly stand by the choice of the Sudanese people as declared by President Omar al-Bashir and his government. We urge the Arab national forces and peace-loving forces to stand by the Sudanse people to overcome such hard circumstances and thwart the attempts of international forces, namely the US, to intervene in the affairs of this country and dominate the interests of its people.”
Ghanim further noted that this “American project publicized by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice aims to protect Israel, no more, no less”
He urged Arab states to stand united and take responsibility of what is happening in Sudan, Palestine and Iraq.

And the Yemeni government consistently labels it as an “internal problem” not requiring international intervention.

FM: Darfur crisis is Sudanese internal affair
CAIRO, Aug. 20(Saba) - The Ministerial Committee for following the developments in the Sudanese region of Darfur held here on Sunday a meeting in theArab Lague headquarters to discuss the latest developments in the region.

During the meeting, Minister of Expatriates and Foreign Affairs Abu Bak ral-Qirbi stressed on Yemen’s stance that calls to tackle Darfur crisis according to the Sudanese peace agreement and the resolutions of Khartoum Summit-2006.

Al-Qirbi re-emphasized that what is happening in Darfur is a Sudanese internal matter and does not need deployment of UN forces, indicating to the importance of discussing the issue of financing the peace keeping force of the African Union.

The Minister called for adopting the proposal of the Sudanese government in this regard and supporting it.

The US plan if I understand it correctly calls for the deployment of UN peace keepers to ring the refugee camps to protect the people from attacks. The small, underfunded and badly trained African Union troops have been unable to perform the task. China has the oil contracts and has been blocking Security Council efforts.

The “over a million” displaced human beings in Darfur does not count the several hundred thousand people that have fled to Chad nor the 400,000 persons already dead. So here we have nearly two million Muslims currently in severe distress, near death. In the US, its a big issue with people from all backgrounds engaged in weekly demonstrations, multiple organizations, websites and petitions and other popular outcry pushing and demanding the US government to do something before all two million are dead. But it really doesn’t evoke much passion and sympathy in the Muslim world or Europe, both of which have been selectively vocal in other instances on the issues of civilian casualties, the right of return and the starvation of children. Its unfortunate there is so little consensus wiith over a million lives at stake.

September 27 UN Report:

Sima Samar, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, said that following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005, Sudan had embarked on a difficult path of peace building, reconciliation and reconstruction.

Since the formation of the Government of National Unity, the people had seen little change in their everyday life – the emergency laws were still in place in Darfur and the East and were also applied in Khartoum, people were arbitrarily arrested and held incommunicado by security forces; torture, ill-treatment and killings of civilians continued. Discrimination and marginalization of certain groups continued and basic rights such as access to food, shelter, health and education were not guaranteed.

The right to life continued to be violated, in particular in Darfur. The perpetrators were government forces, militia and armed groups such as rebel factions and Chadian opposition. Rape and sexual violence against women continued, in particular in Darfur.

“The right to life continued to be violated” is UN speak for murder. While we are on the subject, iAbolish is starting to organize its Darfar Walk 2007:

Recently, iAbolish Associate Simon Deng had the opportunity to go on a fact-finding mission to Sudan, where he encountered the utter devastation in which the people of his homeland live. As the situation worsens in Darfur, refugees flee to already overpopulated regions of Southern Sudan. The situation is so dire that children eat dirt and twigs, just to put something in their painfully hungry stomachs. Your direct action is needed now more than ever.

Last week’s rally in New York City put much-needed pressure on our international leaders to take a stand on Sudan and Darfur; but the truth is, we need something larger, more expansive and long-ranging. This is it. iAbolish and the Sudan Freedom Walk 2006 committee are pleased to announce the launch of the Sudan Freedom Walk 2007! The money we raise will go directly to Sudan: it will free slaves, provide them with survival kits, and bring food, clothing, medical care and shelter to the many thousands of displaced people in Sudan.

Last spring, we received several emails from volunteers around the country who wanted to contribute to the walk, but weren’t sure how. If you were one of these people, your opportunity has now arrived: bring Simon Deng to YOUR community as an official leg of the Sudan Freedom Walk 2007. You can get started by responding to this message to request a proposal form and volunteer packet.

iAbolish.com

SaveDarfur.org

YT:

The ultraconservative Salafi (also known as Wahhabi) sect and other Islamic sects like Sufis, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Tabigh missionary group don’t see eye to eye on some modern issues. For example, celebrating the prophet’s birthday, venerating dead saints and seeking help from them have been bones of contention between Salafis and Sufis.

Democracy and participating in the political process also have been contentious subjects between Salafis and the Islah party, which sees no harm in elections involvement. While Yemenis nationwide voted in the Sept. 20 presidential and local council elections, Yemeni Salafi luminaries recently have been crying wolf about the election issue, warning citizens everywhere about participating in the political process.

During a recent General People’s Congress rally in Marib, Egyptian-born Abu Al-Hassan Al-Maribi stirred up controversy and outrage when he said that contesting Wali Al-Amar (the leader) for president was unlawful in Islam and it was prohibited to rebel against him.

(Read on …)

ABN: Pakistani intelligence sources say they have been receiving reports for the past 12 months that some al Qaeda militants are leaving Pakistan for Sudan, Yemen and now Somalia, but certainly not on the scale suggested by the “middleman”.

ABC: The Mogadishu-based Islamists poured into Kismayo overnight to extend their grip on south-central Somalia and effectively flank the powerless central government on three sides.

Ministers accused the Islamists of mounting the offensive with fighters from Eritrea, Pakistan and Yemen. “There are foreign forces … which attacked Kismayo,” Somali Interior Minister Hussein Mohamed Farah Aideed told al Jazeera network.

Reuters Somalia 9/27 : More planes or the same planes at this airport? This sounds like different cargo.

Also in Baidoa, airport sources said a cargo plane had delivered armoured trucks for President Abdullahi Yusuf, who last week survived an assassination attempt.

“Two four-wheel drive bullet-proof trucks and boxes of canned food have arrived from Yemen,” Mohamed Salad, a senior police officer in charge of Baidoa airport security, said.

“The bullet-proof trucks are for the president.”

Update: Otay, its new shipments, humanitarian assistance:

Mogadishu, 29 Sept. (AKI) - Yemen is the only Arab League nation to have so far responded to an appeal by Somalia’s government for humanitarian assistance for the drought and conflict wracked east African country. Yemen this week sent two planeloads of humanitarian aid, the local Ayaamaha newsaper reports. The first - containing foodstuffs - landed at the airport of the provincial city of Baidoa - seat of Somalia’s weak interim government, 250 kilometres north of the capital, Mogadishu. The second plane transported four bullet-proof vehicles for interim president Abdullah Yusuf who last week survived an assassination attempt.

Yahoo: Iraq-The tribes captured five militants in the Anbar province capital Ramadi on Friday, including three foreign fighters from Yemen, police and tribal leaders said. YT:

Tribal leaders have arrested three Yemenis in Iraq, while a fourth has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. From Sept. 8-14, Iraq’s Central Criminal Court issued judgments upon 22 prison detainees, including a Yemeni named Abdullah Hussein Ahmed Saleh, convicted of infiltrating and illegal passing of borders.

Iraqi police and tribal leaders in Al-Ramadi said Iraqi sources promised to wage war on Al-Qaeda organization there and managed to arrest five Al-Qaeda affiliates last Friday, including three Yemenis. According to police officer Salam Obeed, the five men were arrested without incident below a bridge in Al-Ramadi in Al-Anbar province.

Occupying approximately one-third of Iraq’s total area, Al-Anbar is the stronghold of Sunni Arabs and one of the most dangerous areas for U.S. forces, according to Sattar Al-Baza’I, a sheikh of one of Al-Anbar’s tribes.

Media sources previously have mentioned that more than 500 Yemenis have gone to Iraq since the end of last year and this year. However, the same sources didn’t mention the specific party or nation behind sending them to Iraq, nor the country or countries through which they passed.

YT:

SANA’A- Sept. 26 — Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) denied that they accepted the vote-results of September elections for a deal with the authority to release the polling centers, where the vote count was suspended, in favor of their candidates.

(Read on …)

Although original turn-out estimates were 80-85%, the official figure is now 58% with four million of nine million not voting. The regional average is 54% turn-out in presidental elections from 2000-2006, the lowest globally.

YT: Based on totals released by the SCER, Saleh won 4,149,673 votes (77.17 percent), while his closest rival, Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan received 1,173,075 votes (21.82 percent).

IFES: Registered Voters: 9,247,390 (September 2006 )

Also local reports: GPC spent YR 10 billion on campaign

Update: now its 65 %,
According to the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum, 9,248,456 voters were registered in the polls, but the turnout was 65 percent with 6,025,818 voters participated in the September elections. There were 648,580 votes cancelled. Saleh gained a landslide victory, scoring 77 percent of the vote, while his main rival Faisal Bin Shamlan, of the Joint Meeting Parties, receiving nearly 22 percent of the total 6 million votes cast.

Update: Two women killed and three children injured during shoot-out to free the hostages.

Yemeni security forces are holding all five suspects in the kidnapping of four Frenchmen earlier this month, the defence ministry’s 26 September newspaper said yesterday in its web edition.

The security forces also freed substitute hostages delivered to the kidnappers in return for the Frenchmen’s release, the paper said.

The five tribesmen were detained in the southern province of Shabwa and were now being questioned by investigators with a view to prosecution so that they “take their fair punishment,” it added.

Tribal sources said that six members of the Al-Abdullah bin Daham tribe were in custody.

Three of the kidnappers surrendered when the four Frenchmen were released on Monday and three other members of the tribe were detained in raids on Thursday and Friday, the sources said.

They were not immediately able to confirm that the two kidnappers still at large were among the three arrests.

A tribal notable who was involved in the negotiations for the release of the four French hostages said that the arrests had prompted exchanges of fire between tribesmen and the security forces in which two women were killed and three children wounded.

“The authorities reneged on their promises,” a source close to the hostage-takers complained.

(Read on …)

YO: Ghalia al-Basha, 25, an independent candidate for the local council in Dhamar, said that she failed to win the election because of electoral violations, including political pressure and counterfeit ballots at polling center 205. She has already rounded up people willing to testify on her behalf. Her sister Amira, 21, and Mohammed al-Khadhar, 21, both worked as observers for the Womens Affairs Support-CDF Association. They saw the ballots put in a dark room, so that voters could not properly read them.

They also saw some people put ballots on the roof of the polling center, so they could check off their favored candidate, al-Basha said. Polling center workers also prevented her representatives from observing the vote-counting, though representatives for other candidates were allowed to enter. “Janaf al-Olofi, the representative of the General People’s Congress, held his neck to get me scared,” she said. She said that she intends to file a suit but is a little worried about doing so, because Ramzia al-Eryani, the head of the Yemeni Women Union, advised her to not do so. Engineer Ali Sobai, 49, said that he was subjected to a lot of pressure from the GPC, just because the GPC suspects that he voted for al-Basha. “

(Read on …)

MEO:

Unprecedented political debate during recent Yemeni polls broke taboos over the issue of succession, putting re-elected President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s plans for his son to take over on hold, analysts say.

Freer criticism of the regime combined with the presence of foreign media during last week’s presidential polls, in which Saleh faced his first real electoral challenge in 28 years, opened a debate about the accession of Saleh’s son Ahmed, 35, who currently heads the country’s Republican Guards.

Former oil minister, Faisal bin Shamlan, who garnered over 21 percent of the votes, also emerged from the ballot as a serious contender from outside Saleh’s circle of power, backed by the Common Forum of five opposition parties.

“These elections made it less likely that he (Saleh) gives power to his son or chooses his own successor like (late Syrian President Hafez) Assad did, or (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak and (Libyan leader Colonel Moamer) Kadhafi are, according to all signs, going to do,” said US analyst Robert Burrowes.

“If the opposition is able to be effective between now and parliamentary elections in 2009, that will even make it impossible for Saleh to name a successor,” Burrowes said.

He said the opposition’s credibility as an alternative to Saleh, 64, and his son, will depend on its “ability to stay together and resist the regime’s attempts to divide it by offering them alliances with the government”.

“Nobody was there to oppose the corruption until now, or to be seen as a real alternative able to lead a peaceful power change without falling into chaos,” said Burrowes, author of several books on Yemen.

The opposition has proven to be “coherent and very pragmatic”, capable of taking on the presidential challenge, he added.

But for the Opposition Forum’s spokesman, the succession by Saleh’s son to power is almost inevitable.

“The inheriting of power is blatantly there in Yemen, like in any other Arab country,” Mohammad Qahtan told AFP, claiming that “news about the son precedes that of the head of the state in the news bulletins of state media.”

“Saleh insists, using a logic that I can not comprehend, that (US President) George W. Bush has inherited power from his father,” president George Bush, who lost his bid for a second term in 1992 to Democrat Bill Clinton, Qahtan said.

“The regime in Yemen is on its way to become another ‘royal presidency’ like in other Arab countries,” he added.

Yemeni political analyst Mohammad Sabri said that the polls had “deflated the plans for Saleh’s succession.”

“I believe that the opposition has dealt a deadly blow to the idea of inheriting power, and presented itself as a strong and uncorrupted alternative to a family which has monopolised power for 28 years without being able to develop the country,” he said.

He charged that the country under Saleh has “regressed economically, politically and socially.”

One of Saleh’s half-brothers is the military chief in the northern and western regions of Yemen, his other half-brother is commander of air forces, while his nephew is the head of security forces.

When asked by an Arab satellite channel during his electoral campaign if he was preparing his son to succeed him in power, Saleh responded: “He’s ready.”

“It is his right as a citizen, but I don’t give him advice because I am tired of power. But I am forced (by the people) to stay,” said Saleh, whose posters during the campaign carried the name “Abu (father of) Ahmed”.

Burrows following up on his oped in the YT a month or two ago continues to make the good point that the JMP needs to become more coordinated at the local and parliamentary levels in order to be an effective political block. It also might be good for the opposition parties to model internally the democracy they are advocating on a national level with inclusive decision making by the membership and a regular transition of leadership, open beyond a small circle of elite.

By becoming more democratic themselves, Yemen’s political parties may encourage political participation, further entrench democratic principles through society, help develop a new generation of leaders, help develop public habits and expectations of democratic practices, and engender national trust in their parties, leaders and platforms.

SANAA- Joint Meeting Parties (JMP)’s Higher Body announced in a press conference held Tuesday afternoon attended by their presidential candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan their acceptance of elections results.

Secretary-general of the Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) Yassin Saeed Nouman said, in response to journalists questions for knowing the final stance of the JMP about the elections, “Yes, the elections are legitimate and we accepted their results.”
A statement issued by parties of the JMP mentioned the results of election are a faint accompli the JMP and masses of the people deal with it away from concepts of obedience and negative submission.

The statement added that it is necessary to insist on maintaining the democratic peaceful struggle with patience that does not hasten the time of realization of goals. The statement quoted the JMP as realizing an important amount of success in the elections the JMP says it has achieved in the context of its electoral campaign, most outstanding is that it was able to create political social mobility that saved the electoral process from monotony and formality and gave it vitality and seriousness, in addition to urging hundreds of thousands of men and women to the effective political action and fixing the right to political competition for the presidency post.

On the other hand the JMP’s presidential candidate Bin Shamlan described the elections as “sadness session”, accusing the media instruments of injustice with regard to media coverage, praising the propaganda stage saying it had passed in an acceptable form and said the mountain was in labor and produced a mouse.

AM: SANAA-The US President George W. Bush affirmed that the Yemeni elections proceeded in democratic atmospheres, saying his country received reports from international observers confirming the election were carried out in a fair, transparent and free way and the opposition was given full space to express its issues and presentations largely and justly.

In a telephone conversation with President Ali Abdullah Saleh Tuesday, President Bush also congratulated president Saleh on success of the presidential and local councils elections and the great victory he has achieved in them and the trust the Yemeni people have granted him.
He American president also affirmed that his country highly appreciates the democratic process and that democracy in Yemen is great and constitutes an example in the Middle East region and the United States supports it strongly.
Bush said he is proud of Saleh’s leadership and highly evaluates the friendship of the two countries, praising Saleh’s steps in favor of his people and homeland. Bush also praised Yemen efforts in fighting terror. The US president affirmed the United States support for development operation in Yemen as well as supporting Yemen’s efforts in fighting terror, congratulating president Saleh on advent of the holy month of Ramadan.
On his part president Ali Abdullah Saleh expressed his thanks and appreciation to President Bush for his good feelings, affirming Yemen’s keenness on consolidation of its relations with the United States for the interest of both friendly peoples and countries.

US version

Washington — President Bush congratulated Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh on his election victory, and said the vote, which international observers described as free and fair, was also a victory for his country and would “set an example” for the Middle East region.

White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said September 26 that Bush also telephoned President Saleh earlier in the day to congratulate him on Yemen’s national day and to extend greetings for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Perino said Bush told Saleh that the September 23 result, which gave the Yemeni leader more than 77 percent of the vote, was “a victory for him personally,” and “also for Yemen because it was an election that international observers called free and fair and will set an example for the region.”

According to the European Union Election Observation Mission’s preliminary report, released September 21, the vote was “an open and genuine contest … and [a] positive development in Yemen’s democratization process.”

International media reports described the election as the first instance in the 28 years President Saleh has been in power when he faced a serious challenger.

At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said September 26 that all indications were that “the elections in Yemen did meet a certain international standard for freeness and fairness.

“Yemen and President Saleh, who did win re-election in those elections, should be congratulated on the fact that they ran some good elections that met international criteria for free and fair elections,” McCormack said.

During their telephone conversation, Bush also thanked Saleh for Yemen’s efforts to combat terrorism. According to Perino, Saleh “assured him Yemen’s fight against terrorism would continue.”

The Yemeni leader also told Bush that he hoped the election in his country “would serve as an example for other countries in the region.”

To avoid clashes, option four:

SANAA - Yemen’s opposition on Tuesday acknowledged President Ali Abdullah Saleh had been re-elected, dropping their accusations of vote-rigging and threats of protests.

A final vote count released on Saturday showed long-ruling Saleh as winning 77.2 percent of the vote, with the opposition’s candidate Faisal Al Shamlan receiving 21.8 percent of the total 6 million ballots cast.

“The announced results are a reality and the coalition opposition is dealing with that,” Shamlan told reporters.

A statement by the opposition said: “We need to avoid a clash or confrontation with the authorities which (might) derail the process of change that has begun.”

Opposition politicians had accused the government of seizing polling stations, evicting candidates’ representatives and stealing ballot boxes.

Saleh, a military officer who enjoys near absolute power and has ruled Yemen since its unification in 1990, ran against four other candidates including Shamlan in last week’s presidential polls.

He won the first direct election in 1999, which the opposition boycotted.

Yemen is the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has cracked down on militants. Yemen cooperated closely with Washington after the Sept. 11 attacks and al Qaeda attacks at home, including the bombing of a US warship in 2000.

Well now everybody can get on the with business of moving forward.

Analysis by Abddul Rahman Al-Rashed:

My colleague and friend Munir Al-Mawri believes that it is of great necessity that oppositional candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan be elected President of Yemen.

He highlights 20 well-founded reasons to vote for him, among them the fact that he is a civilian at a time when people have grown tired of military men.; that he is renowned for his virtue and religiosity at a time when people are fed up with corruption; that he is pure when people have had enough of the enduring rule of one leader. The fact that he’s from the south means that electing him can only revere national unity and solidarity.

Yet despite all that, Bin Shamlan achieved modest results – only 20 per cent of the total votes. Have the results been tampered with?

It is the opposition’s right to be skeptical, bearing in mind that the opposing candidate is the authority that is the government, the state security, and the money – which is technically everything there is. However, it is also the government’s right to insist on the legitimacy of the victory because the opposing candidate is an unknown face who competed against someone the people have known for a quarter of a century.

Both interpretations are valid. Who would seriously believe that those from the ruling political party would intentionally use their presence and influence to correct the results, or blow the numbers out of proportion? We have no proof for that except a justified doubt and a long history of forgery and fraud in Arab organizations, and the glaring results the appointed always receive. In addition to people voting for the opposition not because they like it that much inasmuch as wanting to change a government as old as a tortoise –that is the attitude for all voters worldwide who desire change simply because they’re bored or frustrated with their current state. That’s why it seems odd that Bin Shamlan only got 20 per cent of the votes. Yet at the same time, we must declare without a doubt that there are contextual explanations to support the likelihood of Bin Shamlan’s defeat, primarily the fact that he is unknown to the public to a large extent. He also started his electoral campaign very late in life. In Yemen, by virtue of its limited capabilities it does not allow for an unknown’s recognition to spread wide, as opposed to developed countries. Additionally, you cannot compare Bin Shamlan’s capacity for mobilization to that of the president’s, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who owns the whole government whose voice reaches to the furthest metre in the country.

As opposed to Bin Shamlan, everyone knows President Saleh in Yemen – the young and the old –he is part of their daily lives, and has been part of their history for quite a while. The new candidate only appeared recently and was solely known to specialists in the energy field when he was the former Minister of Petroleum. In this situation, the largest contributing factor is what can be called commercial symbolism. When you walk into a supermarket, you decide in a matter of seconds what beverage you want to buy: You think either Coca Cola or its sister drink Pepsi Cola. You don’t think about the other fizzy drinks for only one reason, and that’s because you got used to them. You recognize them quickly and they have a dominant presence in your head. Had Bin Shamlan started his campaign earlier, he would have become an accepted commercial symbol, whereas today he cannot rival President Saleh in mass popularity. Whatever the case, whether the Yemeni elections were partially rigged or not, the fact remains that it was a compelling and courageous experience, and most important, is its establishment so that it becomes a paradigm rather than an exception in Yemeni life.

IRIN:

SANAA, 25 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Despite some irregularities and complaints from opposition parties, Yemen’s recent democratic elections have been hailed a success for the country and region. For the first time, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s president of 28 years and winner of these recent elections, faced genuine competition.

“The fact that in the region an incumbent president is being seriously challenged is a major step forward,” said Madrid Robin, NDI country representative.

The US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), which has been supporting Yemen’s democratisation process for several years, said that the country’s first contested presidential elections were a major step towards democracy.

In its preliminary report released 21 September, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) described the elections as “an open and genuine contest… and positive development in Yemen’s democratisation process”.

“The election in general was the best in the region. It was real with genuine contest,” said Ali Saif Hasan, political analyst and head of the Sana’a-based non-governmental organisation Political Development Forum.

(Read on …)

Although three members of the SCER have reservations, SCER certifies results with Saleh winning at 77%.

Regime via al-Motamar grudgingly accepts potential 10% discrepency:

In a meeting with head of the General People’s Congress (GPC)’s Public Relations Office Mohammed Ali Abu Luhoum in Sana’a on Sunday, the election observers affirmed the democracy in Yemen represented a unique situation in the Arab region.

One of the observers some executive and party officials might have interfered in activity of some leaders in the GPC and official institutions, but that was of little effect and did not exceed 10% on elections result.

Bringing us to 67% vs 33%. The opposition has said that their voters were at least 40% but they have proof of the tampering of millions of ballots. So there’s at least three ways to go: 1) the SCER recertifies the official results with between 30 to 40% for the opposition; 2) the JMP shows its proof, which it really should; 3) a recount, which may be dificult since the SCER already certified the results and the international oberservers aren’t that interested in an accurate count- better than last time is good enough.

IHT: The elections commission announced the final results of the presidential elections at a brief news conference Saturday. The commission did not take any questions and left many issues hanging, such as the fate of ballot boxes that were stolen or burned, polling stations where vote-counting was frozen due to disputes and instances where officials overseeing the vote did not stick to legal procedures.

While no one has challenged Saleh’s win, the real conflict since voting ended late Wednesday has been over the numbers. The opposition and some elections observers say Saleh wanted to win by a large margin to show he is strong and popular, and irregularities in the vote-counting were meant to give him that edge.

“It was a real election, with a real competition,” said Paul Salem, an observer who directs the Middle East Center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The monitoring by local and international observers was very rigorous and polling took place in most stations in a reasonably fair manner.”

However, he said, there have been fairly widespread reports of abuse of influence and interference in a significant number of polling stations, particularly in the vote-counting stage.

“What is unfortunate is that a largely free and fair election could be clouded by doubts over percentage points or accusations of fraud, particularly at a time when virtually all parties agree that the basic outcome was that Saleh and the GPC did win,” Salem said.

Well if thats the way it is, maybe they should have just done a voice vote. Are the observers afraid of tainting their good work product and the happy outcome by taking seriously the reports of abuse during vote counting? The campaign was good (if you discount the opposition arrests, ect), the voting was mostly unencumbered perhaps (if you discount the lack of privacy, ect.), but the vote counting is a very important step. The Baroness made her intial glowing assessment before the vote counting process got underway.

And what is this garbage: the percentage doesn’t matter? It’s going to matter very much for the next seven or five years, after all these people leave. It matters to the people whose votes were stolen or sold. To say the fraud doesn’t matter because Saleh would have won anyway is an insult to the voters and a perversion of democracy.

The minority has rights. One important right is to have their votes counted.

Just as the will of the majority should be respected, so should the rights of the minority, and this is is one of the most important concepts that needs to be affirmed both in Yemen and the region.

To belittle the opposition’s claims at this point is just the bigotry of low expectations, or expediency, perhaps both. The Yemeni people did an excellent job and should be very proud of themselves and their country. The regime did a good job by letting bin Shamlan have freedom of speech and time on TV to talk to the nation. The GPC did a good job by accepting the principles agreement and conceeding some points. The opposition did a good job by unifying, formulating a reform platform, devising and insisting on the principles agreement, fielding a candidate and campaigning, and now disputing the percentage.

They all have the capacity to come up with and accept a fair count. Its not a challenge beyond any party, including the people. If and when they do resolve this, (probably without the support of the international community), it will be another milestone.

The end result of a “good” election is an accurate vote count, not just a general sense of which candidate won the majority. For the international observers to insist otherwise is disappointing.

YT:

The Sept. 20 elections resulted in an overwhelming victory for the General People’s Congress (GPC) in Amran governorate at both the presidential and local council levels.

The party won 15 of the 20 local council seats allocated to Amran governorate, while the JMP won just three and independents won the other two. GPC presidential candidate Ali Abdullah Saleh won with 75 percent of votes, while opposition candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan received 25 percent.

Amran was one of the governorates the JMP had bet on and witnessed heated competition during campaigning, leading to a high alert among the governorate’s security forces. Further, armed forces – around 310 armored brigades – reinforced some voting centers.

The voting process in Amran appeared quiet until about noon, when some voting centers began witnessing infringements.

Refusing to vote publicly for the GPC presidential candidate, the 10th constituency polling center in Bani Qais was closed in front of voters by an influential GPC personality.

In related news, a clash involving small arms between some citizens over elections in Al-Athah area resulted in critically injuring a man, who was rushed to the hospital. Reacting to the incident, security forces fired bullets into the air to disperse the quarreling parties.

Additionally, security forces arrested JMP candidate Nasser Al-Khidri, accusing him of tearing down President Saleh’s photo in his area.

Sheikhs and dignitaries from Constituency No. 228 also forced voters to vote publicly in front of committees.

Some observers had bet on Amran governorate to go to the JMP presidential candidate and they believe the GPC used all possible means to gain the maximum number of votes in the governorate.

Amran Observer Fuad Al-Mahbashi said the electoral process was worse than in past elections, noting that ballots were sent to and distributed in Amran polling centers on the eve of Sept. 20 to educate voters, particularly elderly women, on how to mark them the next day.

He further added that the GPC distributed large sums of money to all Amran voting centers, approaching YR 800,000 for each center.

In a related matter, influential governorate individuals summoned all heads of primary election committees and subcommittees to a meeting, asking them to swear allegiance to the GPC. One such committee head wishing to remain anonymous confirmed that he was called to a government building and asked to swear his support of the GPC.

Teachers also didn’t escape threats and further, were asked when meeting with heads of educational centers to elect GPC candidates or they would lose their jobs.

The Yemen Times visited some Amran voting centers and found that most centers lacked observers, either national or foreign. When attempting to take photographs, some official and security parties prevented us from doing so. Most international observers didn’t visit voting centers outside Amran’s capital, thus many infringements and violations were committed, according to an observer who refused to give his name. He added that toward the end of the day, extra ballots were marked for GPC candidates in front of election committees, which remained idle.

Saleh acknowledges mistakes, JMP does not renew calls for demonstration. So far so good.

AP:

Yemen‘s president on Sunday acknowledged “mistakes” in elections which gave him more than 77 percent of the vote but stood by his victory as the opposition rejected the results, alleging the numbers were “set in advance.”

Yemeni opposition parties said their candidate, former oil executive Faisal bin Shamlan, received far more votes in Wednesday‘s elections than the 21.82 percent reported by the Election Commission.

But the opposition coalition did not renew its earlier threat of a massive street protest to show its support is broader than the results reflect. Ibrahim al-Hayer, a member of the opposition, said no decision has been made yet about whether to go ahead with the demonstration.

In the last election in 1999, Saleh got 96.2 percent of the vote when he faced only a former member of his ruling party running as an independent.

The European Union Election Observation Mission called the elections “an open and genuine contest” but noted problems, including underage voting, voter intimidation and illegal campaigning by the ruling General People‘s Congress.

“What distinguishes this election is the participation of the opposition, which gave the polls importance and presence in the international community,” he said.

The opposition and some elections observers say Saleh wanted to win by a large margin to show he is strong and popular, and irregularities in the vote-counting were meant to give him that edge.

However, he said there have been fairly widespread reports of abuse of influence and interference in a significant number of polling stations, particularly in the vote-counting stage.

Better luck next time? Whats wrong with a recount?

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power in this Persian Gulf Arab state since 1978, promised “we will rectify the mistakes of these elections in the next one.”

Yemeni opposition parties said their candidate, former oil executive Faisal bin Shamlan, received far more votes in Wednesday’s elections than the 21.82 percent reported by the Election Commission.

“It did not express the true choices of the voters in Yemen,” the parties said in a statement. “It expressed results that were set in advance by certain factions in the leadership of the ruling party.”

Update: Hostages Freed! That’s good news.

MP Awad Bawazir said the four had been delivered into his care by the kidnappers, 15 days after they were seized en route to Aden in a convoy. Reports say the abduction in Shabwa province was intended to secure the release of imprisoned relatives.

Tiscali:

SANAA (Reuters) - The Yemeni kidnappers of four French tourists denied on Sunday reports that they would release the hostages within hours.

French media quoted Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh as saying the French tourists would be freed in the coming hours.

“We deny there is any chance of their release within hours. We say, it is impossible to release them unless our demands are met,” a spokesman for the tribesmen holding the four told Reuters in Yemen by telephone.

(Read on …)

CJTF_HOA

SANA’A, Yemen – Proper dental care is one small, but important, aspect of the work done by the Civil Affairs Teams assigned to the Combined-Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

A team from CJTF-HOA visited a Sana’a orphanage Sept. 17 and donated 2,000 toothbrushes and toothpaste to the children there. In addition, the team taught more than 200 children, aged 3 to 12, proper dental hygiene. This trip to the orphanage, which services 2,000 children ages 3 to 20 at any given time, was the fourth for the team.

“Shortly after arriving, we were ushered into a classroom full of children who were really excited to see us,” said team leader Army Maj. Julian Avent.

The team’s medic, Army Sgt. 1st Class James Marden, through an interpreter, explained to the children the proper way to brush their teeth.

“During the instruction, (Sergeant Marden) showed his expertise of working with children by keeping them involved in the class by his excitement. It was like watching an energetic teacher,” Major Avent said. “He gave these classes in conjunction with the staff from the orphanage, walking from class to class until he eventually taught four classrooms full of eager students.”

This visit is just one of many that the team has made in and around Sana’a and Yemen in order to help with schools and medical clinics.

“We’ve helped out in by assisting in Marib, Aden, Taiz, Socotra and Amran with four solicitations, three $2,500 quick impact projects, refurbishing two clinics and three schools, dedicating a clinic in Taiz and a girl’s school, and proposing four projects for three schools and a clinic,” the major explained.

Analysis from the UPI

SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 24 (UPI) — Yemen may have reached the point of no return in its slow march towards democracy. Last week’s presidential and local elections have set the pace for change in this staunchly traditionalist nation, despite the re-election of long-time President Ali Abdallah Saleh for a third seven-year term.

Saleh, who ruled the country for 28 years, faces the challenge of keeping his campaign promises to advance democracy and fight widespread corruption.

The opposition parties, united to challenge Saleh in the elections, will have to remain united more than ever in order to push through its ambitious political reform program, as well as to reduce the president’s tight control over government and public institutions.

But staying united will be the first test for the opposition, a coalition of Islamist and leftist parties that joined forces and selected Faisal Ben Shamlan to challenge Saleh.

The final results of Wednesday’s election, announced Saturday night after repeated delays, show a clear-cut victory for Saleh, giving him 77.17 percent of the votes while his main challenger, Ben Shamlan, received 21.82 percent.

The opposition was quick to reject the results, threatening to organize demonstrations and to call for a re-count by the United Nations. They say they will not back out and will challenge President Saleh.

“Our (political) weight is much heavier than the 20 percent of the votes they said we received. It is more than 30 or 40 percent and might exceed 50 percent,” Ali al Sarari, an opposition campaign official, told United Press International.

The Elections Committee blamed the delay in the vote counting on technical problems and on disputes among candidates and remote polling stations. The opposition accused the committee of bias in favor of Saleh’s ruling People’s Congress party.

(Read on …)

Report on Monitoring Media Performance during Presidential and Local Councils’ Elections Campaign, Yemen 2006

Preface:
Media freedom is one of the major components of democracy. Democracy is a polity that has four basic components: legal framework that acknowledges human rights for all citizens and guarantees their equality before law; government institutions that ensures enforcement of law indiscriminately and work with efficiency and integrity to enable citizens to enjoy their human rights; and civil society organizations that defend economic, social and cultural human rights for all people and facilitate their political participation through fair and free electoral process to contest over political power; and finally respect and provision of political and civil rights to all citizens on top of which freedom of expression which can only be attained through free press, thereby press is the major component of democratic system.

(Read on …)

Not a SCER consensus, and the JMP claims to have proof of 2 million votes wrongly counted:

al-Jazeera:
On Saturday they slammed as “illegal” the victory of Saleh after final results were announced.

Ali al-Sarari, the spokesman of the opposition Common Forum, which had fielded Shamlan to challenge Saleh, said: “We reject this result which is illegal, and came through a presidential order,”

“We have documents that prove the forging of two million votes, which were for Shamlan but were counted in favour of Saleh,” he said, shortly after the results of the polls were confirmed officially.

He charged that the results were “false” claiming that three members of the election commission “expressed reservations” over the figures.

If the JMP has proof of two million votes changed, they should run not walk to the nearest Baroness and get it documented.

To undermine the legitimacy of the outcome of the elections is a dangerous move, so they had better be right and furthermore be able to back their statements with proof. To say there was more tampering (by far) than the observers noted is one thing, this is another.

If they are right, they deserve an opportunity to prove it and be heard. And have the results changed and recertified.

But everybody has to tread very carefully. Over 100 people were killed in the 2005 fuel riots within two days. No one wants violence now. However, whoever the most people for voted for should be president.

There should be a way to accomplish an authentification of the results to the satisfaction of all concerned parties that doesn’t spiral out of control.

YM:

“The result is illegal and it was not issued by a responsible body, the result was not based on the minutes from the provinces,” Ali Al Sarari, JMPs spokesman told the Gulf News.

” It is a repetition of the announcement of the SCER before the vote counting began, when the SCER chairman said Saleh got 80 per cent,” he said.

Three of the 9-member SCER have reservations over the results, he added.

Meanwhile, some intellectuals criticised the opposition call for protests over alleged vote fraud. They urged both the ruling and opposition parties to arbitrate the reason, logic and wisdom to solve their disputes over the September 20th elections results.

Earlier, the JMPs threatened with taking to streets if votes are not re-counted under UN supervision.

“The JMPs have all the right to defend the exact percentage they got, but they should stay away from exaggeration, and threatening with taking to streets is not a logic option,” said Ali Saif Hassan, chairman of the Political Development Forum, a local NGO.

“I wish Ramadan will help both sides get rid of fatigue and mental tire after the tensions of the elections and that Ramadan will probably get them back to the reason and logic,” Hussan said.

Hussan expected that a deal would be made between the ruling party and the opposition coalition with the objective of avoiding any violence that may lead to “bad consequences”.

“The parties of the political system here in Yemen usually keep negotiating and nagging at each other for longtime but at the end of the day they reach an agreement by the reason and logic because they know well each other,” Hussan said.

The dispute between the two sides is only over a low percentage which is not more than 10 percent.

On his part, Abdul Bari Taher, former chairman of the Journalists Syndicate, “The controversy and disputes over the percentage of each side should be solved democratically.”

Each side should arbitrate the reason and logic and they should get convinced of the results of balloting boxes without tensions, conflicts, problems or extortion.

Yemen, he added, has achieved a great success in terms of the emerging democracies.

“I am sure every side will refer back to the reason, logic and wisdom to decide the legitimacy of the elections.

” Yemen needs to renew its legitimacy and also needs to do more comprhensives reforms to realize the ambitions and aspirations of the people who went to the polling stations with the hope of bettering standard of living,” he said.

Its a good time for everyone to display their political maturity and proceed in a thoughtful manner with the end result being an authentic vote count and a consensus on its legitimacy.

And then, al-Shami belittless Qahtan on al-Jazeera.

And good luck to him.

almotamar.net - SANA’A- The Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) announced Saturday that Ali Abdullah Saleh, candidate of the General People’s Congress (GPC), was re-elected to another seven-year-term, scoring 77,17 percent of the vote, while his main rival Faisal Bin Shamlan, presidential candidate of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) bloc, received 21,82 percent of the total 6 million votes cast.

The SCER said Saleh got 4,149,673 votes; Bin Shamlan 1,173,025;

independent candidate Fathi al-Azab 24,524; candidate of National Opposition Council Yassin Abdu Saeed 21,642; and independent candidate Ahmed al-Majeedi 8,324 votes.

According to the SCER, 9,248,456 voters were registered in the polls, but the turnout was 65,15 percent, where 6,025,818 voters participated in the September elections. 648,580 votes were cancelled

Five candidates ran for presidency. Ali Abdullah Saleh, candidate of the GPC; Faisal Bin Shamlan, candidate of the JMP opposition bloc; Yassin Abdu Saeed ,candidate of National Opposition Council; Fathi al-Azab and Ahmed al-Majeedi independent candidates.

As for the local council elections, there were 1,612 candidates at the level of governorates, vying for 431 seats; and 18,901 candidates at the level of districts, vying for 6,896 seats.

Local and international observer participated in monitoring the September elections. There were more than 45,000 local observers, and 400 international observers who represented more than 15 organizations.

To follow are some interum results for storage purposes:
(Read on …)

It’s such a double standard. If Tony Blair’s government started rounding up opposition candidates, using the state media to trash opponents, denied 20% of the voters the right to privacy and pressured another 30% outside the voting booth, it would not be considered “good to very good.” Not to mention the electoral registers and other tampering. But its a bias not directed at Yemen or in favor of Saleh individually. Around the world, election observers tend to look on the bright side.

Gulf News

The EU report said the official media were biased to president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his party.

“The state electronic media fulfilled obligations to provide access and free airtime to presidential candidates but showed clear bias in the level of its news reporting of the activities of President Saleh and the ruling party.”

It also said that media in Yemen provided extensive and positive coverage of the presidential campaign and of voter education initiatives, but did not cover the local elections in any depth.

The report said that several candidates and supporters of the opposition alliance, Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs) were arrested on “charges that would appear to have been politically motivated.”

“There were credible reports of pressure upon local candidates especially women candidates to withdraw their nomination,” the report states.

The report criticised the exclusion of women from political participation saying, “the serious under-representation of women as candidates in these elections reflects a clear and comprehensive pattern of exclusion of women as participants in democratic process.”

However, the observers described the Yemeni presidential and local elections as an “open and genuine contest”.

They said it was an opportunity in the region for “an incumbent head of state to face a real challenge at the polls”. The turnout was 58 per cent according to the report.

“The elections were general well-run and efficiently organised by the Supreme Committee for Elections and Referendum,” the report says.

And really, it was progress, even if just in the level of public political discourse and opposition access to the airwaves. The existance of representatives from both sides at all polling stations and during the counting was a good move and should have short-circuted the disputes. So why there’s still 10,000 boxes of ballots uncounted is beyond me.

A very good report that says, in essence, put the resources where they are needed.

This Country Study aims to identify employment policies for Yemen that would support an ambitious MDG-based development strategy.

Largely based on labour force and labour demand surveys, the paper examines the structure of employment and unemployment in Yemen, together with the pattern of labour demands, hours and wages.

The study finds that Yemen is trapped in the crossfire between slow economic growth and rapid growth in the labour market, thereby resulting in widespread underemployment and poverty. Despite the country’s oil-rich status, its economy remains undiversified.

The authors propose a four-pronged approach to strengthen the employment basis for Yemen’s potential attainment of the MDGs:

Mobilising domestic resources for growth: involving such methods as developing and expanding financial institutions and redirecting fiscal policies to finance economic and social infrastructural development

Monetary and exchange-rate policies: via substantial investment in physical and human capital to boost productivity and the maintenance of a moderate interest rate

Allocating resources to priority sectors: promoting targeted credit policies and other small-scale interventions that have a poverty reduction focus

Promoting a more conducive business environment: reducing bureaucratic procedures and simplifying licenses, fees and taxes.

Full policy recommendations here.

A recount is not unusual in a dispute. It happens all over world. They did it in the US. Anybody remember the hanging chads? But if they think the ultimate outcome is not in dispute, just the amount bin Shamlan lost by, maybe there’s a more efficient way to do it.

But I dont get is why they aren’t counting the other 10000 ballot boxes. The figure is 17,000 counted; 10,000 not counted and Saleh reported to have won in a landslide although only two thirds are counted. Can’t they send the 1000 international observers to where the other 10,000 boxes are?

Gulf News
Sanaa: Negotiations were underway between the opposition alliance and the ruling party to break the impasse over presidential and local election results even as the Joint Meeting Parties threatened to take to the streets.

The Supreme Commission for Election and Referendum late on Thursday said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh of General People’s Congress (GPC) won 79.4 per cent of the votes counted in 1,704 poll centres. Counting was not done in 1,000 other centres due to security concerns, the SCER said.

Sources from the Islah Party said leaders from the GPC approached the leaders of the five-party alliance JMPs for a solution to the crisis.

No to offers

Unconfirmed reports said among the offers on table was a suggestion to share power in the councils.

However, Al Islah Party sources said the party will not accept any offer of power sharing unless the authorities were transparent about the results of the voting. Meanwhile, the opposition appealed to the United Nations and the media to help them in getting a recount after the election panel announced that President Saleh received more than four million votes while his main rival received 800,000.

“We will take our people onto the streets and we will ask the United Nations to send people to count our votes,” said Mohammad Qahtan, chairman of the executive board of JMPs, in a press conference yesterday.

A report from AFP -

Yemeni women dressed head-to-toe in black, some too illiterate to know their own age, cast their vote on Wednesday in the impoverished male-dominated country, hoping to improve the future for their female offspring.

Women flocked in their hundreds to voting centres even before they opened in this conservative nation where 70 percent of girls and women are illiterate.

The authorities have encouraged women, who account for some 3.9 million out of a total of 9.25 million registered voters, to take part in the ballot.

The voices of these women were hardly audible under their thick black veils, which show only their eyes through a narrow slit.

Their electoral cards however carried photos of their faces, with female election observers belonging to the Al Islah Islamist party using stickers to cover the images, normally barred from public viewing by a conservative interpretation of Islam.

Voter Mahdeya Mohammad Saleh did not know her age. ‘I was told that I am between 48 and 54 years old,’ she told AFP at a voting centre in the capital, Sanaa.

‘My parents married me when I was 11 years old. I have 12 children,’ she said.

Unable to decipher more than the first letter in her name, Mahdeya was helped by a neighbour who ticked the names of her chosen candidates on her behalf.

(Read on …)

NY

Republican guards arrested on Friday 12 Islah activists including sons of the head of the election Supervisory Committee in the capital Sana’a, Mohammad al-Ashwal over accusations said to be false.
Al-Ashwal, who is also chief of the Political Circle of Islah and director of the Endowments Office in Sana’a, said the republican guards arrested two of his sons with other 12 activists in Islah party after receiving false information that they carry guns.
The Joint Meeting Parties condemned the arrest of 28 opposition activists. They said in a joint press conference that 10,000 boxes had not been counted and that results of 500 boxes had been confiscated for GPC.

So 17,000 boxes counted, 10,000 not counted and the GPC declares a landslide victory, not to mention the 500 confescated. Meanwhile the international observers declare the elections “good” despite the 30% of voters who faced GPC pressure outside the voting booths and additional the 20% who were denied privacy while voting. And that’s what the observers in their limited view saw. Then there’s the violations in the electoral register, violations by the military and some allegation of the importation of an ink-removal substance prior to the election. But without proof, there’s little that can be documented.

It’s seems what would be considered unfair in the UK or any European country is considered fair in Yemen and other countries. International observers including ex-US president Jimmy Carter went to Venezuala and certified Hugo Chavez’s results a few years ago in a smiliar situation, and Chavez hates the US, so its not something directed specifically at Yemen or in favor of Saleh.

Its just a low standard of judgement. Thirty days of free speech and opposition access to the broadcast media and they call it a milestone because it doesn’t happen elsewhere in the region. And it is a milestone, but free and fair? Its a step forward that can be the beginning of a real turn around.

In the last US presidential election, four cars had their tires slashed while the owners were in a campaign meeting. There was a national uproar. And that was the worst violation that happened. Lack of privacy for 20% of the voters would invalidate a US election. And election observers do this all over the world. They take the best they can get and say “thank you, welcome to democracy.”

Already SAudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt have congratulated Saleh although there’s not a final count. From IHT:

Late Thursday, Abdu al-Janadi, an elections commission spokesman, said Saleh had so far won 3.4 million of 4.3 million votes counted, while bin Shamlan received just 880,000. The partial results were based on votes counted from 17,000 of the 27,000 total ballot boxes.

“We reject being dwarfed to this level,” opposition spokesman Ali al-Sarari told The Associated Press. “Our supporters count in the millions and not the thousands.”

“We want to prove that the government has lied and committed fraud,” he added, without specifying a date for protests.

Muhammad Qahtan, another opposition spokesman, said bin Shamlan had won at least 40 percent, according to the opposition’s count. “The elections committee is seeking to carry out an order from the presidential palace to give the president 80 percent of the vote.”

Also how did we go from 80% turnout to 58% which is the current figure being reported:

Sanaa, 20 Sept. (AKI) - Yemenis turned out in higher than expected numbers in key presidential and local elections on Wednesday with relatively little violence reported. An estimated 80 percent of the electorate cast their ballots with a lull in the afternoon being followed by a late rush of voters in the early evening. Polling stations were ordered to stay open an extra two hours as a result, closing at 8 pm local time instead of 6 pm, the Yemen Observer newspaper said. Some analysts feared vote counting - due to begin as soon as the polls closed - could spark violence after what has been a highly charged presidential campaign.

*Some* polling stations, about half, were kept open because of massive voter turn out, yet the official figure is 58% turnout:

NY:
The Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) said that polling, September 20, was peaceful in the majority of Yemeni regions.
It said that it has registered 90 election-related incidents in addition to traffic accidents.
It said in a statement that eight people were killed including the candidate of Yemeni Nasserite Union for the local council in the Jabal Habashi district of Taiz, director of the district of Khairan in Hajah and the candidate of GPC in Amran governorate.
The commission said also that three soldiers and 42 people were injured in different areas.
The SCER admitted the cancellation of 45 election centers, out of 5620 centers across the nationwide, promising to reelection in such centers after three months.
It stated that the key violations occurred on the voting day were breaching the rule of election propaganda and pressing people to vote in public.
The commission extended the time of voting until 8:00 pm due to “the voters mass”.

The fear mongering, insults and the whole rigamarole with bin Shamlan, al-Qaeda and the security guard who is Saleh’s cousin is not an electoral violation, its a campaign tactic. A shocking tactic but that’s a campaign.

So it was messy, but good compared to say Libya. But unmistakenly, in many ways it was also good compared to Yemen’s prior elections. Not as good as it needs to become and not good compared to any US elections I’ve voted in. But a step forward or a few steps forward.