JMP Rejects GPC Formed SCER
The Supreme Council of the Joint Meeting Parties announced it would neither boycott the coming parliamentarian elections in April 2009 nor run the election “with conditions set by the ruling GPC.”
Chairman of the council Abdul-Wahab al-Anisi said at a press conference, held on Sunday at the headquarters of the Yemeni Socialist Party, the rejection of election law amendments by GPC was “coup against democratic margin in the country.”
Al-Anisi, who is also the secretary-general of Islah party, said that JMP has tried through its previous contacts with the authority to find solutions for the country’s crises and tensions which “GPC caused”.
The JMP’s members renewed the rejection of election committee formed by GPC and called for a national conference to address the country’s major crises.Meanwhile, the head of the ruling GPC media office Tariq al-Shami reportedly stormed the press conference of JMP and accused JMP in a statement to reporters of “supporting Sa’ada rebellion and protests in southern provinces that called for separation.”
JMP’s member and its former spokesman Mohammad al-Sabri labeled the behavior of al-Shami’s move as “immoral” and “indication of GPC’s political and moral bankruptcy.”
Last two weeks, the Parliament refused the new amendments to election law and raised a list of 9 nominees for new Supreme Committee for Elections and Referendum (SCER), including three of JMP members. JMP blocs have condemned the Parliament’s decision to enact past election law and rejected the new SCER. It said the new SCER was “illegally” formed.
Appointed under a republican decree, the head and five other members of the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER) took the constitutional oaths before President Saleh on Saturday, while those representing the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) did not attend.
Head of the commission Khalid Al-Shareef together with Dr. Ja’afer Sa’eed Basaleh, Dr. Mohamemd Abdullah Al-Sayyani, Alawi Ali Al-Mashhour, Abdu Mohammed Al-Jannadi and Mohammed Al-Saqqaf Balghaith swore in.
However, JMP representatives Abdullah Muhsen Al-Akwa’, Saif Al-Shar’abi and Abdullah Dahan apologized. This comes after JMP refused to adopt the new amendments of elections law and SCER formation.
Addressing the commission’s members, President Saleh stressed the importance of the Supreme Commission to work with full neutrality and as one team, hinting that electoral committees should include all the political forces to ensure the success of elections.
JMP seats in SCER are still vacant though the commission started its tasks right from Saturday after delegating legal and technical affairs sector to set a schedule for revising and amending voters’ register.
This move by the ruling party, the General People Congress (GPC), comes after one-year of negotiations on the election committee which involved all the political sides.
A source at the JMP Supreme Council revealed that the move will complicate the political life in the country, stressing that naming the JMP representatives in SCER is direct interference in their internal affairs.
For his part, Saleh directed a letter to JMP last Saturday in which he assured that he convinced the government and GPC to continue dialogues and make more concessions and flexibility to reach reconciliation over constitutional amendments, elections law and SCER formation.
Saleh stressed that there were no prior intentions to sideline any party from participation in the political life; however, the constant procrastination over these subjects forced parliament to act within its authorities and provide a list of nominees, especially when time is approaching.
He continued that the points agreed upon by both sides can be, under the national interest, annexed to the executive bylaw of the new-amended law.
Concerning political prisoners, Saleh asked JMP to provide lists of those prisoners, and hinted that they will order their immediate release in case they were not involved in criminal issues.
He maintained that this excludes those whose cases were looked into by judiciary because they are accused of committing sabotage and criminal acts, which consequently led to killing people and destroying public property as was the case in Al-Hashimi Square or Al-Habilin.
Further, President Saleh assured that setting crippling strategies and impossible appeasement will only lead to troubling the political life.
Concluding his lengthy letter, Saleh demanded JMP leaderships to spare no effort for an active participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections, which he emphasized will be conducted in the scheduled time
SANA’A, Aug. 26 — President Ali Abdullah Saleh decided on Tuesday to comprise the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum mainly of ruling party staffers and three members of the Joint Meeting Parties. However, the three JMP members chosen declined the presidential appointment, accusing the ruling party of cheating democracy.
They also claim that the ruling party acted illegally and breached previous agreements between Yemen’s political parties and organizations.
In a statement Tuesday evening, the three who rejected the presidential appointment – former SCER deputy chairman Abdullah Al-Akwa’a, Abdullah Dahhan and Mohammed Saif Al-Sharabi – maintained that reselecting them for the new commission lacks the appropriate legal procedures.
They continued, saying that choosing them this way adds a negative dimension to the electoral process and won’t help to conduct the upcoming parliamentary elections in April.
The president’s political advisor, Abdulkarim Al-Eryani, warned against holding the elections amid the opposition’s absence, pointing out that doing so may negatively impact Yemen’s democratic experience.
“We strongly reject the ruling party’s action in forming the SCER because such procedures are unjust, illegal and meant to help the ruling party control the electoral process,” senior Yemeni Socialist Party leader Ali Al-Sarari stated.
He further commented that under these procedures, there can be no free and fair elections, noting that such procedures add an extra burden to Yemen’s worsening democracy.
“The ruling party feels that it currently is suffering harsh conditions and therefore must reshuffle its agenda,” Al-Sarari went on to say. “The ruling party needs to postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections, but it doesn’t want to be accountable for such, so it is directing the charge of postponement at the JMP.”
The JMP met Saturday to respond to proposals made by the ruling General People’s Congress Party prior to forming the SCER. Sources who attended the meeting said the JMP had three main demands, the first of which is for the government to release political detainees.
The second demand is that both sides must accept the proposed amendments, including the proportional list system, while the third demand stipulates that the names of SCER members be approved only after the previous two conditions are met.
The same sources added that that JMP submitted its list of demands to President Saleh via Islah Party Chairman Mohammed Al-Yadoumi.
Concerning the release of political detainees, which was the main cause of previous agreements breached between the ruling and opposition parties, sources on both sides confirm that the GPC insists the detainees shouldn’t be released based on the JMP’s demands, maintaining that it is ready to free them anytime, but not as a result of JMP pressure.
Opposition threats to escalate protests fueled current crisis
The political crisis between Yemen’s ruling and opposition parties sharpened following opposition threats to escalate their protests in the streets to express their rejection of the previous Election Law, which a majority of ruling party members in Parliament approved more than 10 days ago.
In response, President Saleh vowed to retaliate against any irresponsible actions by the opposition.
According to the opposition parties, the GPC’s approval of the old Election Law is strong evidence of its rejection of improving the law and thus, ensuring free and fair parliamentary elections in April.
They allege that the ruling party exploits public funds, property and power to buy votes, indicating that such irresponsible acts may help it win the majority of parliamentary seats in the upcoming election.
Further, they accuse the current government of exploiting the issue of political detainees arrested during peaceful protests in Yemen’s southern governorates as a trump card to pressure the opposition parties, disclosing that the ruling party indicated its willingness to release the detainees in exchange for the opposition parties’ agreement to reinstate the old Election Law and cancel the proposed amendments to it. The JMP maintains that carrying out peaceful democratic practices is the only way to rescue Yemen from its repeated crises, adding that making a deal with the ruling GPC party to release political detainees is a criminal act because it violates the most basic national and human values.
The opposition parties also lashed out at the GPC for attempting to retain an illegitimate SCER structure, which expired last November.
