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Islamic challenge in Yemen
By
Nabil Sultan
SANA'A - In the light of the
tumultuous events in Iraq, Islamic parties in Yemen are
mounting a strong challenge in elections due for Sunday.
The ruling People's General Congress faces stiff
opposition from Islamic parties led by the Islah Party.
These parties are playing the Iraq card in their
election campaign, and offering voters a "golden chance
for change".
The Islah party controls 62 of the
301 seats in parliament, the opposition Nasserite party
holds three seats and the opposition Ba'ath Party has
two seats. Eight seats are held by independents, with
the rest in the hands of the ruling party.
Signs
of growing opposition to the US presence within Iraq are
feeding anti-American sentiment within Yemen, where
although the government condemned the war on Iraq, it
cooperates closely with the US in its "war against
terrorism".
Islah has promised to double the
salaries of government employees and military personnel,
to reduce the tax burden and improve living standards.
Islah is trying to win military and government personnel
over because they are considered a vote bank for the
ruling party. Islah is also campaigning hard among the
poor. Twenty percent of Yemenis live below the official
poverty line. About half the population meet their basic
needs only with difficulty.
The Islah Party is
concentrating its campaign around mosques. "No to
Injustice," "No to Corruption," "Yes to Islah means
coming out of the darkness," are some of the slogans
that greet worshippers around mosques. The campaign is
getting more acrimonious as election day nears and Islah
is accusing the official media of tarnishing its
reputation as an Islamist party.
"False
information against Islah and opposition parties is
violation of election laws and of an agreement signed by
all parties," says an Islah Party spokesman. "The
official media is not playing neutral." The ruling party
on the other hand condemns the official Islah
publication al-Sahwa as a "Taliban" newspaper. "Islah is
using abusive language against our candidates and is
wrongly accusing the party of corruption and
unfairness," a party spokesman said.
The
disputes have arisen despite an agreement signed by all
parties on April 8 to campaign peacefully and to respect
one another. Growing tension over the war in Iraq is
reported to have heightened difficulties between
parties. "A large number of candidates have violated the
election laws," says Abdul al-Janadi, chairman of
Information and Awareness within the Supreme Committee
for Elections and Referendum (SCER). The SCER will
consider naming parties and candidates who have violated
the laws, he says.
Opposition parties accuse the
SCER of banning some candidates. "The SCER is itself
violating the constitution and is working in favor of
the ruling party," an Islah leader says. Some opposition
leaders have threatened to boycott the elections to
protest against what they see as the partiality of the
SCER. The Islah Party, confident of winning the
election, is determined to contest all the seats.
A total of 1,536 candidates from 22 parties are
contesting 301 seats in the elections. More than 5,000
candidates contested the elections in 1997. Analysts say
that the number of candidates has fallen under the sharp
tensions over the Iraq war. Only the more serious
candidates are reported to be contesting the elections.
All parties had promised greater inclusion of
women among candidates this time. But there are only 13
women candidates this time, compared to 24 in 1997.
Yemen has about 8 million voters in a population of 17
million.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's current
term began in 1999. He ruled North Yemen for 12 years
before taking the helm of the entire country when it was
united as head of a five-man appointed presidential
council in 1990.
(Inter Press
Service)
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