Yemeni teachers to carry out voter registration

The Yemen Supreme Elections Committee (SEC) will form committees to carry out the voter registration process from among school teachers instead of members of the political parties, official source said here.

"We addressed a letter to the Ministry of Education to give us lists of names of teachers working in schools all over the republic," the state-run 26 September weekly quoted Khaled Al Shareef, the Chairman of the SEC, as saying.

But Al Shareef hinted that 14 political parties excluding Islah, the largest Islamic opposition party, have taken the initiative to hand in lists of names from among their members.

Al Shareef said the parties were given more than two months but they did not reach at any agreement.

They rejected initiatives including the one by the SEC that parties should participate according to their votes polled in the last parliamentary elections held in 1997, he said.

The opposition parties reject the declaration saying it is against the law that stipulates the committees should be formed from among the parties.

The SEC decision will negatively affect the multi-party system, said a statement issued by the joint meeting of opposition parties comprising Islah, Socialist, Nasserite, and five other minor parties.

However, the SEC said it is entitled to form the committees from any sector it sees suitable. The opposition contention has no legal or legitimate reference, and the SEC is committed to its constitutional responsibilities. It is authorised to take any steps required to make the democratic process a success, Al Shareef stressed.

In the 1993 elections, the SEC formed the committees without referring to the parties and in the 1999 presidential elections it formed them from among the school teachers, he said.

The parties have no right to interfere in the jurisdiction of the SEC, as according to law it is neutral and independent. However, it would have been better had the parties participated in the committees to activate their monitoring role but they unfortunately entered in political wrangles and it was as if they were competing over administration of elections rather than competing over the trust of voters and peaceful transfer of power, he said.

The SEC is run by seven members, appointed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh upon the recommendation from the House of Representatives, four of whom are affiliated with the ruling party and three with the opposition parties.

The current register which has names of 5.6 million voters, is criticised by the opposition parties and international organisations which participated in the monitoring of the parliamentary elections in 1993, 1997 and presidential elections in 1999 and local elections in 2001.

A total of 22 political parties are taking part in the coming parliamentary elections to be held on April 27 next year.