Yemen

Overview

This report “Democracy in Yemen: Women’s political participation, the development of political party life and democratic elections” compiles the findings of IDEA´s project “Democracy in the Arab world” in Yemen. The report provides comparative analysis and information on good practice on three interconnected themes: the political participation of women, the development of political parties and electoral system reform.

Political participation of women

The issue of women’s political participation has been a lively one in Yemen, par­ticularly after the April 2003 parliamentary election when, as a result of a campaign, the number of female registered voters reached 42 per cent of the total but produced very dis­appointing results: only 11 female candidates stood and none was elected. This pointed to the gap between fairly ‘progressive’ legislation, supported by the work of the women’s movements, and the reality of Yemeni society’s very negative view of women, consecrated by the tribe and its value system.

Development of political parties

To understand the current situation of political parties in Yemen, the conditions prevailing prior to the unification of the country have to be taken into account. The report looks into the one-party system, the birth and the evolution of party pluralism and the establishment of political parties.

Electoral system reform

The Yemeni Constitution guarantees party and political pluralism, the explicit goal being the peaceful rotation of power through free and competitive elections run by an independent and neutral administration. Yemen’s priorities include moving away from conflict, violence, authori­tarianism and a one-party system towards peace, pluralistic demo­cracy, moderniza­tion and progress. This involves setting up a parliament which is produced by elections which are recognized as legitimate, accommodates different ideo­logies and interests, comprises both men and women and rich and poor, is effective, and influences the formation of govern­ments and their policies. The current electoral system in Yemen is the subject of some dispute and is believed to be one of the main obstacles to the democratic trans­formation.

This country report will be part of the final “Democracy in the Arab World” report. See other publications on the Arab World.