Yemen

Articles about voting issues in the Republic of Yemen.

Rashad Union, Yemen's first-ever Salafi political party, forms | GlobalPost

Mar 172012
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Yemen’s Salafis on Wednesday formed their first political party, mirroring a move made by their Egyptian counterparts with great success in recent elections there, reported Reuters. Egypt’s Salafi al-Nour party recently took the second highest number of seats in the nation’s first democratically-elected parliament in years. Yemen’s new Islamist party, Rashad Union – Rashad a name based on the Arabic for “good judgement” –  on Wednesday issued a statement outlining their political priorities, among them the implementation of Islamic law throughout the country. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abdel Wahhab al-Hamqani, al-Nour, Salafis

Election: One Person, One Vote, One Candidate | GPB

Feb 232012
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Millions of people in Yemen turned out to vote Tuesday in an unusual presidential election. There was only one candidate and only one way to vote yes. That candidate, Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, was the vice president under Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled Yemen for more than three decades. Saleh finally agreed to step down and transfer power to his vice president after nearly a year of mass protests against his rule. In the outgoing president’s dusty hometown, about an hour’s drive outside the capital, Sanaa, and inside a school that served as a polling station, several pictures of Saleh preside over the proceedings, as he has for 33 years in Yemen. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh

Election turnout surprises nation | Yemen Times

Feb 232012
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At a press conference held on the night of Yemen’s early presidential election, Mohammed Al-Hakimi, chairman of the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum, said that voter turnout had far exceeded expectations. In preparation for Election Day, the SCER had printed out 13 million ballot papers. Meanwhile, several polling centers ran out of ballots, indicating a turnout rate exceeding 70 per cent at such locations in northern governorates. Although most polling centers remained open until at least 6 PM, polling centers in several southern governorates, including Aden and Al-Baidha, closed down soon after 1 PM for security reasons. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: ballot shortages, Mohammed Al-Hakimi, referendum

Elections: Only one choice, but is it still progress? | MinnPost

Feb 222012
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Tomorrow Yemenis will go to the polls to officially bring to a close more than three decades of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule. The moment may be one of unprecedented change for Yemen, but it leaves something to be desired as a beacon of democracy. In this election, voters will enter the polling both to find a ballot with only one candidate — Mr. Saleh’s Vice President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi — accompanied by a graphic of the map of Yemen and the national flag. Among many international observers and Yemenis, though, the uncontested election is not seen as problematic, but a necessary step to peacefully remove Saleh and begin the transition process. Yemeni participation in the election and the government’s ability to provide security tomorrow will also likely serve as a bellwether of the challenges that lay ahead for the nation, one central to the ongoing fight against Al Qaeda. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh, Gulf Cooperation Council, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, referendum

Violence mars poll to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh | BBC

Feb 222012
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Violence in southern Yemen has marred an election to replace veteran leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. At least nine people, including a child, were killed in violence which had been widely expected after separatists called for a voter boycott. Half of Aden’s polling stations closed early as a result but voting in the capital, Sanaa, was calm and orderly. A US spokeswoman said the country was “encouraged” by the “very strong and positive referendum”. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh, election violence, referendum

Yemen marks a new era with vote for first new President in two decades | The Independent

Feb 212012
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Yemenis will vote today to elect a new president. And for the first time since the nation’s unification in 1990, the name of Ali Abdullah Saleh, against whom vast numbers of the population have fought a bloody 12-month battle to oust, will not appear on the ballot paper. The pre-election period has been marred by a series of attacks against polling stations across the south, including the former capital, the strategic port city of Aden. Yesterday afternoon, an explosion ripped through a polling centre in the city’s Mansoura district. The uncontested vote, which follows months of anti-government demonstrations and factional clashes, will see the veteran leader replaced by his deputy, Vice-President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who will lead Yemen for an abbreviated two-year term. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh

Yemen to seal Ali Abdullah Saleh’s exit in one-candidate elections | thestar.com

Feb 202012

After a year of protests, diplomatic wrangling and an assassination attempt, Yemenis will draw a line under Ali Abdullah Saleh’s three-decade rule on Tuesday by voting in an uncontested election to install his deputy as president. In the capital Sanaa, new posters of the sole candidate, Vice-President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have been plastered over the peeling scraps of Saleh’s mustachioed image — a visible sign of a fourth Arab autocrat’s demise in the wake of revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Hadi, 66, became acting president when Saleh stepped aside in November under a deal hammered out by Yemen’s Gulf neighbours, fearful of a slide into lawlessness on their doorstep, and backed by the United States. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Gulf Cooperation Council

Yemen's priority is to ensure security of elections, says minister | Saba Net

Feb 162012

The Interior Minister Abdul-Qater Qahtan has said that Yemen’s priority was to ensure security of the upcoming presidential elections. He highlighted importance of ensuring security of the February 21st presidential elections. ”February 21st elections will be the biggest test for Yemen’s democracy,” Qahtan told Anadolu Agency correspondent in an exclusive interview. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abdul-Qater Qahtan, election violence

Presidential election overview | IRIN Middle East

Feb 092012
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After a year of mass demonstrations and street battles which brought the country to the brink of civil war, Yemen is preparing for presidential elections on 21 February; the sole candidate, Vice-President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi, kicked off his campaign yesterday. While some observers argue that the election is a mere change of guard, others suggest it is the only way to save Yemen from collapse – ending President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule in accordance with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-brokered agreement signed in November 2011. The GCC deal aimed to end a year of fighting that led to a deepening humanitarian crisis. But the election is being held under difficult circumstances. Violence remains widespread across the country and the election is being opposed by Islamist militants, some elements within the Southern Movement, and the Houthis, who were left out of the November deal. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Gulf Cooperation Council

Despite its flaws Yemen election gives hope | IRIN

Feb 092012
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A presidential election to be held on 21 February in Yemen will open the door for a new chapter in the poorest and arguably most fragile country in the Arab world, says new Prime Minister Mohammed Salim Ba-Sindwa. A successful election will pave the way for comprehensive reforms, said Ba-Sindwa, who was chosen to lead a national reconciliation government – part of a deal signed in November ending months of political turmoil. Once elected directly by people, the new president will be constitutionally empowered to re-unite the divided army and replace corrupt officials in the various government institutions, Ba-Sindwa told IRIN in an interview. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh, Gulf Cooperation Council

Election preparations start in conflict-torn Yemen | Reuters

Feb 072012

Yemen has begun a publicity campaign to get citizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election, officials said on Monday, part of a deal to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office and pull the country back from the brink of civil war. With Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as the only candidate in the Feb. 21 vote, there are fears of a low turnout that would dent the legitimacy of the man expected to lead Yemen during a two-year interim period when crucial decisions, dealing with restructuring the armed forms and introducing constitutional reforms, are expected to be taken. ”Your vote protects Yemen,” read a giant poster hung in the capital Sanaa, depicting a smiling woman in a pink headscarf as she places her ballot into a voting box. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh, election preparations

UN: Yemen Faces Challenges as Presidential Election Approaches | VoA News

Jan 272012
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With Yemen’s landmark presidential election less than a month away, the U.N.’s top advisor for that country said Wednesday the political and security situation remains fragile, but that he believes the vote will take place on time. Jamal Benomar told reporters after privately briefing the U.N. Security Council on his eighth and latest mission to Yemen that there has been significant progress in the run-up to the February 21 election, but that serious political, economic and humanitarian challenges lie ahead. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh

Foreign minister says presidential election will be held on schedule in February | The Washington Post

Jan 242012

Yemen’s presidential elections will be held as scheduled toward the end of February, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, countering his own observation a day earlier. Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, a veteran of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime, told Al-Arabiya television on Tuesday that it would difficult to have presidential elections if the security situation is not resolved. After a series of meetings with American and U.N diplomats, al-Qirbi backtracked, saying that his government was committed to holding presidential elections on February 21. It appeared, however, that the subject was not closed.  Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh

Yemen unrest may force election delay: minister | Reuters

Jan 212012
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Yemen’s presidential election, set for February, may be delayed by security concerns, the foreign minister said, raising the prospect that a U.S. and U.N.-backed plan to end months of unrest by easing the president from office may collapse. The comments – the first suggestion the vote might be held up – came after Islamist fighters seized an entire city, underscoring U.S. and Saudi fears that chaos born of political crisis may empower al Qaeda in Yemen, which sits alongside key oil and cargo shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The vote is central to the plan crafted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc of Yemen’s wealthy neighbors, to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power after nearly a year of protests against his 33-year rule. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh

Yemen Foreign Minister Says No Delay in Presidential Election - ABC News

Jan 202012

Yemen’s presidential elections will be held as scheduled toward the end of February, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, countering his own observation a day earlier. Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, a veteran of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime, told Al-Arabiya television on Tuesday that it would difficult to have presidential elections if the security situation is not resolved. After a series of meetings with American and U.N diplomats, al-Qirbi backtracked, saying that his government was committed to holding presidential elections on February 21. It appeared, however, that the subject was not closed. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh

Yemeni Official Suggests Delay in Presidential Vote | NYTimes.com

Jan 192012
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Adding to fears of a worsening political crisis in Yemen, a top government official hinted at a possible delay in presidential elections set for February that would mark the formal end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule. During an interview broadcast Tuesday on Al Arabiya, Yemen’s foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, said it would be “difficult” to hold the elections on Feb. 21 as planned because security in the country was deteriorating. The elections are a condition of a power-transfer deal that Mr. Saleh signed in November, and Yemeni officials have called them a critical step toward ending the crisis. Opposition figures quickly criticized his comments, and a spokesman for Yemen’s vice president said there would be no delay, according to CNN. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh, Mohammed Abulahoum

Preparation of security plan for early presidential elections starts | Yemen Observer

Dec 282011

The Reconciliation Government has approved the budget of early elections scheduled on next February 21, according to memorandum from the Finance Minister following agreement with the Supreme Elections and Referendum Committee (SERC). Meanwhile, the security committees in the governorates continued their meetings that are designated for carrying out early presidential elections on February 21, 2012, that is approved by the SERC.

The security plan includes securing escorts for the original and sub-committees at the general and local constituencies, during the stages prior to the voting process, as well as securing the voting, guarding the polling process, polling committees, boxes and documents, according to the timed program that  is approved according to the organizing forms and instructions.

The security committee for elections in Taiz has approved the elections plan and the mechanism for distributing the security tasks on the military and security units participating in the elections. The security committee in al-Mahwait has also approved the elections security plan. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: election violence, Yahya Mohammed al-Godaimi

Noncompetitive Presidential Election Draws Wide Support | VoA News

Dec 192011
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As Yemen transitions towards democracy, it is organizing a presidential election with only one likely candidate: Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. And that idea is drawing wide support from opposition parties and Yemen’s diplomatic partners. For months, they have been pushing for the replacement of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who recently agreed to end his 33-year rule after months of protests against him.

Analysts say those with interests in Yemen’s future have differing motives for backing an uncompetitive democratic process. The election is scheduled for February. In the view of Yemen’s opposition coalition, known as the Joint Meeting Parties, Hadi is a neutral figure who played no role in Saleh’s violent crackdown on opposition protesters. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Ali Abdullah Saleh

Defected general accuses Saleh of fraud in presidential election, government officials deny | xinhuanet.com

Oct 122011

The Yemeni defected general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar on Monday accused President Ali Abdullah Saleh of rigging in 2006 presidential elections, which was denied by government officials. ”I accompanied Saleh in his electoral campaigns in 2006 until the results were ready to be announced,” defected Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar told a press conference at the headquarters of his military base, the First Armored Division.

“And before the declaration of the true final results, Saleh told me that the computer mistakenly counted the votes showing that the opposition candidate Faisal bin Shamlan won. But he ( Saleh) said the counting process was reviewed and declared his victory,” al-Ahmar, who defected from Saleh and joined the protest movement in March, told reporters. ”So, Saleh lost his legitimacy because he changed the results of 2006 presidential election by force,” al-Ahmar said. Read More »

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Yemen Comments Off Topics: Ali Abdullah Saleh, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, election fraud, vote rigging
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