- Title: YEMEN: Yemen elects provincial governors
- Date: 18th May 2008
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YAHYA AL-MADLA, ELECTION OBSERVER, SAYING ''The elections took place in conditions of transparency and fairness and there were no breaches." TRAFFIC IN SANAA STREETS PEDESTRIANS IN SANAA STREETS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) POLITICAL ANALYST NABEEL AL-SOUFI SAYING: "Electing the governors is a test for the government. It was not a demand by the opposition, it
- Embargoed: 2nd June 2008 13:00
- Keywords: Yemdunc
- Location: Yemen
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA3FI1BB565RDGYBUQK5WOWF4VV
- Story Text: Yemen's ruling party dominate election of provincial governors, as opposition parties withdrew candidates.
Local councils elected provincial governors for the first time in Yemen on Saturday, but opposition groups boycotted the votes, saying they were not fairly represented on the councils.
Three independents and 17 pro-government figures were elected as governors by the more than 7,000 members of local councils, Yemeni media reports said.
''The person who gets elected as governor will have more power to put his programmes into practice because he will be accountable to those who elected him, and they will learn from each other in order to promote development," said Sanaa Yahya al-Shoaibi, who was mayor of Sanaa until the elections.
Governors had previously been appointed by the central government and officials said Saturday's vote was a first step towards direct elections and more decentralisation.
Elections were postponed in one province in the south of the poor Arab state, centre of a wave of protests over unemployment, after a council meeting failed to get a quorum due to the opposition boycott, officials said.
''The elections were excellent in a lot of different provinces, especially in the ones where there was lots of competition. And even the provinces which only had one competitor drew lots of voters who were able to vote with complete freedom," said MP Mohammed al-Anzi.
Opposition groups have complained of arrests after the protests which have coincided with the resurgence of clashes between the government and Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north of the country.
Poverty and unemployment is fuelling discontent in the south, home to a fifth of Yemen's 22 million people, but generating much of the country's revenue from oil and fisheries.
The opposition says the 2006 polls, in which the local councils were chosen, were rigged. EU observers said the polls, which also included presidential elections, were "genuine" despite some breaches.
But a Yemeni observer said he detected no breaches in the election process.
"The elections took place in conditions of transparency and fairness and there were no breaches," said observer Yahya al-Madla.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh was re-elected in the 2006 elections.
Saleh, a military officer, has ruled Yemen since its unification in 1990. He won the first direct polls in 1999, which the opposition boycotted.
Saturday's elections will prove a test for Saleh's government, political analyst Nabeel al-Soufi said.
"Electing the governors is a test for the government. It was not a demand by the opposition, it was a government decision to hold the elections, and the government will take responsibility for the outcome. Local governance will either prove a better way to govern the country or it will become a source of dispute in the executive branch of the government," al-Soufi said.
Yemen is the ancestral home of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and has cracked down on militants. It co-operated closely with Washington after the Sept. 11 attacks and al-Qaeda attacks at home, including the bombing of a U.S.
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