Yemeni parliamentary election, 1997

Yemeni parliamentary election, 1997

27 April 1997

All 301 seats to the House of Representatives 151 seats needed for a majority Turnout 61%   First party Second party   Leader Ali Abdullah Saleh Sadiq al-Ahmar Party General People's Congress Al-Islah Last election 122 63 Seats before 122 63 Seats won 187 53 Seat change 55 10 Popular vote 1,175,343 637,728 Percentage 43.1% 23.4% Swing 14.4% 6.4%

The 1997 Yemeni parliamentary elections took place on 27 April 1997 for the Assembly of Representatives of Yemen. The governing General People's Congress of President Ali Abdullah Saleh won a landslide victory in the elections. Voter turnout was 61.0%.^[1]

Voters and candidates

Of the 16 million people in Yemen about 4.6 million were registered to vote with about a quarter of them being women. However, only about 2.6 million people received their voting cards.^[2]

Over 2,300 candidates, from 12 parties, competed for the 301 seats in the Parliament of Yemen. Most candidates were independents, however many of these were backed by either the General People's Congress or Islah parties. There were 19 female candidates.^[3] Each party or independent candidate had their own logo such as an owl or horse for the ballot paper to help illiterate voters.^[4]

Campaign

Several opposition parties including the Yemeni Socialist Party boycotted the election alleging that the government had harassed and arrested their party workers.^[2] The main opposition party, Islah, attacked the government for not carrying out economic reforms and for corruption.^[3] There were few disagreements over policy between the parties.^[4]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	General People's Congress	1,175,343	43.1	187	+55
	Al-Islah	637,728	23.4	53	–10
	Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation	55,438	2.3	3	+2
	Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party	20,409	0.7	2	–6
	National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party	10,134	0.4	0	New
	Democratic Nasserist Party	9,601	0.4	0	–1
	Party of Truth	5,587	0.2	0	–2
	Nasserist Reform Organisation	2,755	0.1	0	0
	League of Sons of Yemen	930	0.0	0	0
Other parties		3,400	0.1	0	0
	Independents	805,636	29.5	54	+6
Vacant		–	–	2	–
Invalid/blank votes		100,408	–	–	–
Total		2,827,369	100	301	0
Source: Nohlen et al.

Post-election

In two districts, Hajjah and Dhamar the results were cancelled due to irregularities.^[5] International monitors described the elections as being 'reasonably free and fair' and 'a positive step in the democratic development of Yemen'.^[6]

After the election 39 MPs elected as Independents joined the General People's Congress, 10 joined the Islah party and 2 joined the Yemeni Socialist Party.^[7]

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p304 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
2. "Yemen's ruling party proclaims victory amid claims of fraud". The Indian Express. 1997-05-02. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
3. "Yemen Holds Vote; First Since '94 Strife". The New York Times. 1997-04-28. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
4. "Doves and eagles fight for votes: Yemen prepares for elections". The Guardian. 1997-04-24. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
5. "Yemen Leader's Party Dominates Elections". The New York Times. 1997-05-08. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
6. "Peek behind screen of Yemen's paranoid poll". The Guardian. 1997-05-03. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
7. "State of the parties, 1997 election". Yemen gateway. Retrieved 2008-01-10.

External links

• Complete list of parties who contested the election