PARLIAMENT: TWO-YEAR ELECTORAL DELAY IS IMMINENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SANAA 000335 SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP AMACDONALD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL YM SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT: TWO-YEAR ELECTORAL DELAY IS IMMINENT REF: SANAA 324 Classified By: Ambassador Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Squeaking by the mandatory 60-day deadline, Parliament is expected to vote in a special session on February 26 to accept the President's request to delay the Parliamentary elections for two years and to amend the Constitution in order to change the Parliamentary term from six to eight years. Parliament will vote on the full package of electoral amendments ) including the proportional system and the reformation of the Supreme Committee on Elections and Referenda (SCER) ) and the official electoral delay on April ¶26. Even with President Saleh out of the country, politicians are treating the de facto agreement between the ruling and opposition parties as definitive. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) According to journalist Mohamed al-Ghurabi, both General People's Congress (GPC) MP Sultan al-Barakani and Nasserite MP Sultan al-Atwani confirmed that Parliament will meet in a special session on February 26 to vote on the President's request for a delay in the upcoming Parliamentary elections, just before the 60-day deadline specified in the electoral law. Parliament will also vote to change the term for Parliamentarians from six to eight years, as specified in Article 65 of the Constitution, according to the Yemeni Socialist Party's (YSP) news Web site. (Note: A range of MPs from the ruling and opposition parties confirmed this development to EconOff at a diplomatic event in Sana'a on February 25. End Note.) Asked about recent electoral developments, Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) member and YSP Aden Chair Ali Munasser said, "In the South, there is a general sense of 'wait and see.' If the Southern issue is not also included in this larger package, we will simply not pay attention to what is going on (with the elections)." Islah's Deputy Chief in Aden Abdul-Nasser Ba Habib concurred, calling this "just a transfer of the crisis" until 2011. Adeni businessman Ahmed Saeed Shukri told POL/E Chief of his frustration with the delay of the elections. "For months everything has been frozen awaiting the elections; now they will be delayed for two years. Six months would be okay, but two years is too long," he said. Shukri added that secessionists in the south are frustrated with what they see as "just another delay." ¶3. (C) GPC MP Nabil Basha told POL/E Chief on February 25 that Parliament will vote on the entire package of electoral amendments ) including changes to the Constitution ) on April 26. The package of amendments includes the two-year delay in elections as well as the European Union-recommended amendments included in the unofficial GPC-JMP agreement (reftel). Mary Horvers, Charge d'Affaires at the European Commission, told PolOff that the ROYG will implement these electoral amendments ) including the controversial proportional list system and reformation of the SCER ) over the next two years. Horvers, who met with Vice President and head of the GPC Ali al-Mujawwar on February 24, said that Mujawwar was supportive of an opposition request to have the EU monitor elections, but the rest of the GPC delegation was reluctant. COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) Even with President Saleh traveling abroad, the political parties and Parliament have taken bold steps to resolve the electoral crisis. Recent developments come as a surprise to many observers based on the length of the delay in elections and the extensive nature of electoral and Constitutional amendments included in the compromise. Future political cooperation will hinge on the ruling party's willingness to see through the drastic promises it has just made. END COMMENT. SECHE