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