The League of Sons of Yemen [Archives:1999/04/Law & Diplomacy]
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January 25 1999
Political Parties Series: #1 Starting with this issue, the Yemen Times will run profiles of the political parties of Yemen. We will print the information as received from the parties. The aim is to inform the public – local and international. Historical Origin
The League of the Sons of Yemen (LSY) was established in April, 1951 under the name of the League of the Sons of the South. Nationalist figures from north and south of the country participated. The League’s main aim was to secure independence of the southern part of the country, then to establish the unity of Yemen. It assumed its new name following reunification of the country in 1990 and is seen as one of the main opposition political parties. Political & Economic Doctrine In printed material made available to the ‘Yemen Times’, the League said that the most important distinctions of the League’s doctrines and programs are its objective view toward the importance of unity, in addition to its moderation and anti-violence trends. “We are an Islamic party which believes in dialogue with the others and in justice, moderation, and tolerance.”The League also believes in economic freedom and market policy and rejects monopoly. It calls for protecting the poor through the availability of social and health care in addition to providing work opportunities and elevating professional competency and rehabilitation. “We advocate balancing political, economic, and social interests and the establishment of local rule with vast jurisdictions, and we believe in the election according to relative voting lists.” Such an option ensures that the parliament would represent all sectors of the society. The League further calls for forming a Shoura (Consultative) Council on the basis of free elections to complement the Council of Deputies (parliament). “We support the presence of an independent judiciary system that secures justice, security and stability and the independence of the official media away from government control.” The League also calls for a vivid and active role for women in the society and backs national dialogue in which all political, social, economic, and religious elements should participate. The League is a Modern Party The League is a modern party which views the government as a board of directors of a company, the people being its shareholders who can replace that board. The party is independent in its ideology and moves and is under no guardianship from anybody outside Yemen. The party is proud for being the first to underline the importance of neutralizing the presidency of the country in November 1990 away from partisan struggle. It was the first to ask the supreme court to supervise its 8th general conference elections in 1992. The party also endorsed transparency in partisan work when it recorded all details of its 8th general conference on video tapes, providing them to whoever wishes. The League gave women the opportunity to rise to higher posts. It was the first party to establish centers for illiteracy eradication and rehabilitating women in Aden and Sanaa, but which were looted in the 1994 war. The party further tabled practical solutions to problems of nationalization and confiscation in the southern and eastern provinces, but which were not heeded by the authority. The League, finally, tables alternatives to what it opposes, most prominent of which being the local rule’s draft law. The Party’s Hierarchy The party’s hierarchal structure is as follows: -Party Leader. -Secretary General. -Executive Committee (22 members). -Central Authority (71 members). -The General Conference (held once every five years under normal circumstances). The Executive Committee, which also groups the President and the Secretary General) is the daily dynamic tool of the party and is divided into several bureaus including the General Secretariat. The Committee convenes weekly. The Central Authority, which normally meets every three months, is the party’s expanded leadership. It elects members of the Executive Committee, drafts the party’s strategy, and amends its bylaws whenever needed. The party has suffered a lot from the displacement of its leaderships and members ever since its establishment and until 1989 by the British colonialists and later by the dictatorial rule that took over control of the southern part of the country since 1967. Hundreds of its cadres further left the country following the 1994 war which had its impact on the party but which at the same time elevated its cadres’ competency in dealing with various circumstances. The League General Conferences The League held its first general conference in Aden in 1951 and was followed by five others in the same place with the sixth being held in 1957. The party could not hold its seventh general conference until November 1986 due to the deportation of its leaders at the hands of the British occupation authority then because of the totalitarian regime’s practices following independence of the southern part of the country in 1967. Even that seventh conference was held secretly within and outside the country and the results brought Abdul Rahman Al Jaffry as party Leader and Mohsin Mohammed bin Farid as Secretary General. The 8th conference was held in Sanaa, in February 1992 under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and five women were elected to high posts; two as assistants to the party Leader and another two as assistants to the Secretary General. The Party’s Participation in the 1993 General Elections The League believed that elections were part of the democratic process and realized that they would lack integrity but it hoped that the process would start correctly. The party tabled a distinguished election program but with nothing else to support it while the parties in power were backed by the army, police, media, the Central Bank and government jobs. Thus, the party’s 90 candidates failed. However, books could be written about the forgery, threats and use of money and arms to ensure the success of the others. The League and the 1997 General Elections The League refrained from entering the 1997 Parliamentary elections since they came shortly following the 1994 war which greatly affected the country’s political and social balance. The party expressed the opinion that the country’s ruling powers and the opposition should meet to evaluate the reasons and results of that war and to heal the wounds it inflicted through a real and comprehensive national reconciliation. The League, along with other opposition parties, considered that indulging in the elections without such a conciliation and without amending the legal and procedural violations that preceded the polling, would cause the elections to lose their meaning and the results would be known beforehand. Thus the party decided to boycott the elections. By: Dr. Salah Haddash, Yemen Times Managing Editor
