Understanding the Voting Value [Archives:2001/09/Focus]

SILVER LINING
Mohammed Hatem Al-Qadhi
[email protected]
Voting is the main factor of a democracy. It implies peoples’ actual and practical participation in the political life of their society. As a matter of fact, it is a genuine and substantial tool of change. In a democratic society, people should feel aware of their vote’s value in leading the drive for change in their countries. But, are people in Yemen aware of this value? I do not think so, do you? There are several reasons behind it among which are illiteracy and lack of awareness. I along with some friends visited several balloting centers in Sana’a last Tuesday to report the voting process and peoples’ participation in it. I asked some voters why they voted. Their casual reply was that because the government wanted them to do so. I asked again whether they cast “yes” or “no” vote to the constitutional amendments, though it is not my right to ask such a question but it is the inquisitiveness of a press man. They gave the okay to the amendments because the government wanted this too. I asked some villagers the same questions. They told me they did as directed by their sheikhs. These sheikhs still hold a firm grip on the people of their regions and direct them with remote control. In addition, in some areas where people are poor, candidates pay money to voters. In this way, we could say that most people in Yemen are motivated by their tribal and partisan affiliations rather than their incentive to change their situation and improve their country. This is related to the high standard of illiteracy among people(70%) which means lack of awareness of their vote’s value. That is, they should be educated about the power they have to change their bad conditions. They should be made aware that they can be more powerful and influential than their sheikhs if they exercise they right of voting appropriately. However, this needs implementation of a law that does not discriminate between sheikhs and citizens as we still find that some sheikhs have their own jails. It is only in this situation that voting could be of great influence and value to the public. Otherwise, voting loses its importance. Rather, it adds power to sheikhs and other influential social dignitaries who then exercise more oppression on their people in a rather “civilized and democratic way.”Another point I would like to discuss briefly is the relationship between PGC and Islah in the light of the current crisis and conflict between them over the election. The two parties have accused each other of violations and violence that took place in some places. Islah appealed to President Ali Abdullah Saleh to interfere and stop such practices. I wondered if he would interfere as he does usually to calm down the high riding conflict between the two parties, though he himself denied such a crisis. Anyhow, Islah has become the real competitor that PGC has to consider , not the opposition, particularly after this election. This is because the winning candidates of Islah will be a headache for the PGC. In short, if the relationship between the two parties gets worse, Islah might join the opposition in the coordination council. This step would be the real challenge to the PGC. We shall wait and see!

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