Silver LiningElection Reform Boosts Fair Play [Archives:2006/922/Opinion]
By: Mohammed Hatem al-Qadhi
mhalqadhi@hotmail.com
We have been following the heated debate between the opposition coalition and the Supreme Elections and Referendum Commission (SERC) and the ruling party on the voters' register revision committees. The SERC has been accused by the opposition coalition of fraud, of being biased and unfair in distributing the voters' register revision committees among the political parties which the SERC denied. We are used to such kind of media barrage between the opposition parties and SERC in every election and then the problem is sorted out in a way or another. But, this time it should be different, particularly after the opposition coalition signed an agreement concerning their joint work and issued their initiative for political reform, which is actually a joint program for their work in the future. This is exactly what people expect from this coalition.
I know the situation of the coalition member parties is not promising; they face a lot of challenges and are themselves unable to address the public concerns in vocal and courageous manner. They have not been able so far to name any person to challenge Saleh in the next presidential election. But, the wide participation of the opposition coalition in this election is very vital for the prosperity of the emerging democratization drive in the country. This does not mean participation for the sake of participation only to legitimatize the election; rather it should be an active and strong competition that leads to change by the end of the day.
Like in some other Arab countries, the people of Yemen have become fed up with election and its inability to introduce any change into their lives. They voted in some elections and sometimes their votes were useless. The same big influential guys who have been oppressing them for decades made their way to the parliament, however. Now, their oppression is now immune and unquestionable. These elections brought about massive wins for the ruling party, resulting in a toothless parliament. This has halted democratic drive and frustrated the voters.
However, the results of the recent Palestinian parliamentary election has given the people in the Arab countries a hope in the possibility of change once there is a fair play. People can not afford to go and cast their votes every six or seven years without any fruits. People need to see that their votes are able to hit the nil on the head, leading to the change of the people in power. This change can not take place unless there is fair and free election.
I guess the call of the opposition for a clean voters register is very important and the real step for substantiating a fair and transparent election. If the civil service payroll is plagued with the problems of dual and ghost job holders, we can not assume the voters register to be completely correct. This has been acknowledged by the political parties, SERC and some international election organizations which have praised some of the efforts carried out by the SERC.
Another crucial issue which has been discussed from time to time is the election system loopholes; the single-member electoral districts, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, limit the chances of opposition parties to gain the number of parliamentary seats that would boost their competitiveness and has helped to kill pluralism before it has had a chance to develop. Therefore, it is very important that it is replaced by a system that strengthens party pluralism, even to cover half of the 301 seats of the parliament.
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[archive-e:922-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-02-20-p:opinion]
