After a fight erupted among candidates and voters:Women Union’s election cancelled [Archives:2003/660/Front Page]

Mohammed Al-Qadhi
A fight among candidates and voters in the election of the Yemeni Women Union led to calling off the election in Sana'a. Sources at the union said that fight erupted among 68 candidates competing to win 32 seats in the membership of the General Secretariat of the union. Ramzia al-Iryani, head of the preparatory committee of the election said that the election was called off due to the fight between the candidates and their fans who beat up the representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs conducting and monitoring the election process of any NGO. Sources at the opposition said that the fight took place because the representative of the ministry of social affairs tried to take the polling box through the window. The candidates and the voters beat him up and could snatch the voting box by force. Security and female police were called to the site and could disperse the voters, pushing them out of the building. Election was then cancelled. Female leading members in the society accused some political parties of attempting to control the union for their own political benefits.
Around 11644 women voted in other governorates to choose their representatives to the union. The general conference of the union is likely to hold its meetings by the beginning of September to nominate new leadership. The conference will be the first since the unification of Yemen where the two Yemeni women unions were merged. Around 350 women representatives will attend the event.
A new leadership with new blood chosen through fair election and free from the control and influence is expected to play an important role in serving the issues of women in Yemen, mainly in promoting their role in society and pressuring the government to abolish any discriminating laws against women in Yemen where most of them are still illiterate. The new leadership should do something to improve the situation of women in the countryside.
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