After the Completion of the Sixth General Conference of the PGC New Faces, New Hopes, & New Challenges [Archives:1999/28/Front Page]

The People’s General Congress successfully completed its 6th general conference on Thursday, July 8, 1999. 3,500 branch representatives attended, as well as 910 members of the General Committee. The members of the General Committee and the other senior committees were elected during the conference. President Saleh was confirmed as chairman, and Vice President Abdurabbu Mansour was elected Deputy Chairman. Many of the members of the committees are new, and people anticipate that the appearance of so many new members at the highest levels of the PGC means that the party can really look ahead and carry Yemen into the future.
However, it is still apparent that the PGC faces tremendous challenges. They must seek to improve the welfare of the citizens of Yemen, overcome the economic crisis, bring law and order throughout the land, and overcome the corruption that permeates the government.
As expected, the PGC declared President Ali Abdullah Saleh their nominee for the upcoming presidential elections scheduled to be held in September this year.
In view of the fact that the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (the Islah Party) has also supported the nomination of President Saleh for the upcoming Presidential Elections to be held in September, any other potential candidates would have a hard time securing enough votes from the House to run for president. Any presidential hopeful would require the support of at least 10% of the members of the House of Representatives. At this stage, no viable candidates have appeared, although several people have indicated their willingness to run for president, and have accordingly applied to the House of Representatives. Some prominent dignitaries have been asked to become candidates, but have declined to do so, for various reasons.
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