Constitutional amendments [Archives:2008/1144/Viewpoint]
Editor
Over two weeks ago, the ruling party: the General People's Congress approved a number of amendments to the constitution, which the party proposes to present to the parliament for endorsement. The majority of the members of parliament are members of the GPC and so endorsing these amendments are just a matter of time.
The amendments include shortening the presidential term from seven to 5 years, and the parliament term from six to 4. This will only be affective once the current terms are over.
The most significant amendment is the inclusive of the Shoura (consultative) council as a legislating power in Yemen side by side with the Parliament. The way things are today is that only members of parliament or the government can propose any new laws or legislations, which are then forwarded to the parliament to be accepted or rejected.
There are 301 members in the Yemeni parliament elected directly by the people every six years. The last elections were in 2003 and the coming will be in 2009. Whereas the Shoura council was an advisory board established in 2001 and made up of 111 members appointed by the president. Their tasks are to propose suggestions and ideas to help the president and the government rule the country and make the right decisions.
What will change once the proposed amendments are endorsed is that the Shoura Council will perform legislating duties jointly with the parliament. Both councils will be responsible for approving laws, general budgets and closing accounts. The regulation of the parliament and the shoura council will be changed and a new system will be created to adapt to this change.
Moreover, the number of members of the Shoura council is to increase to 151 members representing various governorates.
As it is the situation today is that there are at least 200 members of the parliament from the GPC, comprising a 66 percent majority. Only 150 members of the parliament need to congregate in order to discuss any new amendment and only 76 (50 percent +1) of them have to say yes in order to pass any new legislation. Now with the Shoura council members having the same power the idea of a balanced legislating power is turning to be a joke.
It will be a one party system wearing a multipartism mask. It will be impossible to pass something that the president or the government does not want, and it will be impossible to protect opposition and independent movements or members from the wrath of a majority who disapproves of the other.
With the system as is, it is almost certain that there is nothing we can do about the situation and that Yemen's constitution will be changed. The only thing to do is that we raise awareness on the significance of such amendments and hope that someone with influence will care enough to stop this from happening.
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