Ruling and opposition parties form joint election committees

Sana'a, February 11, 2012- The opposition Joint Meeting Parties and the ruling General People Congress agreed on Saturday to form joint committees to run the early elections set for Feb. 21.

The Yemeni News Agency, Saba, has said that both sides prepared a guideline for the joint tasks, cooperation and coordination for holding the elections successfully.

The agreement included issuing directions to the election committees and approving an executive progrmme to carry out election rallies and taking actions to overcome any challenges or difficulties.

Saba said the agreement was signed by deputy chair of the General People Congress Abdul-Karim Al-Iriani and the he chair of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties Abdul-Wahab Al-Anisis.

Yemen's opposition and some ruling party officials see that these elections would lead to radical changes in Yemen.

During a United Nations conference entitled “Reform and Transitions to Democracy,” held in Beirut last month, the Yemeni veteran politician Al-Eryani said that Yemen will radically change after February 21 when early presidential elections will be held.

Spokesman of JMP Abdul Al-Odaini said that Yemen's presidential elections to would be a major shift in democratic, political and social fields.

The GCC states, the United States and other western countries acutely seek for the success of the elections that are considered the major step to peaceful power transfer.

Under the GCC deal, Hadi is the consensus candidate of major parties in a presidential elections scheduled for February, while Saleh remains as a figurehead president for 90 days after he was forced to sign the deal.

After the elections, as GCC deal states, Hadi will oversee national dialogue to consider proposals for constitutional reforms that include replacing the presidential system with a multi-party parliamentary system.

Source: Yemen Post