2003 Yemeni parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Yemen on 27 April 2003, having been originally scheduled for 2001. The General People's Congress of President Ali Abdullah Saleh received 58% of the vote, winning 229 of the 301 seats. As of 2023, these were the last parliamentary elections in Yemen as the country descended into a civil war several years later.

2003 Yemeni parliamentary election
Yemen
27 April 2003
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
GPC Ali Abdullah Saleh 57.79 229 +42
Al-Islah Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar 22.51 45 -8
YSP Ali Salih 'Ubad Muqbil 4.86 7 New
NUPO Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi 1.83 3 0
Ba'ath Party Quasim Salaam 0.68 2 0
Independents 10.35 14 -40

Campaign

Nineteen parties fielded a total of 991 candidates for the 301 seats in the House of Representatives, in addition to 405 independent candidates. Over eight million Yemeni citizens were registered to vote, with the number of registered women voters almost doubling since 1997 (3.4 million compared to 1.8 million).

Conduct

Although the election was deemed to be more free and fair than in previous years, there were still concerns about the conduct of the vote. The National Democratic Institute noted that:

The atmosphere of anxiety in the run-up to the elections caused by fears of violence, as well as heavy-handed and coercive measures on and after election day by elements of the ruling GPC in many polling stations across the country are troubling. There were credible reports of election law violations including political intimidation, underage voting, improper behavior by security forces, vote buying and obstruction by ruling party counting commissioners. [1]

Results

The General People's Congress was immediately joined by 12 independents. Results in three seats were invalidated.[2] Despite the increase in the number of women voters, only one woman was elected, down from two in the 1997 elections.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
General People's Congress3,465,11757.79229+42
Al-Islah1,349,48522.5145–8
Yemeni Socialist Party291,5414.867New
Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation109,7141.8330
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party40,8720.6820
Unnamed party25,3520.421
National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party23,7450.4000
Nasserist Reform Organisation15,2570.2500
Union of Popular Forces11,9670.200
Democratic Nasserist Party9,8290.1600
National Democratic Front7,0560.120
Social Nationalist Party – Yemen5,3490.090
Party of Truth4,5850.0800
People's Democratic Party4,0770.070
Democratic Union of Popular Forces3,0030.050
Social Green Party2,2760.040
Popular Unity Party1,7390.030
Yemeni League Party1,3830.020
Liberation Front Party1,2820.020
Popular Unionist Liberation Party1,2410.020
Yemeni Unionist Gathering4830.010
Democratic September Organization810.000
Independents620,61510.3514–40
Total5,996,049100.003010
Valid votes5,996,04996.69
Invalid/blank votes205,2053.31
Total votes6,201,254100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,097,51476.58
Source: Yemen NIC

References

  1. "Yemen Parliament". Archived from the original on 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
  2. Yemen between Democratization and Prolonged Power Colombia International Affairs Online
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