A Legislature in Transition

The Yemeni Parliament

Ahmed A. Saif

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351962292
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Democracy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Legislatures are vital to new democracies and to date no democracy has survived without one. Exploring the dynamics and mechanisms that facilitate or weaken the role of the Parliament, Ahmed Abdul Kareem Saif reinforces the importance of placing the Parliament in a context that shows how it reflects its socio-political surroundings. A detailed analysis of the development of the elected legislative body in Yemen, from its establishment after unification in 1990, this work enables researchers to clearly identify not only the similarities between societies, but also the crucial differences.

Chapter One
A Model of Legislature

Introduction

The word ‘parliament’ has its basis in the French parler, to talk and ‘legislature’ is derived from the Latin word legis or law (thus legislature: lawmaker). Here they will be treated as synonyms. Parliaments are among the most disputed political institutions in newly emerging democracies. They have received low priority in academic studies compared with other political components.

Parliaments, however, are the only viable forum for political participation and representation at national level in less developed countries and act as councils capable of accommodating conflict and legitimising the political system. In addition, they can play an important role in setting the direction of policies for political and economic development. It is in this sense, that this book presents the Yemeni Parliament as a case study of a new emerging legislature in transition towards democracy. The democratic process in Yemen is in the making, though setbacks are possible. This book explores the dynamics and mechanisms that facilitate or weaken the role of the parliament. However, the building of the parliament in Yemen has not been a straightforward process. It has been affected by, and has benefited from, historical, social, economic and political conditions.

A prerequisite for a sustainable democracy is a prosperous economy. Yemen, however, lacks the necessary economic development, not in terms of its resources, but in the way they are administered. This does not mean that Yemen is not capable of being developed democratically, because obstacles of this sort change according to various conditions. Unlike other Arab societies, Yemeni society, for historical reasons, is relatively strong vis-à-vis a weak state, the political outcome being that the state does not have a heavy repressive hand over the society. Whilst this enhances the process of democratisation, it also represents an obstacle due to the tribal and kinship ties that characterise the society, which are reflected in the composition of the parliament.

Following unification, the international arena and domestic balance of power fostered a multiparty system. However, the struggle for power and the party organisations did little to help promote the role of parliament. The beginning of democratisation in Yemen coincided with the Gulf crisis, which imposed heavy economic burdens on Yemen. In addition, the country was tom apart by a civil war in 1994, after less than four years of unification. In 1995, after the war, the government launched the economic adjustment programme. All these events had an impact on the parliament and characterised the last decade of the twentieth century as a distinctive period for Yemen.

Legislatures pose perhaps the most fascinating problem in all structures of government, for they have been, and continue to be, the most disputed institutions in developing countries. Legislatures are found in both liberal and authoritarian governments, though in the latter, if any, they are often no more than a rubber stamp.

In the case of Yemen, legislatures in both the former states – the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) – functioned merely to endorse policies that had already been formulated by executive bodies. Nonetheless, awareness of the need for legitimacy and national integration forced the leadership in both states to attend to the setting up of legislatures. Since the 1990 unification, the legislature has gained importance because of the adoption of democracy and the aim of developing a multiparty system. This was highlighted and praised by Western observers from both governmental and non-governmental organisations. However, democratisation requires that judicial, legislative and executive authorities exist and are organised constitutionally. This has enhanced the existence of the legislature by linking the legitimacy of the regime with the existence of these authorities. Moreover, relaxation of the laws legalising political parties and introducing freedom of the press has enhanced the role of the legislature, while the redistribution of power following unification has favoured the legislative and weakened the executive, which can no longer regard parliament as a rubber stamp.

The problem, therefore, lies in parliament’s role in decision-making. To address this problem it is necessary to look at three different aspects of that role. First, parliament acts as an agency for setting the goals for state and society. Secondly it plays a part in managing conflict. Lastly, it involves itself in the integration of the political system.

This study explores the functions of the Yemeni Parliament and evaluates the extent to which it shapes politics. The Republic of Yemen has had three parliaments since May 1990. During the 1990s the country was affected by important domestic and international events, such as the Gulf War, which resulted in the repatriation of around a million workers from the neighbouring oil-rich countries, the eruption of the civil war in 1994 and the introduction of the economic structural adjustment programmes. All these had great social, economic and political repercussions.

This is, however, the first systematic study of the Yemeni Parliament. Some intellectuals have expressed a certain scepticism as to the scientific significance of such a study on the grounds that, since parliament is merely an ineffective and useless rubber stamp, there can be no good reason to study it. There has in fact been no research to verify this generalisation. And if the legislature is really weak, I feel that it is still worth studying the variables that limit its power.

It should, however, be pointed out that Yemen has the only multi-party system in the Arabian Peninsula, a fact that in itself gives this topic an exceptional significance.

The establishment of the parliament represented a watershed in the evolution of the legislature in the Yemen, for this was the first time that the legislators were elected rather than nominated. The process was enhanced by the real freedom allowed to both political parties and the media, which increased the credibility of the democratic process. For the first time, parliamentary debates in Yemen and in the Arabian Peninsula were transmitted live and documented. Furthermore, the establishment of the Yemeni Parliament coincided with the change in the world order associated with the predominance of Western liberalism following the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the ending of the Cold War influence.

In addition, this book aims to fill a gap in the literature on legislatures in the Middle East in general and in the Yemen in particular, since there is a singular lack of such studies. Finally, since parliament legitimises the Yemeni political system, any attempt to dissolve it would cause severe turmoil that might weaken the regime itself.

The book covers the decade since the setting up of parliament in 1990, during which time there were three parliaments. The first resulted from the process of integration between the two predecessor national assemblies that preceded unification and lasted throughout the interim period between unification and the first parliamentary elections in 1993. The other two parliaments were elected in 1993 and 1997 respectively and were conducted according to free and fair democratic procedures.

The main limitation of this study is that the parliament has existed for only a short time and it is difficult to predict how it will develop or change. The lack of legislative studies on the Middle East was another limitation in pursuing this study. Although comparative studies with other Third World countries are available, the part played in Arab politics by a strong culture and by Islam has limited the usefulness of these studies.

This book primarily depends on the fieldwork I conducted during 1998 and 1999 in Yemen. I used both quantitative and qualitative methods. Therefore, interviews, questionnaires and documentary survey were applied in conducting the field study. The study has adopted the interactions between three sets of variables, with which determine the capacity of parliament to exercise an independent influence in policy making. These three variables are the external environment of the parliament, internal characteristics of the parliament and the parliament’s policy outcomes. The interaction of these three sets of variables were studied during each of the three parliaments to find out similarities and differences and delineate the trends and behaviour patterns the Yemeni Parliament exhibits. The book covers a period that comprised three parliaments; therefore, it was possible to examine the changes in the role of the parliament over time.

The questionnaire was devoted to collecting data from the MPs. The technique used for sampling was quota samples. It aims to select a sample that is as similar as possible to the sampling population. Quota samples, therefore, were taken from the three parliaments according to the political parties’ representation, as shown in Table 1.1.

In general, there is a dearth of material available on the Yemeni Parliament. There is a shortage both of theoretical analysis and empirical studies. The parliament itself has made little to produce information about itself. However, data has been obtained from fieldwork in the Yemen as explained above. Primary documentary sources, such as the constitutions and the parliament’s records, archive, statements and newspapers were also used.

The opening chapter of this book surveys the relevant literature. Chapter Two looks at three stages in the study’s historical background, dealing with Yemen in the pre-republican period under the Lmamate in the north and British colonial rule in the south; in the republican periods in the two earlier states; and during the period since unification.

Chapter Three focuses on the political system of the unified Yemen, exploring the powers and relationships of the different authorities; democratic institutionalisation in relation the political parties, civil society and such legislation as the Law Governing Political Parties, the Law of Press and Publications and the General Election Law.

Chapter Four deals with informal political structures, without which a complete understanding of Yemeni politics would be difficult. It explains the nature of relations between the state and society and the composition of the ruling establishment, which confuses many observers and presumes, mistakenly that power is being held by the ruling party.

Table 1.1 Quota sampling of the MPs

In Chapter Five the structure of the parliament is described in detail accordi...