VZCZCXYZ0011
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHYN #2258/01 3441052
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101052Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8576

UNCLAS SANAA 002258 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KWMN PHUM YM
SUBJECT: WOMEN DIVIDED ON TYPE OF PARLIAMENTARY QUOTA SYSTEM 
 
REF: SANAA 1859 
 
1.(U)  A mufraj is a room in a traditional Yemeni home where 
family, friends, and colleagues gather, chat, and chew qat. 
Yemenis are known to be open and frank during mufraj 
discussions.  These gatherings are typically gender 
segregated.  This is the first telegram in a series that will 
deal with Yemeni political and social issues from the point 
of view of Yemeni women. 
 
Summary 
- - - - 
 
2.(U)  Having watched their parliamentary representation 
steadily wane since unification, Yemeni women see a 
parliamentary quota as vital to their continued presence on 
the political scene.  Women activists, however, are divided 
on implementation details, leaving the quota vulnerable to 
critics and possibly jeopardizing its future.  End Summary. 
 
Why Yemeni Women are Pushing for a Quota 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
3.(U)  Whether they are from the tribal north or the former 
socialist south, Yemeni women continuously complain that 
their social and political rights diminish with each passing 
year.  Women's participation in parliament is indicative of 
this regression.  Immediately following the 1994 Civil War 
there were 20 women in the first parliament of unified Yemen. 
 Today, only one of the 301 members of parliament (MPs) is a 
woman.  Many female political activists fear that, if a quota 
system is not imposed before the 2009 parliamentary 
elections, there will be no female representation in the next 
parliament. 
 
4.(SBU)  On November 23, Poloff attended a traditional 
all-female mufraj at the home of Amal Basha, one of Yemen's 
most outspoken female activists and head of the NGO Arab 
Sisters Forum for Human Rights.  Basha began the discussion 
by insisting that a quota system is absolutely necessary to 
ensure women are not eliminated from the next parliament. 
The other eight women present, all civil society activists, 
supported her claim, adding that ordinary Yemeni women would 
not vote in support of a woman if their husbands did not. 
Some in the group also belong to a women's NGO, the National 
Coalition (NC), and actively hold fora and pressure the ROYG 
to implement a quota system.  A local woman working for 
UNICEF said that Yemeni women have been influenced by 
conservative wahabi doctrine, leading many to believe it is 
sinful for a woman to enter politics. 
 
Yemeni Women are Divided as to Which Type of Quota System 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
5.(U)  In spite of broad agreement on the importance of a 
quota system, there is no consensus within the women's rights 
movement on the type of quota to implement.  For the past 
year, Post has provided a Middle East Partnership Initiative 
(MEPI) grant to the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to 
create a Women's Network that brings together Yemeni women 
politicians from the four major political parties.  In 
response to the women's debates on the quota, NDI produced an 
extensive legal study that concluded there were three 
possible quota systems in Yemen: 
 
 - - Voluntary party quota (VPQ):  Each party voluntarily 
imposes a quota for the number of women candidates in its 
slate. 
 - - Legal seat quota (LSQ):  National law sets aside a 
specific number of seats for women in parliament. 
 - - Legal candidate quota (LCQ):  National law imposes a 
quota on all political parties specifying the number of women 
candidates they must run.  Closed constituencies reserved for 
women could also be included in this plan. 
 
6.(U)  Each of these options has specific challenges.  The 
VPQ does not guarantee any seats for women.  The LSQ requires 
a national referendum to amend the constitution.  (Note: 
Article 63 of the Yemeni Constitution states: "The House of 
Representatives consists of 301 members, who shall be elected 
in a secret, free, and equal vote directly by the people." 
Some legal experts say that a quota for seats, where the law 
would compel people to vote for a woman, contradicts the 
constitution and therefore Article 63 would need to be 
amended.  Article 146 in the Constitution reads that to 
change Article 63 (along with 20 other articles) a national 
referendum must be held.  End Note).  The LCQ requires a 
change in the Electoral Law or Political Party Law.  For this 
to pass, the majority of parliament would have to vote in its 
favor. 
 
7.(SBU)  Female politicians refuse to agree on what type of 
quota to support.  Women from the Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) 
continue to demand a 30 percent seat quota, without 
addressing the need for a national referendum.  In typical 
bargaining fashion, YSP member Wahbia Sabrah told Poloff, "we 
even want to ask for 50 percent, so they would give us 30 
percent.  It is our right."  The women from the ruling 
General People's Congress (GPC) Party affirm the President's 
September 24 reform initiative in which he called for a 15 
percent quota for women (reftel).  It remains unclear what 
type of quota the President intended to push, or how this 
initiative would legally come to fruition.  The women from 
the Islamist Islah Party maintain the autonomy of their 
party, reiterating that, although they want a quota system, 
they do not want it to infringe upon the independence or 
success of Islah. 
 
8.(SBU)  Meanwhile, the Yemeni women's rights movement, led 
by the NC, is striving for a 30 percent seat quota.  The NC 
is not working with, and has yet to consult, female 
politicians and other women's groups not belonging to its 
organization.  The movement for the quota remains highly 
politicized, split, and legally uninformed. 
 
Comment 
- - - - 
 
9.(SBU)  Those that oppose a quota system have been taking 
advantage of the division among its proponents, and some have 
branded the quota as a western idea that violates national 
unity and Yemeni tradition.  Divided among themselves, 
activist women have been unable to combat these criticisms 
effectively.  Time is quickly running out, meanwhile, and 
unless the women's movement for a quota quickly unifies in 
support of one system, there will be no quota before the 2009 
parliamentary elections. 
SECHE