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Parliament Criticizes the Communication Draft Law and Calls on Opposition Members to End Boycott
6-15 February, 2010- The Parliament held its first session of the month on Sunday, February 6 after failing to hold this first session the previous day due to an inability to meet the legal quorum which is set at 152 members.
The session, after a two hour delay to meet the legal quorum, began with the discussion of the report minutes of the previous session and the Parliament’s agenda for this round. The Parliament called on the independent and opposition MPs to end their boycott which began in December 2010. The boycott is in protest to the passing of the elections law, a reform of the Supreme Commission for Electoral Reforms which changed the composition of the Commission from political party members to judges, and setting up a special committee of Parliament to discuss amendments to the constitution. The Parliament called on boycotting members to attend sessions especially after the announcement of President Saleh last Wednesday where he has called for resuming the national dialogue process, freezing amendments, and cancelling all unilateral measures by the GPC caucus.
The Parliament’s agenda for this round was approved by MPs during the session on 7 February. The agenda includes the discussion of several legislative and oversight reports and some questions from a number of MPs to the executive branch of the government.
MPs Abdo Besher and Abdul Aziz Jubari called on the GPC and JMP newspapers to stop the exchange of accusations pertaining to the ongoing problem between the governor of Sana’a, Nouman Dowaid and MP Hameed Al-Ahmar, since it is a personal matter. However, the Parliament Presidium has called on the Minister of Interior for a detailed report on the killing of the compatriot, Murad Al-Wasabi and the injury his brother during a gun fight between armed members affiliated with the two sides. The call by the Presidium for a detailed report from the Ministry came after 28 MPs demanded the formation of a committee to investigate the killing of Al-Wasabi and another citizen as well as the injuring of others during the exchange of gun fires between soldiers and bodyguards of the above-mentioned two sides. The problem between the two sides first erupted when the governor made public personal remarks the MP found to be insulting.
During the Parliament session on 9 February, the Parliament stood before several clarification statements by a number of Ministers to several MPs’ questions. The Minister of Information, in reply to the question of MP Al-Khadher Al-Azani over broadcasting rights of some competitive sports tournaments in the Gulf, said that the Ministry was unable to afford such broadcasting rights. The Minister of Health, in response to the question of MP Ali Shaia over the privatization process of Aden’s Textile Factory, said the search for a foreign investment partner to re-open the factory has not succeeded. The Minister of Agriculture denied the accusation of MP Abdul Hameed Al-Hasani that the Ministry has transferred EU fund to finance rural roads in Mahweet Governorate to the Ministry’s account. The Minister said that the fund for rural roads in Mahweet Governorate has been frozen by the Finance Ministry. Finally, the Minister of Health, in response to a question of MP Mohamed Al-Kuwaiti about health projects in Raymah, said that the project to build a health center and a hospital there has been hampered by the inability of the governorate to allocate property for the project despite the availability of funds for the project from the Social Fund for Development (SFD). On the other hand, MP Abdul Aziz Jubari criticized the holding of this session in the presence of 48 MPs only. He said the decisions adopted during this session are annulled since the session did not meet the legal quorum.
The Parliament’s security guards on 13 February, based on directives from the House Speaker, prevented the parliamentary reporters from entering the Parliament in order to cover the session. This measure was in retaliation for the publication of remarks made by the Speaker pertaining to the revolution in Egypt by all reporters. The Speaker, in the previous session and in replying to calls by some MPs that the Parliament ought to issue a congratulatory note to the Egyptian people, state that what happened in Egypt does not honor Egypt nor others. However, he continued, we wish the Egyptian people stability and the interim government success in managing affairs in Egypt.
MP Nabil Al-Basha said that banning reporters from covering the session is a violation of the constitution. He added that the Speaker ought to file a legal suit against the reporter(s) in the event they had misquoted the Speaker. The MP said that the Speaker must not use his post to ban all reporters from coming into Parliament.
MP Ali Al-Ma’mari called on members of the ruling and opposition parties who have been fueling tension to leave their party posts. The MP also criticized the response of the GPC General Secretariat to the statement of the JMP in response to the initiative of President Saleh as an inappropriate, since it began by reciting a verse from Qur’an which begins by a reference to infidels.
The Parliament discussed the communication draft law before transferring it to the Constitutional Affairs committee for further study. This draft law has raised some controversy among MPs due to restrictions draft law places on telecommunication companies. When the Deputy Speaker said the Parliament has been convening without the legal quorum, the Speaker replied by saying that the Deputy is defending Sabafon because it is affiliated with Al-Ahmar group. The Deputy replied by saying that Al-Ahmar group only owns 10 percent of the Sabafon company. The draft law was transferred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for further study.
