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Ali Abdullah Saleh

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On February 20, 2001 a referendum was held and passed, extending presidential terms from five to seven years, parliamentary terms from four to six years, and creating a 111-member, presidentially appointed council of advisors with legislative power. This move prompted the non-profit organization Freedom House to downgrade their rating of political freedom in Yemen from 5 to 6. Saleh faced his next election in September, 2006.

Saleh announced in July 2005, during the 27th anniversary celebrations of his term in office as President of Yemen, that he would "not contest the (presidential) elections" in September 2006. He expressed hope that "all political parties - including the opposition and the General People's Congress - find young leaders to compete in the elections because we have to train ourselves in the practice of peaceful succession." However, in June 2006 Saleh changed his mind and accepted his party's nomination as the presidential candidate of the GPC, saying that when he initially decided not to contest the elections his aim was "to establish ground for a peaceful transfer of power" but that he was now bowing to the "popular pressure and appeals of the Yemeni people." Political analyst Ali Saif Hasan said had been "sure would run as a presidential candidate. His announcement in July 2005 – that he wouldn’t run – was exceptional and unusual." Mohammed al-Rubai, head of the opposition supreme council, said the president's decision "shows that the president wasn’t serious in his earlier decision. I wish he hadn’t initially announced that he would step down. There was no need for such farce."

Saleh was reelected in September 2006 with 80 percent of the votes based on a partial vote count in which 17,000 of the 27,000 ballot boxes were counted. Opposition parties dispute the results accusing the government of fraud citing that their candidate lost by a wider margin than predicted. As of 22 September 2006, the opposition has called for large street protests to dispute the election results.

See also: Yemen presidential election, 2006

See also

References

  1. Freedom in the World - Yemen (2002) Freedom House
  2. Yemen leader rules himself out of polls Al Jazeera
  3. Cite error: The named reference REVERSAL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. "Yemeni Opposition Threatens Protest". Guardian Unlimited. 22 September 2006.

External links

Preceded byAbdul Karim Abdullah al-Arashi President of North Yemen
1978–1990
Succeeded bynone
Preceded bynone President of Yemen
May 22, 1990–
Succeeded byIncumbent
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