US embassy cable - 05SANAA2920

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 002920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO NEA/PI FOR L. SCHULZ. 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KMPI, KMCA, YM, DOMESTIC POLITICS, DEMOCRATIC REFORM 
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT FLEXES MUSCLES, CHALLENGES ROYG ON 
CORRUPTION 
 
REF: A. SANAA 1782 
     B. SANAA 2766 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Thomas Burke for reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
1. (C) Summary.  In its last session, Yemen's Parliament 
asserted its constitutional authority in unprecedented 
fashion, summoning ministers for questioning, challenging 
ROYG corruption, and even passing original legislation. 
Parliamentarians also took aim at the Speaker, Sheikh 
Abdullah al-Ahmar, accusing him of protecting corrupt 
ministers and furthering his own business interests at the 
expense of Parliament's independence.  Opposition to ROYG 
policies transcended party affiliation and demonstrated the 
growing influence of reform-minded MPs, many of whom have 
received training and support from MEPI-funded programs. 
Parliament remains much weaker than the executive branch, but 
there are growing signs that the legislature is ready to play 
a more active role in Yemen's democracy.  End summary. 
 
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Parliament v. ROYG 
------------------ 
 
2. (SBU) On September 21, Parliament entered the Ramadan 
recess after one of the most active sessions of Yemen's 
legislature in the fifteen years since unification.  For the 
first time, Parliament used its Constitutional authority to 
require government ministers to appear before the members for 
questioning.  Parliament submitted 76 lists of questions to 
the ROYG, and set out a two-week schedule for ministers to 
appear and address the body.  The issues addressed included 
the sale of liquid natural gas, implementation of the sales 
tax, and the shooting of demonstrators during July fuel 
riots.  Perhaps most controversial is a supplementary budget 
currently before Parliament. (Septel) 
 
3. (C) According to Saadaldin Taleb of the National 
Democratic Institute (NDI), the session culminated in a 
standoff with the executive branch, when Parliament demanded 
that Minister of Public Works Abdullah al-Dafa'i answer 
questions about his ministry's tendering practices.  Dafa'i 
initially dispatched his deputy, who confessed to MPs that 
eighty percent of the ministry's contracts were awarded 
without tender.  This clear violation of Yemeni law prompted 
Parliament to insist that Dafa'i himself appear.  His refusal 
to do so led many MPs to call for a no-confidence vote in the 
Minister.  (Note: Parliament has the constitutional power to 
vote a minister out of office, but has never exercised this 
right.  End note.) 
 
----------------------------------- 
Al-Ahmar: "Protector of Corruption" 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) In a twist demonstrating the oddity of Yemen's 
Parliament, members of the President's own GPC party were 
behind the push to remove Dafa'i.  The GPC holds nearly 
eighty percent of the seats in Parliament, but a growing 
caucus within the party is willing to criticize the 
Government for what it perceives to be rampant corruption and 
mismanagement.  Standing in their way was Sheikh Abdullah 
al-Ahmar, leader of the minority opposition Islah party but 
appointed by President Saleh to be Speaker of Parliament. 
The four-person Presidium committee, headed by the Speaker 
and charged with determining the Parliamentary agenda, is 
responsible for delivering inquiries to ROYG ministers and 
demanding their appearance before Parliament.  Al-Ahmar has 
repeatedly refused to carry out his duty, said Taleb, viewing 
his personal relationship with the President as more 
important than his position in Parliament. 
 
5. (C) In the case of Dafa'i, Taleb expained that al-Ahmar 
was even more reticent to summon the Minister for questions, 
as his own road-building company was the beneficiary of many 
illegal contracts with the Ministry of Public Works. 
Parliamentarians sought to retaliate against al-Ahmar by 
threatening a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister 
Bajammal, which constitutionally would have brought down the 
Government.  The MPs had enough signatures to call a vote 
(76), but the motion was blocked by the Presidium. 
 
6. (C) Sheikh Abdullah's defense of the ROYG prompted angry 
responses from other MPs.  Al-Ahmar was accused by fellow 
Parliamentarians of being a "protector of corruption."  Even 
al-Ahmar's son Hamid, an Islahi MP and head of the al-Ahmar 
business group, gave a speech saying it was time for his 
father to step down.  Hamid told Econoff that he believed his 
father's relationship with the President was compromising the 
integrity of Parliament.  Faisal abu-Rhas, a prominent MP 
from al-Jawf, offered his resignation to Parliament in 
protest saying, "Sheikh Abdullah has clearly revealed his 
true face as an obstructionist."  According to Taleb, some 
MPs who had never before spoken on the floor of Parliament 
made statements in support of abu-Rhas and against ROYG 
corruption.  Many of them focused on al-Ahmar as the heart of 
the problem.  (Note:  Parliament has delayed a vote on 
whether to accept abu-Rhas's resignation until after the 
Ramadan recess.  End note.) 
 
7. (C) Just as al-Ahmar has been protecting the Government, 
President Saleh was protecting the Speaker's position. (Ref 
A) Parliament submitted to the President a draft of its own 
by-law, addressing such issues as pensions for MPs and 
issuance of paychecks (MPs are currently paid in cash).  The 
by-law also includes a provision for electing the Presidium 
every two years, with mandatory elections immediately 
following passage of the law.  Al-Ahmar has been pushing for 
at least a three-year term, saying anything less is 
undignified.  Despite overwhelming GPC support, Saleh vetoed 
his party's bill out of loyalty to his long-time ally and 
friend, Sheikh Abdullah.  Parliamentarians appear to have the 
support necessary to override the President's veto, which has 
never occurred in the history of the institution.  They will 
address the matter further upon returning from recess. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
MEPI Strengthens Democratic Institutions 
----------------------------------------- 
 
8. (C) Ali al-Imrani, Head of the Finance Committee, 
explained that Parliament's new-found backbone came not out 
of loyalty to party or ideology, but to the independence of 
the institution itself.  Much of this new-found pride, said 
Taleb, can be attributed to the success of NDI's MEPI-funded 
program for strengthening Parliamentary institutions.  Using 
NDI's legislative resource center, MPs meet regularly to 
analyze and discuss strategy on pending issues.  The program 
has succeeded in building a core group of reform-minded MPs 
from across the political spectrum who are willing to 
exercise their constitutional rights as legislators.  In 
June, for example, Parliament approved a law against smoking 
in public buildings that was signed into law by the 
President.  The vote was notable as it was the first time in 
Parliament,s history that it drafted a law from scratch and 
had it approved by the President. 
 
9. (C) Abdul Rahman Bafadel, leader of the opposition Islah 
caucus in Parliament, expressed a broader vision for Yemen as 
a true parliamentary democracy in which the President is 
limited to a ceremonial role.  Islah spokesman Mohamad Qahtan 
has made similar press statements in recent days, indicating 
increased confidence in the role of Parliament.  Bafadel was 
resigned to the fact that President Saleh would likely win 
another seven-year term in the 2006 elections, but believed 
that by 2013 Yemen would be ready to move away from "the 
power of one individual" in democracy.  Imrani agreed with 
these sentiments, and expressed his desire to shape the GPC 
party so that it is independent of the President's control. 
 
-------------------------- 
Window Dressing No Longer? 
-------------------------- 
 
10. (C) Comment:  Parliament's growing willingness to 
challenge ROYG policy, especially on issues of corruption, is 
a promising sign for Yemen's nascent democracy.  Recent 
developments come as something of a surprise considering the 
GPC's control over Parliament, and demonstrate an increased 
sense of institutional integrity among MPs.  Parliamentarians 
are taking their oversight role more seriously, and have even 
begun exercising legislative authority.  They are also openly 
frustrated with what they view as undemocratic political and 
business alliances of ruling elites -- most notably between 
President Saleh and Sheikh al-Ahmar. (Ref B)  Conflicts of 
interest pervade Parliament as well, and many MPs are not 
pure democrats.  When push comes to shove, Parliament will 
usually buckle under pressure from the ROYG, and even many 
GPC parliamentarians believe that a stronger opposition is 
needed to make Parliament more effective.  Nevertheless, 
Parliament has a critical role in controlling corruption and 
helping democracy take root -- a role it is increasingly 
willing to fulfill.  End comment. 
Krajeski