US embassy cable - 05SANAA3018

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SANAA 003018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, KMPI, KMCA, ECON, PHUM, YM, DOMESTIC POLITICS, DEMOCRATIC REFORM 
SUBJECT: DEMOCRATIC REFORM STRATEGY FOR YEMEN -- QUARTERLY 
REPORT 
 
REF: A. SANAA 1300 
     B. SECSTATE 152818 
     C. SANAA 2961 
     D. SANAA 2920 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d 
). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  Post implemented the initial phase of 
Yemen's Democratic Reform Strategy with mixed results. (Ref 
A) This quarterly report demonstrates progress for women in 
political participation, and in the role of Parliament 
providing a check on the executive. (Ref B) The ROYG's 
Threshold Proposal for the Millennium Challenge Corporation 
(MCC) promises to improve the effectiveness of Yemen's 
judiciary and to combat corruption. The ROYG also committed 
to significant reforms in finance management.  In a recent 
announcement, President Saleh called for direct election of 
local officials and increased funding and responsibilities 
for local councils.  Despite the efforts of post and other 
donors, however, Yemen experienced considerable backsliding 
in press freedoms and obstructed progress in elections 
reform.  End summary. 
 
----------------------- 
Free and Fair Elections 
----------------------- 
 
2. (C) The role of women candidates in the upcoming 2006 
elections has been the subject of high profile discussion in 
recent months.  Women from across the political spectrum, 
receiving support from NDI's MEPI-funded program for women 
and political parties, issued a demand that all political 
parties fill a quota of 20 percent female representation in 
government.  The proposal initially met with a cool response, 
but attitudes appear to be changing.  President Saleh and the 
ruling GPC party have approved the concept in theory, and 
spokespeople for the opposition Islah party recently raised 
the ante, suggesting that 30 percent of candidates from all 
parties should be women, and that parties should run only 
women against one another in specific districts to guarantee 
female representation.  There are even suggestions that the 
opposition should run a women candidate for President. 
 
3. (C) The Sanaa MEPI Committee views continuation of NDI's 
project to be an essential component of the Democratic Reform 
Strategy, and supports continuation through the 2006 
elections.  At this time, NDI has received unspecified bridge 
funds through January 2006.  NDI will also submit a follow-on 
proposal for additional funding either from MEPI or USAID. 
This will be critical for maintaining pressure on the 
political parties to follow through on their pledges to 
increase the roll of women.  USAID also dedicated USD 42,000 
for two small grants to support women in elections. 
 
4. (C) There has been little progress in reforming the 
elections law.  Despite the persistent efforts of IFES, 
through the MEPI-funded Election Systems Assistance program, 
the ROYG has given little indication of when it will submit 
necessary legislation to Parliament.  The Supreme Council for 
Elections and Referenda (SCER) has also delayed redistricting 
plans for local councils, which is required by the Yemeni 
constitution.  Post met with SCER officials on several 
occasions to urge action, with little effect.  The Mission 
Development Working Group will address this issue in the 
coming quarter, as further delay could undermine public 
confidence in the elections process. 
 
5. (C) Post will evaluate proposals in the next quarter to 
support elections activities, including election monitoring 
and candidate training.  Post is working closely with the 
multi-donor working group, which features a robust and fully 
funded UNDP elections program.  Additional activities will 
seek to foster healthy and fair competition, as well as 
responsible campaigning by participating parties. 
 
-------------------------- 
Free and Independent Press 
-------------------------- 
 
6. (C) In July, post organized a PD-funded mission on press 
freedoms.  Two legal experts worked with ROYG officials and 
over 40 journalists for one week, culminating in a 
well-attended workshop, to provide recommendations on Yemen's 
proposed press law.  Post coordinated on this issue and 
others with Danish and British-funded programs to support 
press freedom and improve the quality of reporting. 
 
7. (C) Ambassador met with members of the Yemeni Journalists 
Syndicate to discuss an increase in harassment and attacks on 
journalists who publish reports critical of the ROYG. 
Following the meeting, Ambassador gave a public interview to 
al-Ayyam newspaper, in which he expressed concern that 
Yemen's democratic development may have "stalled", and cited 
deterioration in freedom of speech as one example. (Ref C) 
The comments provoked a heated debate in the press.  The 
government-controlled media accused the United States of 
interfering in Yemen's sovereign affairs, but much of the 
independent and opposition media praised the comments for 
raising important issues.  In this quarter, post will 
determine next steps on press reform, exploring funding 
options for more sustained assistance programs to augment 
existing donor efforts. 
 
------------------- 
Reducing Corruption 
------------------- 
 
8. (C) In September, Yemen submitted its MCC Threshold 
proposal to Washington for approval, with a primary focus on 
reforming the court system.  If enacted, the Threshold plan 
would make the judiciary independent of the executive branch, 
strengthening the integrity of judges and their decisions. 
The plan also includes the cross-cutting theme of corruption, 
aiming to control mismanagement and abuse at each stage of 
implementation.  If the plan is approved, coordinating its 
implementation will be a central focus of post's democratic 
reform activities. 
 
9. (C) In October, Ambassador called a meeting of heads of 
donor missions to discuss the adverse effects of corruption 
on development efforts in Yemen.  Participants included 
ambassadors from the British, German, and Dutch embassies. 
The group agreed to develop a shared reform agenda in the 
area of governance, to be guided by MCC and World Bank 
indicators.  A U.S. and British-led working group will 
develop these objectives, pairing technical programs in the 
field with strong political messages on good governance at 
the top.  The ambassadorial group is scheduled to meet for a 
second time in the next quarter. 
 
10. (C) A multi-donor group for Public Finance Management 
Reform, in which post is a key member, successfully worked 
with the ROYG on passage of a reform strategy in the Cabinet. 
 Post has the lead on mapping existing donor activities, and 
a World Bank consultant, funded by the British, is creating 
an action plan to determine what donor support is needed to 
encourage transparency of ROYG financial management.  A major 
component of the plan is reform of government procurement 
practices, which post will consider funding in the next 
quarter.  Post will also consider additional anti-corruption 
programs as part of 2005 DG initiatives from USAID. 
 
----------- 
Rule of Law 
----------- 
 
11. (C) The central feature of the ROYG's MCC Threshold plan, 
supported by the Embassy, is the restructuring of the 
judiciary.  Authority to appoint, fire, and discipline judges 
will be removed from the President's office and vested in an 
independent council of legal professionals.  With the 
Threshold plan, the ROYG aims to raise the level of integrity 
on the bench, ensuring that Yemen's judges are qualified and 
experienced enough to adjudicate fairly the cases that come 
before them. 
 
12. (C) To achieve the stated milestone in adherence to due 
process, post issued a MEPI small grant to the Democracy 
School to train law students in the principle of human 
rights.  USAID will also provide USD 85,000 for three small 
grants, in cooperation with the Ministry of Human Rights and 
UNDP, to support "women in justice".  The small grants aim to 
raise awareness among Yemeni women of their rights under the 
law, and to increase the role of women as judges and lawyers. 
 Post will continue to work with MEPI in an effort to bring 
representatives of ABA-CEELI to Yemen, with the goal of 
implementing recommendations from a 2005 assessment mission. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Expanding Government Accountability 
----------------------------------- 
 
13. (C) NDI's MEPI-funded program in "Strengthening 
Parliamentary Institutions" produced significant results in 
last quarter's Parliamentary session. (Ref D) The legislature 
challenged the ROYG on a number of high profile corruption 
cases, and demanded more oversight authority over the budget. 
 For the first time in its history, Parliament exercised its 
constitutional authority to summon ministers for questioning 
and to draft legislation.  Many of the most active MPs 
received training at NDI's parliamentary resource center, and 
met in NDI-sponsored issue groups. 
 
14. (C) In September, President Saleh made a surprise 
announcement that the ROYG would allow for the direct 
election of regional governors and district managers in 2007. 
 This is a positive sign in keeping with post's support of 
decentralized government.  The President also called for 
increased funding and responsibilities for local councils. 
The Ministry of Finance has stonewalled all attempts to date 
at fiscal decentralization, with sector budgets for 
ministries such as health and education remaining under 
central control.  The President's public position has created 
renewed pressure on the ROYG to empower local government.  In 
the next quarter, post will review UNDP's findings on fiscal 
decentralization and determine next steps to encourage the 
ROYG to fulfill its commitments on decentralization. 
Krajeski