US embassy cable - 03SANAA875

UNCLAS SANAA 000875 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, YM, DEMOCRATIC REFORM 
SUBJECT: STRONG ELECTION OBSERVATION EFFORT TO ASSESS 
YEMEN'S ELECTION 
 
REF: A. SANAA 818 
 
     B. SANAA 706 
 
1.  Summary:  Yemen's parliamentary election April 27 (refs 
and septel) will benefit from a well-organized election 
observation effort that will assess its outcome.  Encouraged 
by the ROYG, political parties and NGOs, more than 30,000 
international and domestic observers will deploy on election 
day.  The National Democratic Institute (NDI) will field the 
only official international delegation and plans to issue a 
statement on April 29.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U)  In an event striking for its contrast with some 
other country leaders who discourage or disallow independent 
election observation, President Saleh hosted a televised 
event for all international observers at the Presidential 
compound on April 23.  President Saleh welcomed the observers 
and said that Yemen has "attempted to learn from other 
democratic experiments" and has worked hard to improve 
election administration.  He described efforts to ensure a 
peaceful election and said that Yemen is committed to 
democratic development.  When challenged about the 
disappointing number of women candidates running for 
election, he encouraged all voters to elect women and 
admitted that Yemen had to work harder on women,s inclusion 
in political life while noting the difficulties involved 
culturally in doing so.   One National Democratic Institute 
(NDI) observer told Pol/Econoff that she was "pleasantly 
surprised" to get such a welcome after her observation 
experience in Zimbabwe, noting that NDI, UNDP and IFES had 
characterized the cooperation between internationals and the 
ROYG during the election process to her as "constructive and 
close" despite some difficulties. 
 
3.  (U)  The 30-member international delegation from NDI 
arrived in Yemen April 22.  Members from 10 countries, 
including Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Turkey, 
comprise the NDI delegation, which includes members of 
parliament, academics, NGO and political party activists, 
journalists and former diplomats (including former U.S. 
Ambassador to Yemen Charles Dunbar).   Because of funding 
constraints and security concerns, neither the UN nor the EU 
was able to mount official observation efforts, making NDI,s 
the only official international delegation.  NDI plans to 
issue its statement on the election on April 29. 
 
4.  (U)  The NDI delegation will be joined by more informal 
efforts by various embassies, including the U.S.  Post will 
deploy more than 20 observers to constituencies in Sanaa, 
Aden and Hadramaut but plans to keep a low profile, both for 
security reasons and to ensure the multi-country NDI 
delegation remains at the forefront.  Post has closely 
coordinated within the Embassy and with NDI to ensure 
appropriate security coverage for the observers by the ROYG. 
 
5.  (U)  More than 30,000 domestic observers representing 
NGOs, political parties and other actors have obtained 
credentials to examine the election process.  Of these, 
6-10,000 are from non-partisan and experienced NGOs trained 
by NDI, which should add valuable analysis to NDI,s official 
statement. 
HULL