| Policies of the main
parties, as reflected in their manifestos |
| GPC |
YSP |
Islah |
|
Basic principles:
Loyalty to God,
homeland and the republican revolution.
|
Basic principles:
Strengthen
national unity and democracy; bring about social justice. |
Basic principles:
Islam is a system which directs all aspects of
life. Committed
to the republican system. |
|
Unity and
democracy:
Protection of unity and democracy based on the
multi-party system. |
Unity and
democracy:
Strengthen
national unity and democracy.
Unification of armed forces is an urgent task. |
Unity and
democracy:
Oppose all
divisive factors, so as to preserve national unity.
Continue the
experiment in consultative democracy (shurawiyya).
Support
“peaceful alternation of power through the ballot
box”.
Strengthen parliament: “The reform of the
country’s constitution will not take place until
parliament becomes an effective instrument.” |
|
Religion:
Party adheres to Islam as a faith and a sharia
law. |
Religion:
Establish Islamic university. |
Religion:
Sharia should be
the source of all legislation.
Remove ambiguities
in the constitution, or contradictions with sharia: “The
constitution should confirm its superior reference to the
Qur’an and Sunna.”
“Take
inspiration” from the ‘ulema.
Close Aden brewery, which is “a challenge to God’s law”. |
|
Foreign affairs:
Develop relations
with the GCC.
Resolve border
issues with
Saudi Arabia
.
Support the Palestinian people in their quest for
independence. |
Foreign affairs:
Find a peaceful solution to the border problems. |
Foreign affairs:
Solidarity towards
the Arab and Muslim world, especially
Palestine
and
Bosnia
.
End negative consequences of the Gulf war.
|
|
Economy:
Freedom of investment
to promote competition and balance between the needs
and the production of the country.
Sound, gradual
implementation of market policy.
Basic goods at a
fixed price, with guaranteed quality.
Improve balance of
payments.
Limit inflation.
Expedite
Aden
Free Zone.
Reform economic
and financial institutions.
Subsidise
agriculture and fisheries to increase production.
Pay government
employees on time
Improve
communications and transport.
Resolve the land
issues in eastern
Yemen
.
|
Economy:
Free competition.
Encourage Yemeni
diaspora to invest without administrative obstruction.
Encourage
investment by other Arab countries in petroleum and
mineral extraction.
Create the
necessary infrastructure for industrial development to
take place.
Encourage
agricultural development by facilitating loans to
farmers, and by expanding irrigation through contruction
of dams.
Fix the price of
basic foodstuffs and medicines.
Adopt a fair
policy on wages which will “correspond to price
levels.”
Propose laws
determining relationship between landowners and
cultivators and between landlords and tenants.
Demand
implementation of Aden Free Zone.
“The exploitation of natural resources must
serve the development of the country.” |
Economy:
Liberal policy, encouraging
local and foreign investment, especially in advanced
technology and petrochemicals.
Encourage light
industries and agricultural sector.
Reduce budget
deficit, curb inflation and devaluation of Riyal.
Improve social
justice by relying on direct, rather than indirect,
taxation.
Oppose usury.
Provide more
information on state use of oil revenues.
End concealed
unemployment in ministries.
Improvement communication systems. |
|
Health:
Invest in health
care.
|
Health:
Improve training
and living standard of health workers.
Involve local councils in management of health
services; allow private investment in health sector. |
Health:
Improve health
sector generally.
Better distribution
of hospitals and dispensaries throughout the country.
Private investment in hospitals. |
|
Housing:
Encourage development of housing resources. |
Housing:
Develop housing for lower income groups; encourage
co-operatives. |
Housing:
|
|
Education:
Expand education.
Help mosques to
fulfil their educational role.
|
Education:
Continue free
schooling.
Gradually make
primary education compulsory.
Improve training
of teachers and their standard of living.
Higher education: establish Islamic university;
speed up construction of Ta’izz and Hadramaut
universities. |
Education:
Implement
principle of compulsory schooling.
Establish
scientific institutes and schools for Qur’anic learning.
Broader
educational opportunities for women.
Modernise
curriculum.
Produce better-defined educational policy and implement
planned campaigns against illiteracy. |
|
Social:
The family is the
essential core of society.
Assist the
integration of returnees.
Assist families who were affected by earlier
political conflicts. |
Social: |
Social: |
|
Civil rights:
Guarantee the
right of opposition, the right of expression in its
different forms.
Adhere to the
constitution, constitutional legitimacy, and the
peaceful transfer of power.
Uphold the rights
of citizens such as freedom, equality, social justice, security,
education, health and the upkeep of the modern state.
Encourage trade unions. |
Civil rights:
Respect freedom of
opinion, right to free association, public demonstration
and the right to strike.
Forbid
surveillance of citizens.
Guarantee the
rights of women.
Ban all
exceptional powers.
|
Civil rights:
Freedom to express
ideas and opinions forms part of the freedoms guaranteed
by sharia.
Support a free press, free from all outside
influence. Media must play their role in “developing the
people’s conscience”, making them more responsible,
in promoting trust between government and governed.
|
|
Devolution:
Reform
local government and introduce the electoral principle. |
Devolution:
“Local
authority [devolved power] is the essential basis of
democracy”.
|
Devolution:
Support
decentralisation.
|
|
Women:
Guarantee
rights of women under the Qur’an and the constitution. |
Women:
Guarantee
the rights of women. |
Women:
Protect
women from exploitation.
Reduce
cost of marriage.
Broader
educational opportunities for women. |
|
Corruption:
Reform
administrative bodies to end corruption.
Emphasise job qualifications rather than
politics in the workplace. |
Corruption:
War on corruption:
“the root cause of all our ills”.
Ensure that tax revenue reaches the state
coffers. |
Corruption:
All-out struggle against financial and
administrative corruption. |
|
Security:
Improve links
between the people and security forces.
Combat crime,
riots and terrorism.
Reform structure
of the security apparatus.
Enforce the laws
on drug trafficking and bringing criminals to justice.
|
Security:
Ensure stability
by reinforcing security and solving the “problem” of
tribal power.
“Draconian
measures” against assassins,
those who incite disorder, etc.
Unification of
armed forces is an urgent task.
Army should remain
outside politics.
Army to withdraw from the major cities.Training
and living conditions of security forces should be
improved. |
Security:
Armed forces to
fulfil their “mission of democratic defence founded on
the principle of the peaceful alternation of power”.
|
|
Judicial reform:
Simplify judicial
procedures.
Improve prison
conditions.
Choose honest
employees.
Clear the backlog
of cases.
|
Judicial reform:
Abolish private
prisons.
Forbid all arrests
not ordered by a judge.
Strengthen
impartiality by appointing judges on the basis of their
competence and guaranteeing them an appropriate standard
of living.
Apply justice to all, equally. |
Judicial
reform: |
