Yemen's parliament has begun debating constitutional changeswhich, among other things, would allow President Salih to continue in power indefinitely.

The presidency is currently limited to two seven-year terms – meaning that Salih must leave office in 2013. Salih has already been in power in Sanaa for 32 years but previous constitutional changes have re-set the clock on the two-term limit.

The proposal this time is to remove the two-term limit altogether while reducing the length of presidential terms from seven years to five.

This has been rejected by opposition parties but, despite recent efforts to hold a "national dialogue", the ruling General People's Congress party (GPC) – which has an overwhelming majority in parliament – seems determined to steamroller it through.

The US has criticised the government's unilateralist approach, fearing that it could lead to an opposition boycott of the parliamentary elections scheduled for next April.

On Friday, a State Department spokesman said: "Previously, we consistently welcomed and supported the commitments of both the government and the opposition to address issues related to constitutional reforms and other election reforms through the National Dialogue. We continue to believe that the interests of the Yemeni people will be best served through that process of negotiations."

The GPC duly condemned this as interference in Yemen's internal affairs and an infringement of its national sovereignty. However, Yemen's dependence on international aid means that the US and other countries do have some leverage, and on Saturday parliament decided to refer the constitutional changes to a special committee which may possibly delay them until after the coming election.

An article on the GPC's website describes some of the other changes included in the proposals.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 Jan 2011