By: Nabil Abdul-Rab -
The newspapers of the Joint Meeting Parties think that it is a constitutional violation when executive officials inaugurate projects because that would mount to exploitation of the public service position and official media for publicizing the GPC’s presidential candidate – Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Article No. (5) of the Constitution outlaws exploiting public service positions or public property in the interest of a specific party or political organization. On the other hand, article No. (39) of the General Elections and Referendum Law provides for candidates’ equal opportunities to use official written media, radios and TVs.
These two articles are associated with a misconception that makes opposition parties consider the duties carried out by government officials affiliated with the General People’s Congress (being the ruling party) as a violation of the said articles. Opposition interprets them according to its interests.
At a press conference held August 7, 2006, opposition parties cited instances of such so-called violations appearing in official media outlets. They, for example, cited a one-page ad on Al-Thawra daily captioned “Our current battle is economic and developmental for the sake of a better life,” with the photo of President Ali Abdullah Saleh below.
Al-Nass, a newspaper with close link to Islah party, dedicated one full page to satirizing “projects’ foundational stones,” in a hint that governmental officials usually lay foundational bricks at project inauguration sites.
Such claims on the part of opposition parties have prompted Ali Abu Hulaiqah, chairman of the Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Committee to state “What opposition claims is groundless because opposition does not distinguish between news media and propaganda media.”
He added that the government’s officials are conducting their duties not on partisan basis but according to the law-defined authorizations vested in them.
Dr. Tareq Al-Mujahid, Dean of Sana’a University’s Faculty of Law, maintained that an executive official, who fails to undertake his responsibilities properly, should be held accountable. He called on the opposition to review laws including those of elections and local government.
Abu Hulaiqah confirmed “No legal provisions prohibit government’s officials from carrying out their duties at any time.” He pointed out that the real violation is when an executive official exploits his position to win votes for a specific candidate, which is not the case. He defined election propaganda as “forwarding a platform and inviting support for it.”
Abu Hulaiqah attributed the opposition’s claim to the “elections fever,” which lead them to misplace things, while Al-Mujahid considered them as part of the opposition’s political tricks, labeling the claim as “hollow.” As evidence, he cited article No. (50) of the Elections Law which provides: “If the President of the Republic is among the presidential candidates, what official media broadcast regarding the President of the Republic’s day-to-day duties shall not be deemed as election propaganda.”