Arif Abu Hatim Almotamar.net - SANAA-Head of the European Election Observation Mission Baroness in Yemen Nicholson Winterbourne said the lections process held yesterday went on well and was peaceful in general but what is regrettable is that there were some cases of violence resulted in give deaths in election-related incidents

She affirmed that the European mission visited 340 polling stations in 16 governorates including 147 centers in urban areas and 193 in the countryside. The overall evaluation of the electoral process so far is between good and very good and observers are still present monitoring the vote-counting operation in a number of centers that they visit, and at he time of writing this report and preparation for this press conference she says information mentions that the vote-counting was going on slowly but proceeding according to the law and in presence of committees formed from several political parties.
She has considered the legal status of the woman and rise of illiteracy rates in the country have affected negatively the process of election, saying there were reliable reports mentioning about pressures exercised on local councils candidates, particularly woman candidates to withdraw their candidacy. She described the election campaigns as active and peaceful in general and there was greater focusing on presidential election campaigns as the candidates have held rallies in various parts of the country.
Head of the European mission added in a press conference this evening that the proportion of participation in voting was 58% and observers of the European Union have positively evaluated the measures of voting in the 82 centers they have visited.
The European mission criticized the media instruments in Yemen for not covering the local councils campaigns with the same level with which they covered the presidential elections campaigns. She praised participation of the Yemeni civil society organizations in overseeing the elections a matter which has expanded transparency of the democratic process. Forty-five persons from non-governmental; organizations and political parties have been granted licenses for monitoring the elections, calling for the necessity of liberating the NGOs from being part of the political parties.