Almotamar.net - Yemen's parliament on Monday referred the draft amendments of the law of elections and referendum to the two committees of constitutional and legal affairs and that of public freedoms and human rights as the latter includes heads of parties' parliamentary blocs. That has taken place amid withdrawal of MPs representing blocs of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) from the hall of parliament in the wake of interruption that flared up the session opened by deputy head of the Islah party bloc, the biggest of the opposition JMP Zaid al-Shamy who described the amendments as far from intentions of the Yemeni constitution.

He affirmed his rejection of the amendments for reasons that he attributed to not reflecting the accord among the political parties and to being issued by the General People's Congress (GPC), the ruling party in Yemen, pointing out that the amendments would lead to moir� expulsion and exclusive power.

Meanwhile, the Head of the GPC parliamentary bloc Sheikh Sultan al-Barakani wished that the opposition members of parliament to talk objectively instead of reading out statements dictated to them, asking them to go back to the JMP statements, especially the Islah whose secretary general Abdulwahab al-Anisi has given after signing of an agreement among the parties stipulating the formation of the election commission from judges when he affirmed that the agreement was reached under an international sponsorship. Al-Barakani added that amendments of the law were made pursuant to the agreement of principles. He has made it clear that the alternative that the JMP now wants is the formation of the supreme commission foe election on the basis of equal share among the political parties represented in the parliament: the GPC, Islah, Yemen socialist Party (YSP), the Nasserite Unionist and the Baath.

He added that the JMP was practicing an extortion rejected by the GPC, maintaining that if " we have before the latest presidential and local elections given ten 46% of committees lists although they do not represent the 16% of the parliament seats and 29% of the electorate voices, that does not mean we priorities accordance to the constitution and the law." He accused the opposition of the desire for postponing the upcoming elections and called on the parliament to undertake its constitutional tasks in respecting of the legal dates and to form the supreme commission for elections.

On the other hand the head of the Nasserites parliamentary bloc Sultan al-Attwani rejected the amendments out of saying that some laws, such as those of elections and parties need accord among the political forces, querying about the reason why the GPC ignoring the accord this time.

Head of the independents bloc at the parliament Ali Abidrebah al-Qadi requested from the GPC and the opposition in the parliament to stand as one rank and with a sense of responsibility regarding the subject of elections.