Yemen
House of Representatives
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Political system
Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
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Transitional system
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Structure of parliament
Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
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Bicameral
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IPU membership
Current membership status
View field in the data dictionary -
Yes
Election results
Data on parliamentary elections, including the background, candidates, voter turnout, results and the formation of the new legislature. By default the latest election results are displayed. Select a date to view results from previous elections.
Background
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Election date(s)
The date when elections started and ended for directly or indirectly elected parliaments/chambers. The date of appointments for appointed parliaments/chambers.
View field in the data dictionary -
27 Apr 2003
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Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature
Date at which the previous legislature (elected at the previous elections) was dissolved.
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No information available
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Timing of election
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry; Early elections; Delayed elections
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Upon normal expiry
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Number of seats at stake
Number of seats contested at the elections. Where the parliament/chamber is fully renewed, this number is usually identical to the statutory number of members. Where the parliament/chamber is partially renewed or appointed, the number of seats at stake is usually less than the total number of members.
View field in the data dictionary -
301
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Scope of elections
Scope of elections: Full renewal; Partial renewal.
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Full renewal
Election summar(ies)
For historical elections, data is provided in summary documents in PDF or HTML format.
Candidates
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Number of parties contesting the election
This field may include either the number of parties contesting the election, or the number of coalitions/electoral alliance.
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22
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Total number of candidates
Total number of people who registered as candidates for election. Does not include people who stood as candidates to become "substitute members".
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1,536
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Number of male candidates
Number of male candidates
View field in the data dictionary -
1,520
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Number of female candidates
Number of female candidates
View field in the data dictionary -
16
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Percentage of women candidates
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
View field in the data dictionary -
1.0%
Voter turnout
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Registered voters
Number of people registered to vote
View field in the data dictionary -
8,035,721
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Voters
Number of people who actually voted
View field in the data dictionary -
6,105,696
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Voter turnout
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of people who actually voted by the number of people registered to vote
View field in the data dictionary -
76.0%
Results
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About the election
Short description of the context and results of the election.
View field in the data dictionary -
On 27 April 2003, more than eight million voters elected the 301 members of the Parliament in the country's third parliamentary elections, since its unification in 1990. According to the Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum (SCER), some 1,536 candidates, representing 22 parties and independents, contested the elections. There were only 16 female candidates, the smallest percentage ever, even though female voters make up 45% of the registered electorate.
The main parties were President Ali Abdullah Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC), the opposition Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah) of the Speaker of Parliament and the Yemeni Socialist Party. In the outgoing assembly, the GPC had 226 seats, Islah 62, the opposition Nasserite party three seats and the Baath party two. Independents held eight seats while the Socialist Party had no representative.
The electoral campaign was overshadowed by the US-led war on Iraq, a factor which made the atmosphere not as exciting as in earlier elections. All political parties gave priority to the fight against terrorism, but with completely different approaches. The GPC declared its intention to continue cooperating with the United States and the rest of the world in the war against terrorism, while the Islah announced that combating terrorism should be discussed and approved by legislative institutions. During the campaign, the two main parties, GPC and Islah, threw mud at each other in the media. The Islah party accused the official media of distorting its reputation, while the newspaper close to the GPC even went so far as to name the Assahwa newspaper, close to Islah, as the Taliban-Yemen mouthpiece.
Advertisement agencies were employed for the first time to produce and hang thousands of banners and posters bearing slogans of all the various parties.
Before the elections, all 22 political parties had signed a code of conduct with the aim of stopping violence during the elections. Even though violent incidents were reported, there was less election violence than in previous polls held in this country, where many people carry arms (for example, 29 people were killed in fighting related to municipal elections in 2001).
Violence erupted in several places on polling day. At least fifteen people were shot and three polling stations closed by officials due to shootouts among rival parties. The violence occurred despite a 100,000-strong military presence deployed at polling stations across the country. The polls were supervised by 175 international observers and thousands of national monitors.
Final results indicated that the People's General Congress had retained its overwhelming majority after winning 238 seats, as against 46 seats for the opposition Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah), 8 for the Yemeni Socialist Party, and 4 for Independents. The Nasserite Unionist Popular Organisation obtained three seats, while the Arab Baath Socialist Party won the remaining two.
On 10 May 2003, the new Parliament convened its first meeting and re-elected Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Ahmar as its Speaker.
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Percentage of seats won by largest party or coalition
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of seats won by the largest party by the number of seats at stake in the election.
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79.1%
Parties or coalitions winning seats
Political group | Total |
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General People's Congress (GPC) | 238 |
Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah) | 46 |
Yemeni Socialist Party | 8 |
Independents | 4 |
Nasserite Unionist Popular Organization | 3 |
Arab Baath Socialist Party | 2 |
Members elected, by sex
- Number of men elected
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300
- Number of women elected
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1
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Percentage of women elected
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected by the number of seats filled.
View field in the data dictionary -
0.3%
- Women Directly Elected
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1
- Other notes on the elections
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The House of Representatives, elected in April 2003, held its first session in May to serve a six-year term until May 2009. Elections were due at least 60 days before the end of that term (i.e. by March 2009).
Following the constitutional amendments of February 2009, the 2009 House of Representatives elections were postponed by two years to 2011.
Following political turmoil in 2011, in February 2012 the term of the House was extended by two more years to February 2014, then by another year to February 2015. In January 2014, the National Dialogue Conference (which was in charge of gathering opinion on the new Constitution) further extended the term of the House until the adoption of the new Constitution, which was expected to take place in the course of 2015. The country has been in a state of war since 2015.
The House of Representatives in Seiyun, which is affiliated with the UN-recognized Government in Aden, represents Yemen at the Inter-Parliamentary Union as of May 2021.
The current official seat of the House of Representatives is Aden. For security reasons, it currently meets in Seiyun.
According to the House of Representatives in Seiyun, 51 of the 301 members elected to the House of Representatives in 2003 – including the sole woman – had passed away by June 2021. As of 24 June 2021, there are 250 male members. This includes members based in Sana’a.
- Sources
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Yemen Times
House of Representatives (25.08.2016)
Permanent Mission in Geneva (24.06.2021)
New legislature
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Total number of men after the election
The total number of male parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
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300
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Total number of women after the election
The total number of female parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
View field in the data dictionary -
1
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Percentage of women after the election
The percentage is calculated by dividing the total number of women in this parliament/chamber by the current number of members.
View field in the data dictionary -
0.3%
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First-term parliamentarians
The number of members who are assuming their parliamentary mandate for the first time following the election or renewal, regardless of their mode of designation.
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No information available
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Percentage of first-term parliamentarians
The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of first-term parliamentarians by the number of seats at stake in the election.
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No information available
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Date of the first session
The date when the newly elected parliament/chamber was convened for the first time. It may be different from the date when members were sworn in.
View field in the data dictionary -
10 May 2003
First Speaker of the new legislature
- Personal details for the first Speaker of the new legislature
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Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Ahmar (Male)
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Date of election
The date of the election of the Speaker may be different from the date of the first session of the new legislature.
View field in the data dictionary -
10 May 2003