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| Arabia |
| Yemen's main opposition party re-elects Al Ahmar |
| 2007-03-02 |
| The main Yemeni Islamist opposition party, Islah, has re-elected Shaikh Abdullah Al Ahmar as its president for the fourth time since it was established in 1990, disappointing those who hoped for a change of guard. Al Ahmar did not attend the congress for unspecified reasons but was chosen by recommendations for the president of Islah's supreme panel for a fourth tenure contradicting the internal by-law of the party, which bans re-electing leaders after three terms. The party's veterans said there was an urgent need behind choosing Al Ahmar as the president for the sake of the party, Al Ahmar himself and the opposition coalition. The younger generation in the party did not see the necessity to recommend Al Ahmar as the president, especially after his announcement that he would not stand for the top post. Only days before the congress while debate was on about the need to change Islah's leadership so as to be a model for the ruling party and other opposition parties, Al Ahmar announced he no longer wanted to be the president of the party. "I could assure you that 85 per cent of the young people of the party did not agree on recommending Al Ahmar [for] the working sessions, but no one could convince those who were saying it was necessary to have Al Ahmar as the president," Abdu Salem, an Islah leader, told Gulf News. |
| Posted by:Fred |