REPORT
of
the
IPU
NEEDS
ASSESSMENT MISSION
DECEMBER 8 - 19,
1996
to the
YEMENITE
PARLIAMENT
(Majlis Annowab),
Sana’a, Republic
of Yemen
BY Albert J.B.
Hubert,
Deputy clerk of
the
Tweede Kamer der
Staten-Generaal
(Lower House of
Dutch Parliament)
2500 EA The Hague
The
Sana’a
/ Scheveningen,
December 1996
--------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
SELECTION OF
2.
Since before
the election of the present House of Representative of the
“With reference
to..(assistance to the Parliament of
In the said
meeting the Deputy Speaker expressed his gratitude for the efforts done
by the
IPU to assist the Parliament of Yemen and requested the possibility of
fielding
a needs assessment mission to outline the functional requirements of
the
Parliament of Yemen in view of preparing a comprehensive project of
assistance.”
3.
The IPU in due
course approached the Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (Lower House of
Dutch
Parliament) to see if it could designate somebody for this mission.
This
finally resulted in the selection, in mid November, of Mr. Albert J.B.
Hubert,
deputy Secretary-General of the House. See Annex 2. for more details.
The
mission had to be done in the current year, during a busy time in the
normal
course of parliamentary life in the
4.
The mission was
excellently received in Sana’a by UNDP’s Resident Co-ordinator of the
United
Nations System’s Operational Activities for Development, Mr Önder Yücer, and his Deputy, Mr. Khaled Alloush,
and by Mr. Mohammed Al-Wajeeh, Deputy First Vice President of
Parliament and Mr
Abdulbaki Abdulrahman, Deputy of the First Vice President of
Parliament. The
mission was assisted on a day to day basis by Mr. Habeb Sharif of the
UNDP and
by Mr. Ahmed D.Al-Awadi, General Manager Public Relations &
Protocol of the
Parliament. Mr. Al-Awadi was responsible for the program of the mission
and
acted as translator/interpreter during the whole period the mission was
working
in
TERMS OF REFERENCE
5.
The UPI published a
policy document dated
Note
on Assistance to Parliaments and the role of the
Inter‑Parliamentary
Recent
years have seen an ever growing number of
countries undergoing fundamental structural changes involving a
transition
towards multi‑party parliamentary democracy. In many of them this
process
is accompanied by the introduction of a market economy which requires
the
adaptation of existing laws and the adoption of new ones. Common to all
of
these countries is the significant enhanced role which the new national
constitutional framework gives to the parliamentary institution.
A
welcome growing awareness in the international
community of the desirability to focus on issues of governance and
the need
to build and strengthen national institutions has accompanied these
developments. Still, much of the focus has been on electoral processes
and
governmental institutions while relatively little forethought has been
given to
the longer perspective: the need to assist newly elected parliaments
to fulfil
their constitutional role.
The
importance of providing
assistance to the parliamentary institution is obvious when considering
that
the parliaments in these countries is called upon to play a
significantly
enhanced role in adopting laws and overseeing the executive, that the
legislative
agenda is often very extensive, sometimes overwhelming, and that the
parliament
does not have the required past experience, trained staff and material
means to
allow it to serve its members efficiently. In addition, many of the
elected
parliamentarians have no prior parliamentary experience and are not
accustomed
to work in a multi-party environment.
IPU
has been providing assistance to parliaments to
overcome difficulties like these over the last twenty years in the
framework of
its programme for advisory services and technical assistance to
parliaments.
The programme focuses on strengthening the parliamentary institution
itself,
although some assistance can of course also be provided to the elected
parliamentarians. The activities undertaken under the programme
involve
providing advice to parliaments, assessing their needs, identifying
sources of
funding and implementing projects.
Advisory
services relate to the whole spectrum of
parliamentary life. Advice can be provided on the role, structure and
working
methods of a national parliament. Recent projects have focused on the
general
role of parliaments (including help in drafting Standing Orders and
Rules of
Procedure of parliament) and on the rationalisation of methods and
organisational improvements in areas such as administrative and
legislative
services, committee secretariats, library, archives, documentation and
research
services, and reporting and information services.
The
parliamentary system best suited to a particular
country will invariably depend upon that country's history and culture,
constitutional framework and other basic laws. in choosing its experts
the
IPU
experts work with the leaders of the parliament
(Presidents and leaders of the different political parties) as well as
with
senior parliamentary staff. In order to ensure maximum efficiency with
advice
being of practical relevance to the work of the parliament, the experts
are as
a rule practitioners themselves who have also gained international
experience.
The working languages of these experts are English, French and Spanish.
Other
than providing advice to the parliamentary
institution, the IPU also offers projects for technical assistance to
parliaments. Such projects are jointly elaborated by the parliamentary
authorities and IPU experts. The latter undertake a needs assessment
mission to
the parliament concerned for the purpose of jointly identifying the
needs of
the parliament. The experts subsequently elaborate a draft project
which is
submitted to the parliament concerned for its comments and approval.
Projects
established under the
When
drawing up the project document, the parliament
concerned and the IPU identify together the components of the project
which can
be implemented with existing domestic resources and those which require
external and additional support. The
External
support is invariably required for staff
training. Consequently, the IPU frequently contacts parliaments which
may be
able to accept staff from another parliament for in)service training
and also
be able to second staff to IPU projects for the purpose of travelling
to the
parliament concerned to provide on-the-spot training. Moreover, the IPU
can
identify staff who can be made available, with the consent of the
parliament
concerned, to travel to a requesting parliament to advise it on the
establishment or development of a particular parliamentary service.
The
IPU also contacts potential national and
multilateral donors to obtain the necessary financial support to
implement the
projects. Once an agreement for the financing of a project has been
concluded
with one or more donors, the IPU channels the funds, oversees the
implementation of the project and provides progress reports to the
donor(s)
concerned and the
Finally,
in the course of identifying the needs for
future projects, IPU also seeks to determine what assistance, if any,
is
provided from other sources. This service is maintained throughout the
implementation of the project in an effort to avoid duplication and
ensure
maximum efficiency in the utilisation of external resources.
This general
policy resulted in the Terms of Reference for the present mission,
drawn op on
TERMS
OF REFERENCE FOR AN IPU
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Introduction
The
When
the RY was formed in 1990,
the two countries' legislatures were amalgamated to form the House of
Representatives, pending elections to be held after a 30-month
transitional
period. These elections were held in April 1993 and the House of
Representatives is now comprised of 301 members, elected for a
four-year term
by direct and secret universal suffrage with the simple majority voting
system.
Yemeni citizens aged 18 or over are eligible to vote and Yemeni
citizens aged
25 or over are eligible to stand for election.
According
to the 1991
Constitution, legislative power is vested in the House of
Representatives and
this body is also empowered to decide general state policy, to
supervise public
spending, and to ratify international treaties and agreements. It can
be dissolved
by he President of the Republic.
In
September 1996, the
authorities of the
Objective
The
proposed mission is intended
to assist the House of Representatives in identifying areas where it requires assistance in terms of
human and material resources in order to prepare a project document for
assistance designed to strengthen the capacity of the House of
Representatives
to fulfil the role entrusted to it by the country's Constitution.
Outputs
The
main output of the mission
will be a draft project document to be submitted to the House of
Representatives for its comments and approval.
The approved version will be shared with the UNDP and other
interested
parties. The UNDP has undertaken formally to commit funds towards the
implementation of a project resulting from the mission and also to
assist in
mobilising additional resources as may be required.
Activities
It
is suggested that the mission
carry out the activities listed below as well as any other activity it
may deem
appropriate to produce a comprehensive report:
- carry out a situation analysis and
draw up an inventory of the
human and material resources available;
- assess the overall technical and
external assistance requirements
of the House of Representatives, including in terms of material
resources and
staff training;
- provide advice as may be required
by the authorities of the House
of Representatives and make recommendations in the proposed project
document with a view to improving on its
organisation and working methods;
- make an inventory of assistance
already provided by other sources
and identify possible donors for future activities under the proposed
project
document.
- formulate a technical assistance
project suitable for UNDP
funding addressing the immediate and long-term capacity-building needs
of the
House of Representatives.
In
order to carry out these
activities, the mission, working under the responsibility of the IPU
and in
consultation with the Resident Representative of UNDP in Sana'a, shall
hold
working sessions with the, authorities of the House of Representatives
and
other political and administrative officials of the House of
Representatives
and the Government.. It shall also visit
and inspect the premises of the House of Representatives with a view to
assessing the material resources available to it and determining what
additional resources it may require.
Inputs
The
Inter-Parliamentary
Composition
and timing of the
mission.
It
is proposed that the mission
be conducted on behalf of the IPU in December 1996.
The
mission will last for a
maximum of two weeks , starting from
Reporting
The
mission shall submit a
report including a draft project document to the IPU within one month
of its
completion. This report shall be finalised by the IPU and submitted to
the
authorities of the Parliament and UNDP. Follow-up shall be agreed
between the
Parliament, UNDP and IPU.
REPORT
SOME RELEVANT PIECES OF YEMENITE HISTORY
(Thanks to data quoted from ArabNet on Internet).
2.
Civil war
3.
Imam Yayha
ruled the
4.
On his father's
death in 1962, Ahmad's son, Muhammed al-Badr, ruled for only a week,
before a
military coup led by Colonel Abdullah al-Sallal proclaimed a republic.
Backed
by the
5.
The deposed
imam fled to the mountains of the north, and his Royalist forces,
backed by
6.
Egyptian troops
withdrew from the region in 1967, and President al-Sallal was
overthrown. He
was sent into exile in
7.
Separate states and
unification
8.
In the late 1960s,
British presence in southern
9.
Mutual distrust between
the two
10. By the end
of 1981 a constitution
had been drafted in order to implement a merger between the two states.
Attempts to consolidate this, however, were delayed by political
instability in
the PDRY and it was not until May 1990 that the merger was made
official.
11. The new
country was named the
12. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
SITUATION OF THE
13. Excellent
documentation is available from UN sources. A very useful resume can be
had
from The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd 1996 (EIU Country Report).
14. Here and now
it
may suffice to state the following.
15.
16. - more than 40 %
unemployment
17. - strongly decreased net income for the population
18. - depleted state funds,
and
19. - high inflation (103 %
in 1994 and 75 % in 1995).
20. HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT,
COMPOSITION, ELECTIONS
21. Constituencies:
22. single-member
constituencies.
23. Voting
system:
24. Simple
majority
system.
25. Vacancies
arising between general elections are filled through by-elections held
within a
period of two months. No such elections are held when vacancies arise
within
the last six months of the parliamentary term.
25.
26. Voter
requirements:
27. age: 18 years
28. - Yemeni
citizenship
29. - residence
in
29.
30. Eligibility:
30.
31. age: 25 years
32. - Yemeni
citizenship
33. - literacy
34. - good moral
character
35. -
ineligibility: conviction, without rehabilitation, for an immoral
act<P>
35.
36. Incompatibilities:
37. - active
duty
in the civil service
38. Candidacy
requirements:
39. (data
unavailable)
40. Date(s) of
elections / renewal
41. 1993-04-27
42. April 1997
42.
43. Purpose of
elections
44. Elections
were
held for all 301 seats in the new House of Representatives to replace
the
provisional legislature that had been set up following the unification
of the
two
45. Background
and
outcome of elections
46. In May 1990,
following the unification of the northern Yemen Arab Republic and the
southern
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, a joint House of Representatives
comprising members of the former legislatures as well as 31 appointed
members
was set up to serve as the legislature for a 30-month transitional
period, at
the end of which parliamentary elections would be held. Government was
shared
by the General People's Congress (GPC), the former ruling party in the
North,
and the Yemen Socialist Party (YSP), which had ruled in the formerly
socialist
South.
47. The general
elections were postponed once as a result of continuing unrest and
earlier
political violence in the country. In November 1992, the country's
political
leaders announced that they had reached agreement for the elections to
be held
the following April. They were widely considered as the first free,
multi-party
polls not only in
48. Thousands of
candidates (including 49 women, for the first time) entered the race
for the
301 seats at stake although fewer than 30% of these candidates formally
represented the some 50 contending parties. The main contestants were
President
of the Republic Ail Abdullah Saleh's GPC and the YSP of Vice President
Ali
Salem Al-Baid. They, however, faced a stiff challenge from the Islamic
fundamentalist group, the Yemen Alliance for Reform (YAR -al-Islah).
Social and
economic problems (such as unemployment, inflation, low foreign
investment)
figured prominently in the campaign rhetoric.
49. Polling took
place against a background of disturbances and violence. Security was
tight and
voting was massive as up to 90% of the registered voters reportedly
went to the
polls. The results showed that the main parties had maintained their
traditional strongholds. The GPC won a total of 122 seats, falling
short of an
absolute majority, while the YSP won only 56 seats, coming in third
after the
surprisingly strong YAR. Most of the remaining seats were won by
independent
candidates, who subsequently joined either the GPC or the YSP.
50. The
opposition
alleged that there had been vote-rigging and other electoral
malpractices by
the main parties but foreign election monitors declared that the
irregularities
had been minimal and could not be said to have tampered with the free
and fair
character of the elections.<BR>
On
10 May, GPC and YSP agreed to create a united parliamentary bloc as the
first
step towards a formal merger. Five days
later, Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, leader of YAR, was elected Speaker of
the
newly elected House of Representatives and, on 30 May, a coalition
Government
was formed, comprising the three main parties that had won the most
seats (GPC,
YSP and YAR). Outgoing Prime Minister Haider Abu Bakr al-Attas, leader
of YSP,
retained his post and President Saleh (Head of State in North Yemen
since 1978)
continued.
50.
51. Statistics
52.
52.
53. Results of
the
elections
53.
54. Number of
registered electors
2,700,000
(approx.)
55. Voters
90%
(approx.)
56. .
Distribution
of seats according to political group
56.
57. General
People's Congress (GPC)
122
58. Yemeni
Alliance
for Reform (YAR-al-Islah)
62
59. Yemeni
Socialist Party (YSP)
56
60. Arab
Socialist
Ba'ath Party
6
61. Truth Party
2
62. Nasserite
Popular Unionist Organisation
1
62.
63. Nasserite
Correction Organisation
1
64. United
Democratic Front
1
65. Independents
48*
____
299
+ 2 vacancies
66. *soon after
the
elections, at least 21 of these joined the GPC to give it a near
absolute
majority. Another 12 joined the YSP.
67. There are 2
female members of parliament.
68. While the
President of the Republic and Leader of the Government is leader of the
GPC,
the leader of the Islah Party became President of the House of
Representatives.
The other functions in the Presidium of the House were divided among
the main
parties: the First Vice President is a member of the GPC and the other
two Vice
Presidents belong to the YSP and the Ba’ath Party. It is remarkable
that the
YSP could keep this post even after the recent civil war in 1994 when
the YSP
was ousted from other important posts.
DESCRIPTONS AND
FINDINGS
69. I found the
top
management in parliament to be somewhat confused about the nature of
the mission.
At first I even had to explain to the Deputy First Vice President of
Parliament
that I was there at the request of his own Parliament. There also is
some
confusion about the top management function as well. As it turns out
the
function of Secretary-General is non-existent here, and there is not
much
co-ordination between different parliamentary authorities (political or
civil
servants). As a result many request for
aid have been send out by different people through different channels.
70. The IPU is
the
second to come up with anything concrete: the first was USAid (recently
defunct
in
71. Further to
this, the Dutch Embassy gave me a copy of a request formulated to a
recent
72. The relevant
part of the request to the European Parliament delegation is formulated
in the
following quote from a copy of a letter sent by the First Deputy
Speaker to the
Dutch Ambassador after the delegations visit.
73. (Items 2 and
4
were considered vital by the Yemenite authorities.
74. “1. A computer network to
connect all departments of
the House, 30 computers and 10 printers are needed for that.
75. 2. The Information and
Media Department of the House
needs a Printing Press unit to print and publish Legislation an
Deliberations
of the House and publish periodicals and newspapers to assist in
enhancing
public awareness on democracy, the legislative organ etc.
76. 3. Provision of an
integrated unit for Audio-visual
production with its microwave transmission unit.
77. 4. Assistance in training
and upgrading the standards
of the cadres of the House through organising training courses abroad.
Also
organising study tours for MP’s to get aquatinted to parliamentary
experiments
and practices in other parts of the world.
78. 5. Assisting the library
of the House with books,
periodicals, publications, legislation and regulations of the European
Parliament and European countries”
79. There may be
some confusion about the high level management structure, but in
general I
found a well run and effective Parliament. It is a real power in the
land, not
a figurehead or rubber-stamp (although it is said that
the rule of law is a somewhat hazy
concept in some outlying parts of the country). It is active and
seemingly well
appreciated by the people represented. It has meetings for twenty
workdays on and then has 20 days off. When
the session
is on, there are plenary sessions in the morning and committee meetings
during
the afternoon and sometimes in the evening.
80. Proposals
are
sometimes really amended and
occasionally even rejected (or withdrawn when defeat is in the
offing).
Plenary debates are broadcast widely on radio (even directly) and daily
on TV
(one hour, screened by parliamentary officials). The newspapers write
about the
debates with widely differing views, as
is normal.
81. Surprisingly
there is no Public Gallery (but an enormous Diplomatic Gallery, mostly
unused). Only sometimes observers from
the general public are invited at their request, when a special
interest can be
shown to watch the proceedings and when there is no danger of
disturbances.. Since there is nothing in
the Constitution or in the parliamentary charter or Rules of Order that
forbid
it, I would strongly advise the Yemenite Parliament to open it meetings
to the
public in the way that is normal to almost all serious parliaments in
the
world: open a public gallery (in this case by using the Diplomatic one
for the
general public - and perhaps occasionally setting aside a few seats for
special
guests). Provisions can be made that the public must not interfere in
any way,
has to be silent, unarmed, etc. Provisions can be made for the security of the members and of the premises. Being open to the public in this way, can
only enhance the goodwill of parliament both in
82. The plenary
meeting are conducted in a professional manner. Good seating, excellent
sound
amplification and sound recording and also video recording, with
secretaries
producing more or less verbatim records in a few days. The meeting hall
was
recently constructed on the existing premises, after the reunification
of North
and South and the jump to 301 members in the Parliament. The Americans
put in
an enormous IBM voting machine with a display taking up one complete
long side
of the oblong plenary hall, and with a keyboard at all seats resembling
the
cockpit of a modern aeroplane. The apparatus is described as follows in
a USAid
document: “Every member has a separate console. The console consists of
buttons
for logging in, for voting, and requesting to speak, a microphone
attached to
the system’s public address system, and a small speaker that works as
part of
the public address system. The Speaker of Parliament has a computer
monitor
that records requests for members to speak and allows him to activate
microphones. Behind the Speaker there is a large board with the names
of all
the members of Parliament. Beside each name are three lights that
indicate
whether the member has cast a vote for or against or abstained. A large
LED
board displays the results of the vote. A laser printer also prints out
the
results.”
83. Voting with
this machine takes about a quarter of an hour for each separate vote.
84. Committees
do
have a real function and have real influence. There are about 17
committees
with a maximum of 15 members, so not all members have to be member of a
committee.
85. The normal
beginning of the legislative process is that the Government sends a
proposal to
Parliament. This is given a first reading in an plenary meeting where a
debate
takes place. The proposal then is sent to the appropriate committee,
where it
is examined. The Government Minister may be invited to answer
questions,
respond to criticism and comment on alternative proposals.
A report is written about the findings of the
committee, which is send to the plenary. Proposals for changes
(amendments) can
be adopted by the committee and sent to the plenary. A plenary debate
takes
place, at the end of which the decisions are made (votes are taken).
86. This is a
real
Parliament in a developing democracy. It is vulnerable from within and
from
outside. There are some reasons to doubt that government authority is
strong
enough in areas away from the bigger cities to make people to live by
the law
as promulgated by Parliament. The House of Representatives has to be
established as a success in the coming parliamentary period, after the
April 27
elections or it may go into decline. It seems the democratic experiment
is
watched with some concern by neighbouring countries (who are not and
cannot be
members of the IPU) and by some forces within the country. So there are
many
reasons to help. It surely is in the interest of all democratic peoples
to help
this vulnerable experiment in the tip of the
87. The
Parliamentary staff is not to big: about 350 employees, not counting
the security
unit. Many have long parliamentary experience in former Parliaments of
former
parts of
88. The
Parliaments buildings are in the business district of Sana’a, in a
small
side street off the market place and bus station. On the premises there
are
many separate buildings. The area is walled off, with one gate, guarded
by the
security unit. This land in the centre of the city is rather valuable
nowadays.
89. Parliament
started out in a former Palace of the former royal family. (There is a
possibility the former owners will claim this building back). This
palace was
added to, and surrounding building were bought. A new office building
is under
construction on the premises, for the committees. The extension of the
original
building (plenary hall and library) is of good quality as no doubt the
new
committee building will be. The buildings that were bought recently are
of very
poor quality. Buying property, creating
new buildings and maintenance is done out of the Parliaments budget .
There is
a capital endowment system for these kind of expenses. Priorities for
maintenance are decided by the President of the Parliament.
90. There are no
facilities or offices for the members or
the political groups on the premises. A nearby building is under
consideration
for these purposes. Buying this building, and creating offices in it, may stretch Parliaments funds to far.
91. The
buildings
have no system for fire prevention of fire fighting. This certainly is
necessary, at the very least in some areas such as the plenary hall,
library
and archives.
92. A wish was
expressed for air conditioning the plenary hall.
93. A further
wish
was expressed, for a completely new building for the House of
Representatives,
on the outskirts of Sana’a. Reasons give for this wish were the
deplorable
state of most of the present facilities for parliament, the lack of
parking
spaces combined with the traffic congestion in the centre, the high
value of
the present location combined with the possible claims from the former
owners
and more in general, the comfort and prestige of a new and dedicated
building
for parliamentary purposes.
94. The staff
management structure is weak.
95. The
Presidium
(President of the Parliament and three Vice Presidents) acts as the
collective
manager of 8 or 10 departments. In
practice these heads of departments report to one of the 4 members of
the
Presidium. This form of “voluntary co-ordination” may be charming and
is
cherished by some of the people I spoke to, but mostly has
disadvantages in
giving to much freedom of action and not enough co-operation or common
action.
There is no professional manager at the head of the staff.
96. It would be
of
great advantage if the management structure were normalised is such a way that it compares to the
structure in most parliaments in the world. The function of
Secretary-General
is missed at the top of the parliamentary staff, where this
Secretary-General
is head of the civil service, (and a civil servant himself) responsible to the political leadership of
the Presidium (President and the Vice Presidents). The present function
of “deputy vice president”, somebody who
is not
a politician nor a normal member of staff and who seemingly only has a function when the vice president is
unavailable, can be abolished.
97. I understand
it
is under consideration to create the function of Secretary-General.
Hopefully
this plan is adopted as soon as possible for the Charter of the next
Parliament. My strong advise is that the
Secretariat-General is not seen as open for political appointment and
that Membership
of the Parliament should be incompatible with the function of
Secretary-General
(or indeed any other function in the parliamentary staff). The
Secretary-General should be politically neutral and have an open eye
for the
needs of all 301 members of parliament, without regard to their
political
affiliation.
98. With regard
to
the selection process for the appointment to the function of
Secretary-General,
it would perhaps be wise to first appoint somebody to implement all of
the
changes that result from this Report and review of the needs and
capabilities
of the parliamentary staff, and who will function as an interface
between UNDP,
the Presidium and the departmental heads in the present organisation.
This
interim manager should act as change agent, and preferably is somebody
in the
present staff with proven management ability and clear insight in the
needs of
the members and the rights of sitting employees and somebody who
operates with
caution and who earns his authority over his environment. If
successful, this
interim manager surely will be the prime candidate, if not the sole
candidate,
for the important role of Secretary-General.
99. If the idea of creating the function of
Secretary-General is adopted, the role of the Presidium would change
from the
day to day management to that of
adopting a set of written instructions setting out
responsibilities and
duties, and formulating strategic goals for the Secretary-General and
making
sure he is meeting these goals. The prime task of the Secretary-General
would
be to set goals and give instructions to the heads of department, and
to report
to the Presidium.
100. THE
DEPARTMENTS, with a description “as is”, and with their needs and
proposals for
improvements.
101. The Presidents
Office is directly responsible to the President. It assists him in
all the
aspects of his function. Of course he also can call on all of the other
departments. The director of this department seems to be very capable,
with a
kind of helicopter view on the needs of the organisation and on its
strong and
weak points.
102. The director
acts as secretary to the regular meetings of the President and Vice
Presidents.
This is a monthly meeting, but sometimes it meets more often , or less.
Sometimes the leaders of the parliamentary blocks (parties in
parliament) join
the meetings. Here Parliamentary and staff business is discussed and
decided
upon.
103. This
department
is in need of some computers and
printers for word processing (and I would add for a Internet connection
for
communications purposes such as e-mail). There is demand for a training
course
for a Protocol Manager for the President.
104. Within the
Presidents Office there is the department for Legislative and
Technical
Affairs.
105. This
relatively
big section (13
employees) provides legal advise to the
President (and to others such as committees on demand) on
constitutional and
legislative aspects of the Governments proposals. Relations with the
Legislative Committee of the House seems
to be of an incidental nature.
106. Note should
be
taken that two of the lawyers in this section are female. There is one
more
woman working is a high position (with the Agriculture Committee), and
9
females in all in the staff.
107. The needs of
this department include the usual computers etc., and advanced training
in
constitutional and legislative matters.
It was pointed out that help in this direction would not only increase
the
level of the advise to parliament, but would be of preventive character
for
Government proposals. If high standards can be set by Parliament, high
standards
in legislative techniques must be set on the Governments side, which
will be to
the good of all.
108. As indicated
before, the Plenary Department and Members services seems to do
a good
job. The request here also is to be provided with some computers etc.
for word
processing. The verbatim reports of the Plenary session are now done in handwriting, and there is only one
copy!! Résumé’s are made daily on a computer, printed and distributed
to all
concerned. The department is interested in learning shorthand. The
writing of
the verbatim reports is done by listening to the tapes. My first idea
is that
this wish may be difficult to fulfil; and in may be unnecessary to
train a
complete Stenographers Service. The Dutch Stenographic Service perhaps
can be asked
to prepare a paper describing different ways Parliaments from all over
the
world use to get verbatim reports, ranging from typing out tapes to
computers
that are able (without human interference) to put in writing what is
being
said. [{Perhaps IPU or the International
Union of Stenographers has done a recent comparative study on this
problem and
consideration can be asked for these documents in Yemen}] My suggestion is that these possibilities be
studied in Yemen and that the simplest system be chosen. Complicated
systems
cost a lot of highly specialised manpower. See the heading Information
Department for publication of the verbatim reports.
109. The
secretaries
of committees assist actively in the
plenary meeting whenever a subject is debated which was prepared in
their
committee.
110. I have not
done
many enquiries about the services to members, since there are virtually
no
facilities and hardly any plans to have them (except for an adequate
salary).
The members do not have any office space on the premises,
nor do they have any secretarial or
administrative help or personal assistants. Plans for offices for the
members
are being made.
111. There is a
pension scheme, but there are no provisions for members who resign or
lose
their seat with the elections. It seems this all is of no great concern
to the
members. What they miss is some of the facilities given to members of
the
Government, such as medical care, cars and drivers, and a bodyguard.
112. The
committee
department is in complete shambles.
113. After
unification the number of committees doubled to about 17 and the
increased need
for secretaries and specialised advisors was provided for from within
the
existing parliamentary staff and not by appointing new people with the
necessary qualifications. No wonder they now feel many of these
secretaries and
specialist are in great need of training. Committees are complaining of
the
lack of expertise they get. The researchers from the Library and
Research
Department consider it part of their job to assist in the Committee
work. The
secretaries play a role in the plenary
session when matters handled by their committee are debated by
parliament.
114. The
personnel
strength is 45, including cleaners,
typists, technical assistants and office boys. Of this number about 20
are secretaries
and/or researchers and 10 administrative assistants. Personnel from the
Library
and Research Service and from the Presidents office regularly come in
in the
afternoon to assist the committees. In the morning secretaries of
committees
may assist in the plenary meetings.
115. The
committee
proceedings are not secret, but nevertheless are not open to the public.
116. A new
building
for the committee department is under construction and is almost ready.
Alas! I
was told all of the money for the project was used for the building
itself -
there is no provision for furniture, photocopiers, computers or
whatever. The
only thing they have now are tape recorders, a few telephones, some
typewriters
and shelves to put the files on. Some committees have conference tables
and
chairs. Most committees have to do with the traditional mattresses and
cushions
against the walls, on the carpeted floor.
117. All of the
Cannon photocopying apparatus is out of order. Cannon got out of Yemen
a few
years ago, I’m told and doesn’t provide services or spare parts any
more. Other
departments do have some working Canon
machines, but need it for their own operations (as long as
possible).
The committee reports now are stencilled/mimeographed!
118. This
department
is in very urgent need of modern machinery:
119. - computers
for
word-processing for each committee, in a network with some printers and
communication services such as Internet,
120. -
photocopying
machinery for the committee minutes, committee reports and general
correspondence
121. - some fast
fax
machines
122. - perhaps
more
telephones
123. - normal
furniture for meeting rooms: tables and chairs.
124. The
department
is in urgent need to get better management and well qualified
personnel. If not
possible to attract new people from outside (because it is impossible
to undo
the appointment of members of the staff who do not give satisfaction)
something
has to been done about the qualification of
those people. This of course can best be done in Sana’a itself,
by
having these people to follow appropriate university courses or
whatever is
thought best. For some of the staff (the head and deputy head etc.) it
may be
of great help if they could do working visits to another parliament,
just to
get the experience of how thing are done elsewhere. There is a language
problem
here: for the few who speak enough English I would advise an English
speaking
Parliament (or perhaps Dutch or German parliament where most educated
people
speak passably English).It is no use to send the Russian speakers to a
Russian
speaking parliament because most of these parliaments are in need of
training
themselves. It would be ideal if IPU would know of Arab speaking
parliaments
where real on-the-job training would be available.
125. For an
efficient use of Internet and for reading international literature in
their own
specialised fields the secretaries of committees should follow an
intensive
course in English. Since there are many employees of Parliament in the
same
category, it should be possible to do this course in-house. The British
Council
in Sana’a will be delighted to organise this, I am sure.
126. [I understand IPU
and/or other institutes may
have programmes for training of
Parliamentary officials - two weeks a year
or something like that. Please add this to this report as Annex]
127. There is a
financial provision to bring in outside expertise.
It would solve quite some of the problems of
the Committee Department. The secretaries could concentrate on their
work to
organise and to expedite the process
of legislation and policy debates in
committee, without having to be experts in all of the wide field of the
subject
of their committees. Their expertise could be whom to hire for expert
advise.
Unfortunately it seems that written advise is, in the Yemenite culture,
given
orally in a committee meeting, with the experts taking part in the
discussions.
It was considered to be unlikely that members would appreciate
outsiders, not
members of the staff, to sit in on committee meetings and take the
floor to
give their views. Perhaps this could be overcome by hiring these
outside
experts to advise the staff of the committee in order to enable the
staff to
give better advise to the committee. Still, it would be better for the
culture
to change so that written expert advise can function in the committee’s
process
of deliberations.
128. Some
possible
organisational choice present themselves.
129. 1. Create
clusters of 3, 4 or 5 committees working
in comparable fields (for instance social-economical or Foreign Affairs
and
Defence), and appoint Senior Clerks as head of these few clusters (5 at
most),
with responsibility for the secretaries of the committees and other
personnel
assigned to the committees in this cluster. These heads need to be ( or
become)
qualified specialist in parliamentary procedures, Constitutional
matters,
Government Administration etc. and have management qualities to give
leadership
to the people in their cluster.
130. 2. Bring
together all of the specialist advisers in one place, and not as it is
now,
with some of these specialist in the Committee Department, some in the
Library
and Research Department or in the
Statistical Department, and some in the Presidents Office. This one
place may
either be the Library and Research Department or may be the Committee
Department.
131. 3. If it is
decided the specialist advisers will be part of the Committee
Department, a
choice has to be made for a central unit or for decentralisation. In
the
central model the research and advise unit is
on the same level as the clusters of committee secretariats,
under the
General Manager. In the decentralised model, the
specialist are assigned to the clusters and
are responsible to the Senior Clerks.
132. 4. If it is
decided the specialist advisers will not be part of
the Committee Department, clear guidelines
will have to be agreed on, about responsibilities and about the use
committee
staff can make of the specialist.
133. 5. A scheme
has
to be set up to provide outside expertise to the committees. If
necessary an
adequate budget has to be provided for this.
134. The
secretaries
who will not become Senior Clerks need to refresh and deepen their
skills as
specialised secretaries of parliamentary committees, and learn new
skills such
as working with computers and documentation trough the Internet.
135. Special care
should be taken to give adequate facilities and manpower to the
Petitions
Committee and to the financial (budget control) functions of parliament.
136. Care has to
be
taken in appointing Senior Clerks, and indeed in selecting the Head of
the
Committee Department-new-stile. The Head and the Senior Clerks will
have to be
of excellent managerial and academic quality besides having experience
of what
Parliament is about and what members want.
137. The Archives , for some
reason part of the Committee Department, are in deplorable conditions.
I found
them in the ground floor of the present Committee building, almost in
the open
air, without protection from fire, insects or insurgents. It is a small
but
unique collection of the Acts, Hansards, etc. going back to the first
parliament in Yemen, so not only the records for the present Parliament
which
started 4 years ago. There is an unique collection of both audio and
video
recording of the present Parliament. Safeguarding this, and
safeguarding the
digital information which is of growing importance in the Parliament,
needs
special measures.
138. The paper
archive will not be more than about 200 meters. In other departments
they
insist in keeping their own archives up to now. What I saw
of these archives is: for the committees each
between 20 and 100 meters, for the administrative departments some
rooms full.
139. There are no
back up copies of all of this material. It is highly advisable that,
whatever
else is done, all of the original material
(paper, audio and video tapes) be copied and that the original
material
is kept completely separated from the copies, which can be used as
working
material. The paper archives perhaps could be micro-filmed. The
specialised
apparatus would have to be bought.
140. From its own
funds the parliament recently bought a computer and some specialised
software
for archivist purposes. Installing and using it, seems to create some
problems.
141. If I understand correctly, nobody working in the
Archives was trained for this kind of work. Head and deputy head have
good
degrees in other fields. There is an urgent need for specialised
training, and
for gaining of some experience abroad in the archives of
another parliament.
142. My advise is
that the place of the archives in the organisation be reconsidered.
This is a
central function of importance to all departments.
Therefore it perhaps should not be part of
just one of the departments.
143. The Library
and Research Department is in relative good order. It is a recent
merger of
a library department and a research unit. The decision to integrate was
take
for financial reasons. The department is housed in a new part of the
main
building and has good facilities and good office spaces. There is a new
computer which is used for word processing. The library owns 4000
books,
concentrating on law and religion. There are also some old Arab
encyclopaedias.
There are not much books in foreign languages, and there are no
subscriptions
to any magazines of a scientific or political nature. New books are
occasionally bought, during the book fairs which come to Yemen once a
year or
less.
144. Active use
is
made of the library: at the time of my visit , about a hundred books
had been
lent out to members or the staff. Books that are not in the inventory
can be
lent from the Universities Libraries.
145. The research
staff consists of 5 academics in the field of
Political Sciences, Sociology,
Human Rights, Accountancy and Religious Law. For a good understanding I
add
that the Presidents office has some experts in Constitutional Law and
Legislative Procedures. This clearly does not cover all of the fields
in which
a parliament needs expert advice. For instance: there are no
specialists in the
sphere of finance, taxation, macro-economics, international law,
defence
matters, agriculture, infrastructure, housing or cultural affairs.
146. I do not
recommend training staff members of parliament in these
new specialisms. If it is decided to have
some of these specialisms in the employment of parliament, it surely is
more
efficient to appoint or hire them from outside.
147. Since nobody
working in the department has a librarians education, there is a need
for some
training: one high level post graduate training at a foreign
university, in one
of the Arab countries preferably, and some shorter courses in Yemen.
The
department knows what is wants in this field and only needs the
finances to do
it. The research staff is in need of refreshment courses in there
specialised
fields, at Yemen universities.
148. The
department
of course can use more money to buy books and to subscribe to some of
the
leading international publications on international law, general
political
developments, economics and human rights. It needs a modern
Encyclopaedia in
the English language. They felt a need for training in English. One of
the
researchers studied in the USA, and consequently is fluent in the
language. But
his job is not to interpret for others.
149. The library
would like to have a second computer with software for cataloguing
libraries.
And it wants tot have a connection to Internet. (When I pointed out
that they
only needed a modem for the computer they already had, and an agreement
with a
Provider in the country, they decided to have the connection as soon as
possible. If it were as easy as that, they needed no foreign
assistance!).
There is a general need for computers etc. for word processing. In this
department they also can use CD-ROM’s (Compact Disks Read Only Memory)
for
digital Encyclopaedia’s. If these are on the network, other departments
such as
Member Services and the Committee secretariats could use these
electronic
Encyclopaedia’s as well.
150. Although the
department seems to be adequately organised, note has to be taken that
the
overall situation is open for improvement, as set out in the section on
the
committee department.
151. The Statistical
Information Department is a very recent addition to the
organisation. The
head (a former accountant in the Southern Parliament before the
unification,
and since then working on international contacts for parliament)
recently
returned from an 6 months UNDP-sponsored training in Egypt. This
department
will consist of 3 people. It is hoped that some specialist can be hired
for a
short time , to help with the setting up of the department and the
training of
internal people who can take over after a while. This would be less
expensive
than the appointment of trained specialists.
152. The function
of
the department would be to provide fact and figures of all aspects of
Parliaments activities, and to provide all of the statistics needed by
other
departments or by members or by third parties such as other parliaments.
153. The main
reason, I gather, for the creation of this department is that such
departments
can be found in most of the parliaments in Arab countries, and that
these
departments keep in close touch with one another. Otherwise I would
have
advised that this very small department be integrated into the research
section
of the Library and Research Department.
154. The Public
Relations and Protocol Department (IPU is one of its functions) is
doing
its job well. The head of this unit, Mr. Ahmed Al-Awadi, acted as my
guide and
interpreter. He is a very experienced member of the staff: he has seen
some
twenty years of service in succeeding parliaments. His staff could use
some
word processors and an Internet connection; some language training
would be
welcome, but otherwise it is a department in good working order. Better
use can
perhaps be made of IPU documents and the documents of the Union of
Secretary-Generals if they were placed
in the Library, for everybody’s
scrutiny.
155. I hesitate
to
point out that there is a lack of small presents, memorabilia of the
Majlis
Annowab, etc. to give away to visitors and important relations of the
Members.
156. The Information
Department is poorly housed in a building that was bought recently.
It is lucky
it was provided with some mini-scale furniture. Otherwise the
department would
not fit in the small rooms they have to use for offices.
157. Its main
functions are to help the media in their job, select the parts of the
TV-recording that are to be shown in the daily one-hour program about
Parliamentary business, and publish a fortnightly magazine with
articles about
parliamentary proceedings.
158. Unfortunately,
but because of urgent financial need they had had to decide to stop
publishing
- the minutes of the
plenary meetings, and
- a monthly publication
on democracy in general.
159. The
publication
it can still afford to make, is printed by a private printing firm in
Sana’a.
This takes up a great part of the departments budget. They have 5000
copies
printed. About 2000 are sold on the free market, in bookstores etc.,
and the
rest is distributed to the members for their own use, and within
Government and
diplomatic services and the Embassies. In this fortnightly magazine
(examples
of the latest issues are included with the original report to IPU) news
is
given of parliamentary proceedings and other activities.
160. Once a year
they publish a book with an overview of all laws an policies adopted by
Parliament in the preceding year.
161. Wishes for
training are: top level journalism, working with computers, languages.
162. Wishes in
the
material field: acceptable office space, fax, photocopies, computers
with
printers, and a big printing press.
163. This last,
exceptional, wish, is to do all of the printing for parliament on the
premises.
This would be much cheaper than paying a private printing firm, so the
argument
goes. It would enable the department to restart printing the minutes of
plenary
meeting and to do a better job of reporting of the parliamentary
business. The
department considers it to be possible to make commercial use of a
printing
press by taking on printing orders from members and from the general
public.
164. A place for
this press has been reserved already in the basement of the new
committee
building. The department is unable to
finance the machinery. And I do not think there is any idea about the
cost (neither investment nor running
cost) or the manpower and training
necessary for
this project.
165. My advice is
to
ask these people to come up with a good business plan, with the help of
UNDP,
and compare that to the cost of outsourcing all of the publication
projects.
166. The Deputy
Vice
President added a few days afterwards a
wish that was not mentioned by the Head of this Department:
167. A Television
Studio on the premises, to replace the truck with TV-recording and
transmitting
electronics which now is in use for the daily one hour TV broadcast. It
was
pointed out that the transmission is on ArabSat, and therefore can be
seen and
understood in the whole of the region. It is hoped that more time can
be spend
on these broadcast, perhaps even that life broadcast can be provided,
comparable to the systems in the US and UK.
168. The Personnel
Department seemed to be doing its job, greatly assisted, they
assured me,
by the USAid Computer system. Their administration had impressive
looking files
for everybody, some going back for 20 years or more. As in most
parliaments,
this section was overcrowded in its office space, even compared to
other
department with deplorable housing.
169. This
department
is responsible for training schemes and seems to be well fitted for the
job.
There already is a “class room” for collective schooling, fitted with
furniture, blackboards etc. and even with some computers for training
purposes.
170. The salary
position of parliamentary staff is somewhat better than in the rest of
government service. This was done not to lose the necessary experience
in the
parliamentary functions - but also to make corruption unnecessary.
171. The
parliamentary staff is independent of the Government. They only take
there
orders from the President of Parliament or from the House itself.
Appointments
are made by the President of Parliament or one of the Vice Presidents
by
delegation. Since the general State budget cuts, salaries have gone
down
drastically, and inflation made this worse. The Yemenite reaction has
been that
working hours have gone down drastically as well: 8.30 -12 is quite
normal, in
order to enable people to take a second job where they can earn enough
to live.
Since parliament goes on working in the afternoon and sometimes even in
the
evenings, many employees double in another capacity or do double time
in their
own job during the afternoon.
172. The Administration
and Finance Department (finance, accounting, housing,
buying,
storage) also gave a very good impression. Competent, overcrowded,
undervalued.
The personnel strength is 50. The financial administration is geared to
the
State budget administration because it is part of the
State budget system. However, control is done
by the House itself.
173. The level
of the Parliamentary budget is decided
in a process starting with a proposal in a special committee, which is
sent to
the Finance(budget) committee and then is decided on by the Plenary. It
is
voted as a lump sum, and the Government invariably puts this sum in the
general
State Budget. For internal use their is a subdivision in the lump sum,
for
salary of the members and of the staff, for all departments etc.
Because of
this link to the State Budget , normal provision hold true for
Parliament. In
the last few years the amount could and did go up with 20% but
inflation was
much higher. In real terms the budget is going down quickly.
International
dues, for instance for the IPU, are putting on more and more weight in
the budget
of parliament. It would be appreciated if such bodies took note of
this.
Because of the very high unemployment, staff reductions are out of the
question, I am told. Although the level of the salary has gone down in
real
terms, what suffered most was capital expenditure,
material exploitation and staff training.
174. There simply
is
no way for priorities in the budget to change in such a way that the
Yemen
Parliament can buy its own computer system, photocopiers, printing
machinery
etc. and get adequate training for its staff. For this reason
international
support was requested.
175. This
department
is responsible for the buildings. A description of the premises and of
the
needs in this field was given in the general part of this report.
176. There is a
small catering unit, seating only a few people. It doesn’t have many
facilities, I observed. It did dot visit this unit and heard no
complaints
about it.
177. Although
this
has nothing to do with the specialised mission to see what is needed by
Parliament, I cannot abstain from giving a few general organisational
tips and
advise in this field. My advice is :
178. - to split
off
the Financial function (bookkeeping, control and accountancy, budget
matters)
from the rest of this department,
179. - to create
a
Department for Facility Management
(housing, catering, material procurement and stores)
180. - to created
a
special department for Computer affairs and other electronic apparatus (creating an electrotechnical section for
selection, installation, and maintenance of electrotechnical machinery
like
telephone systems, photocopiers, faxes
and computers (printers, modems and scanners included) and providing a
help
desk function for the computers.
181. The Security
Service of Parliament consists of military personnel. A new
President of
Parliament is allowed to hand pick officers and man from the Army. They
form a
special unit under the sole command of the President of the Parliament
or his
deputy. The unit is 80 man strong. Because of its special nature and
place in
the structure of Parliament, I did not visit this unit and cannot give
an
assessment of it or presume to give
recommendations.
182. Recommendations,
general and
specific proposals
183. Development of Democracy
Public
gallery
184. Try to find
ways to open the deliberations of the plenary meetings and the
committee
sessions to the public, by having a public gallery.
185. Publish minutes of
plenary sessions and of committee
reports, resolutions etc.
186. Ways should
be
found to publish the verbatim records of the plenary sessions.
187. Consider
publishing
committee minutes and reports, resolutions etc.
188. Streamlining and
modernising the organisation.
Secretary-General
189. The function
of
Secretary-General as Head of the parliamentary civil service should be
created
as soon as possible. He should have all of the management
responsibilities and
be accountable to the Presidium, which should withdraw from the day to
day
running of the staff. It is advisable to start with the task to decide
on this
report and implement the decisions.
190. The
Presidium
should formulate its written instructions and strategic goals for the
Secretary-General as soon as possible, in the course of the decision
process on
the proposals in this report and the implementation with the donor
group.
191. Under the
Secretary-General three separate functions should be recognised:
n
Finance and
Personnel, as staff functions;
n
Facility
Management, such as Housing, Electronics and Security;
n
Direct
political assistance, such as the plenary service, committee
secretariats,
library etc.
192. Committee Department
193. Reconstruct
and
shake up the Department along the lines set out in the report. See to
it that
the General Management is capable and geared to the new tasks and
responsibilities. Differentiate among the secretaries by clustering
committee
secretariats and appointing capable people to be Senior Clerk and head
of the
clusters. Decide on the organisational place of advise to the
committees. Set
out a massive training and retraining scheme for secretaries and
researchers.
194. Archives
195. Since this
is a
central facility some place should be found outside the committee
department.
Perhaps the Library would be the right place - certainly if the
researchers
join the committee department in one way or another.
196. Divide Administration in
- Finance
- Technical
division (housing etc.)
- Computer
services (electronics etc.)
197. See the
report
about the reasons for this separation of responsibilities.
198. Members facilities
199. Members need
at
the very least a desk to work at and leave their papers. Some
secretarial help
has to be provided. Communications facilities such as telephones must
be
available to the members. Other amenities with financial aspects, such
as
Medicare, fall outside the scope of this report.
200. Human
Resources Management
201. Management training
202. Considering
the
general lack of staff members trained in management capabilities, there
is a
great need to give management training at least to all of the people
who
now have or in the near future will
have, management responsibilities. This lack seems to be acute in the
departments most directly involved in the political activities of the
parliamentary staff: Departments for the plenary, for the committees,
archives,
library and research, statistics. General training of this kind can be
had in
Sana’a. Specialised schemes could be found elsewhere.
203. English/languages
204. The
knowledge
of English is not widely spread among even the leaders in the
parliamentary
staff. Nevertheless this knowledge is essential to all who want to hold
positions of responsibility in the organisation or who have to give
advise to
the members. Modern communication with the outside world is mainly in
English,
both in printed matter as on the Internet. The language also is
necessary for
all people who are going to be sent out to training or to attend
courses and
seminars in the non-Arab world. Training in English should be organised
for
between 10 and 20 % of the staff: all heads and deputy heads of
departments,
all secretaries of committees, all academics in the library and
research
departments, and all people who are in the protocol business or in
information
and public relations.
205. It may be
practical to have some people who have a good knowledge of French or
Russian.
206. Specialist
and
foreign training
207. I was given
to
understand that the general level of academic study in Yemen was found
to be
below the level the members expect of their immediate advisers in the
staff.
The same more or less goes for those who finished their studies in the
former
USSR or Eastern Europe some time ago. A plan should be drawn up setting
out
what kind of specialisms are needed in the staff, and setting out who
needs
what kind of additional training at foreign universities is necessary in order to provide what is needed to satisfy
the justified demands of the members. Most of the Heads of the
Departments
seemed to have sound ideas about this, and the Personnel Department is
well
geared to organise a spree of educational activities, once the funds
are
available.
208. Do not
hesitate
to define new functions and hire or appoint people from outside the
existing
staff to fill these vacancies. This may be necessary for specialist
advisers to
the committees and the members, and for technical jobs in the new
computer
department. It is inefficient to try to train people if it takes to
long or if
they are not really up to it.
209. Technical
facilities
Photo copying
machines
210. At least 20
machines , ranging from simple ones to very
fast ones with facilities to produce hundreds of copies of
reports
without intervening human labour. Care should be taken that the
machines will
be serviced for a long time ahead, or a diversity of makes should be
ordered.
Computers
211. In hardware,
at
least 50 more computers could be used. All departments, except perhaps
for
Finance itself, can put more computers to good use. Some departments
such as
the Committee Department, want their computers in a network. This is a
good
idea in general. Installing may be a bit more complicated, but is saves
a great
deal in peripherals such as printers, modems, CD-ROM’s, scanners, tape
streamers, all of which are necessary to some extend.
A conservative approach would be that at
least 20 printers have to be added and that some 10 computer have to
have
modems and CD-ROM’s. One or two flatbed scanners would be welcome. All
of the
computers should be able to operate under Windows (95). The servers
need to
have automated backup facilities. There should be secured electricity
supplies
(battery systems) for the computers or at least for the network
servers.
Electrical failures are a real problem in Sana’a, with many
interruptions each
hour.
212. For software
word processing, database operations, spreadsheets and communications
programs
are necessary, as well as software for Internet.
213. Training for
the use of the hardware and software should be ordered
routinely and provided with the delivery of
the products.
Housing and
furniture
214. I do not
feel
that it is up to the international community to provide help in these
fields.
This surely is a matter for the national Yemenite authorities to set
priorities. If an exception is to be
made I would suggest that fire prevention and fire fighting equipment
be
selected, especially for the plenary hall, the archives and the library.
Desk top
publishing, printing press
215. This is
another
field where I would hesitate to commit the international community to
provide
help. I recommend asking the parliament
to submit a sound business plan before considering this project.
216. On the other
hand, it is of great importance that more publicity is give to the work
of
Parliament, and that the records of the deliberations are available to
the
general public. In most countries this is done by the State publishing
and
printing organisation or through contracts with private publishers.
TV-studio
217. It was not
made
clear to me why Parliament should provide a Television studio for
reporting
parliamentary activities. It seems the present facilities (a truck with
an on
board studio and transmitting machinery) was donated to parliament a
long time
ago. The broadcasting company is State owned and should be able to set
its own
priorities without indirect financing from the House of
Representatives.
Independent reporting, without financial strings attached, is the
international
norm. Perhaps the donor group can see its way toward aiding the
broadcasting
company itself.
ANNEX 1
POSSIBLE DONORS
UNDP announced beforehand
to the Embassies accredited in Sana’a that an
IPU-mission was coming to visit the House of Representatives. Together
with the
hospitality offered by the Dutch Ambassador and his staff, this
resulted in
many contacts with possible donors.
n
The UNDP’s Resident
Co-ordinator mentioned he had at
least US $ 500,000 uncommitted for next year (1967) which could be
allocated to a start of a project for
the Parliament. For special projects
dedicated funds could also be used.
n
The Dutch Embassy is very
interested in aiding the
development of democracy in Yemen. The Netherlands are the most
important donor
country in Yemen; the Minister for Development Co-operation, when
visiting
Yemen in 1996, expressed his wish that help should be given towards
good
governance in Yemen when possible. Material aid can be expected from
this
source, as well as finance for
educational projects and training for the staff of Parliament.
n
The British Embassy
sought out the mission of its own
accord because it is very interested in aiding the Parliament. Their
financial
and material aid , help in language training (British Council) and in
receiving
staff embers for short periods (2 - 4 weeks) in the Westminster
Parliament
would be very welcome.
n
The US already gave some
aid, as mentioned in the
Report, and in principle is willing to join a donor group.
Unfortunately USAid
is winding down its activity in Yemen.
n
Both the Canadian and
Australian Embassies (not based
in Sana’a) expressed their interest in joining a donor group and
provide
material and financial assistance. A Canadian parliamentary delegation
promised
special Canadian attention when it visited Yemen a few years ago, but
no
concrete project was proposed since then.
n
A delegation of the
European Parliament, when visiting
Yemen last September, promised to look into possibilities for
democratic
co-operation between the two Parliaments. Concrete proposals have yet
to
materialise, but it is well known that the EP has funds for this
purpose. The IPU secretariat could find
out what the
EP is planning to do in this field.
n
The European Union’s
representative for development
co-operation in Yemen telephoned to ask what the European Union’s
contribution
could be with regard to my mission. He expressed his willingness to
join the
donor group but warned that he had a limited mission.
n
Through indirect sources
I learned that the French National Assembly
(Lower House of Parliament) has
offered or
is going to do some in-house training for four or five members of the
staff.
ANNEX 2
CURRICULUM VITAE
SURNAME
HUBERT
FIRST
NAMES
Albert Jan Bernard
ADDRESS
Scheveningse Slag 3
2586 CJ The
Hague-Scheveningen
The Netherlands
TELEPHONE
+31(0)70-3551233 (home)
+31(0)70-3182015
(office)
FAX
+31(0)70-3183440 (office)
or at home number
after pre-announcement
E-MAIL
comk3@solair1.inter.nl.net
BORN
June 24, 1942 in The
Hague
MARRIAGE
to Mieke Hubert-Hage, two sons
EDUCATION
Grammar school in Zwolle, 1959
some Chemistry,
University of Utrecht
(military service,
1963/1964)
Political Economy
and Constitutional Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 1964-1969
PROFESSIONAL
EXPERIENCE
1969 Assistant to the Secretary-General
(or Clerk) of the Lower House of
Dutch parliament (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal)
1971 deputy-clerk, in this capacity clerk
of several parliamentary
committees (at different times), such as Economic Affairs, Finance and
Taxation, Defence, European Affairs
1988 Head of Committee Bureau for
International
Policy
1990 Head of Committee Bureau for State
Expenditure (financial-economical,
budgetary and organisational advice to members and parliamentary
committees;
clerk of the committee on State Expenditure)
(ad interim during past few years,
part-time management responsibility, as deputy director, for the
parliamentary
bureau’s for supervising and planning of a new building for the Second
Chamber,
for the parliamentary budget and for information-technology;
recently (first
half of 1996) did a research project as clerk and chief of staff with
an ad hoc
parliamentary investigation committee, on political responses to
Global
Climate Changes).
OTHER
ACTIVITIES Part time member of the
Committee of local
administrative appeal in The Hague, and member of a board of
arbitration of a
TV network.
Former
member (floor leader) of the municipal council of The Hague.
HOBBIES
Snooker (official referee)
science
fiction
computers
and electronics
camping
and caravanning.
Annex 3.
Samples of publications
by the House of Representatives in the
form of newspapers.
Annex 4.
To be provided by the IPU
secretariat in Geneva:
List of training courses,
symposia, etc.
for
parliamentary officials
from IPU, Council of
Europe etc.
Annex 5.
Photographs of the
parliamentary premises.