Yemen: Change in Elections Law Provokes Sit-In

The Agence France Presse (AFP) is reporting that Yemen’s Parliament has passed an amendment to the elections law that would change the composition of the high electoral commission by “stipulat[ing] the high electoral commission be composed of judges rather than delegates from parties represented in Parliament as has been the case until now.” The opposition complained that the amendment was passed “unilaterally” by the General People’s Congress (GPC), President Ali Abdullah Saleh‘s party. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in April 2011. AFP also reported on Saturday that a leader of the supreme council of the Southern Movement was released after being arrested for “‘planning to hold unauthorized protests in a number of southern provinces.’” His arrest sparked several days of protests in which five people were injured.