Most supporters for adopting the quota system during the parliamentarian and local elections believe there is a constitutional hindrance acted in the non-existence of a text that enforces this right or the existence of texts which go against it.

This opinion could be right in case constitutional texts are read separately and in that case the advantages of the constitution turn to become disadvantages.a A number of Articles in the law are listed to prove my case.

Article (24): The state shall guarantee equal opportunities for all citizens in the fields of political, economic, social and cultural activities and shall enact the necessary laws for the realization thereof.

Article (31): Women are the sisters of men. They have rights and duties, which are guaranteed and assigned by Shari'ah and stipulated by law.

Article (40): Citizens are all equal in rights and duties.

Article (41): Every citizen has the right to participate in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the country. The state shall guarantee freedom of thought and expression of opinion in speech, writing and photography within the limits of the law.

Article (42): The citizen has the right to elect and nominate himself as a candidate in an election, as well as the right to demonstrate his opinion in a referendum. The law shall regulate the provisions regarding the practice of this right.

Aside from considering other juridical prohibitions, the principles of equal opportunities and equal rights and duties entail rejecting the quota system. Given the case above, the matter requires amending the constitution in a way that grants advantage positive discrimination to women over men, and not contradicting principles of equal opportunities and equal rights and duties.

Still, these texts should not be read separately from other tenets of the international law approved by the constitution and considered part of the national legislation according to the following text:

Article (6): The Republic of Yemen confirms its adherence to the UN Charter, the International Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of the Arab League, and dogma of international law which are generally recognized.

When these international rules are recognized by state they become part of the national legislation, if not higher. And they become binding even if the state was not adhering to them. Once agreed upon by state according to the national law procedures, any international treaty become legally binding.

According to the above-mentioned text, UN and Arab League charters and the International Declaration for Human Rights and the dogma of the international law become part of the legally binding legislation for state and it has to abide by it.

It is also known that Yemen has approved the treaty as to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and it has been legally binding since the date in which the treaty was endorsed by the concerned authorities.

This treaty states that all member countries affirmed their faith to commit themselves to the International declaration for human rights; especially the principle prohibiting discriminating and dictating that people are born free, equal in rights and dignity, and every human being has the right to enjoy all freedoms and rights mentioned in the declaration without any discrimination based on sex.

Further, the states that approved the treaty relating to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women assured the commitment to ensure the principle of equal opportunities including the economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights in translation of all international treaties relating to human rights as stated in the Article (4):

Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved.

Built on this, Yemeni constitution adopts the concept of positive discrimination and approves quota system without entailing any legal amendments. The matter here requires adaptation of legal texts to fit into the constitutional legislation through amending elections law wherein women become politically enabled and no matter what system is followed – whether quota system or another – and this comes in translation of its commitment to Article (2) especially parts a and b:

States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:

(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle;

(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women;

(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of discrimination;

(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation;

(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise;

(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women;

(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.

From what has been said above the elections and referendum law can be amended without any legal hindrance through confining competition to women in certain constituencies within the cities' capitals.

In case we want to adopt the positive discrimination principle – allowing women 30 constituencies – without harming equal opportunities principle, then the text shall stipulate alternating the quota among the different constituencies in order not to prevent some from electing their men representatives.

The text then shall state something like confining the competition in 30 constituencies to women as follows: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300, and the text shall stipulate alternating the quota to the next constituencies in the coming electoral rounds.

We suggest the following amendment to the elections law:

(Right from the first round of elections conducted after the issuing the amended elections law, the competition in thirty constituencies is closed to women and these constituencies are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280, 290, 300 and shifts to the next constituencies in the next rounds of elections).

The same is applied when conducting complementary elections during the parliamentarian term made for some reason.

Thus, the state would guarantee its legal and constitutional adherence to equality between men and women and without breaking equal opportunities principle.

Other systems of elections can be adopted to guarantee the full equality in representation through making a legal and constitutional amendment including relative list or individual consistency systems. For the former, the text should dictate that 50 percent of candidates from women while the latter stipulates re-dividing the constituencies to 150 instead of 300 wherein each consistency should nominate one man and one woman. These systems can be adopted for local councils' elections and the like.

The state shall also confirm its adherence to its international and constitutional commitment stipulated in the Article (5), part (a):

Article (5): States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:

(a)To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practicews which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

Because of the hindering nature of the Article (62), state can gradually start in embarking women politically through stating a specified quota and adopting the relative list system.

Article (62): The House of Representatives consists of 301 members, who shall be elected in a secret, free and equal vote directly by the people. The Republic shall be divided into constituencies equal in number of population with a variation of not more than 5% plus or minus. Each constituency shall elect a member to the House of Representative.

The above text takes after the individual constituency system and conditions electing a member for to parliament consisting 301 members, something that hinders amending the individual consistency system as suggested earlier.