The Yemeni Parliament on Sunday passed a vote of confidence in the new government in a session boycotted by the speaker and other members of the main opposition party, said reports.
In the vote, 195 deputies in the 301-member assembly approved the new cabinet, while six were opposed and two abstained, reported the official news agency, Saba.
The Islamic opposition Islah Party withdrew from the session, said Reuters.
Parliament Speaker Abdullah Al Ahmer, who is also head of the Islah Party, did not attend Sunday's vote and was not present for the debate on the government's program on Saturday.
"I refuse to preside over parliamentary sessions which will focus on discussing the government program because it includes the cancellation of scientific institutes," he said in a letter addressed to the elected house on Saturday.
The institutes were set up in the mid-1970s in former north Yemen with the aim of confronting Marxist ideas prevailing in south Yemen. The country was unified in 1990.
The vote followed last month's cabinet reshuffle by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who promoted Foreign Minister Abdul-Qader Bajammal to the post of prime minister, heading a cabinet with mostly new faces.
All 35 cabinet ministers belong to the General People's Congress (GPC), which has more than 200 seats in parliament.
The new cabinet has said it plans to reduce public spending and the budget deficit, boost non-oil revenues and work for an economic growth rate of five to 5.5 percent over the next two years.
A copy of its new policy program said the government would press ahead with economic and financial reforms launched in 1995 under the supervision of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, according to the agency.
It will also implement a special program to fight corruption in Yemen, one of the poorest Arab states, which has been plagued by lawlessness and frequent kidnappings.
Yemen voted in a referendum in February for constitutional changes that extend the terms of the president and parliament. The vote coincided with the first municipal elections, which were marred by violence and opposition charges of widespread irregularities – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
