Yemen's ruling party boycotts parliament session

Yemen's ruling political party boycotted a parliamentary session on July 20 in protest against the assembly speaker's call for a debate on recent price hikes, a leading party official said.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh 's General people's congress (GPC) dominates the assembly, holding 187 of 301 seats.

"The GPC parliamentary bloc did not attend Sunday's parliamentary session in protest against a decision to summon the government for a general discussion on recent price increases," the official said.

He said the GPC bloc walked out on July 19 and boycotted on July 20 after speaker Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein Al Ahmar called for the debate, a move the GPC said violated parliamentary regulations.