The ruling party General People’s Congress (GPC) said in October it would participate in an election scheduled for April 2011, dashing opposition hopes that the government would delay the poll to allow time for talks on long-promised reforms to guarantee free and fair parliamentary elections.

Originally due in February 2009, the vote was delayed once after the government agreed to carry out election reforms. But the opposition said such changes have yet to materialize and accused the ruling party of unilaterally restructuring the election committee.

“The majority party’s single-handed adoption of amendments to electoral laws defeats political dialogue and the agreement to delay the February 2009 elections,” Socialist Party leader Yassin Noman told reporters.

The Islamist reform party, Islah, also vowed to boycott the April elections but expressed an interest in talks with the ruling party under European or US mediation.

The GPC has held power since President Ali Abdullah Saleh established it in 1982. The opposition had called on the GPC to hold dialogue with southern secessionist groups that have been clashing with the government, and with northern insurgents, with whom the state is trying to cement a shaky truce.

Both the southern secessionists and the northern rebels complain of government discrimination against them.

Impoverished Yemen is also struggling to quell a resurgent Al-Qaeda wing based in the country, which threatens to exploit instability in the Arabian Peninsula state.

The opposition on Monday passed out fliers that said its lawmakers would continue to protest against the election by holding a sit-in inside parliament chambers until the end of the month. It called on Yemenis to join in the protest.

“Join in a show of anger that will not be quieted until the right to democracy and partnership in (Yemen’s) wealth and power is restored,” the flyer said.

But GPC Deputy Secretary-General Sultan Al-Burkan said he doubted the opposition had the ability to incite mass protests, and his party would not be influences by opposition demands.

“We can’t expose our necks to parties that are leading us to an unknown fate,” he said.