71 flexible, partly because the party is no longer a ruling authoritarian party and partly due to the need to attract members in order to compete in a multi-party system. Disciplinary proceedings are initiated at the district level and can proceed through the governorate on up to the level of the Central Committee. Expulsion from the party is the highest level of punishment and must be approved by the Central Committee. In addition, YSP used to have strict formal and informal regulations and requirements for being elected to leadership positions, but it has dropped almost all of these requirements in order to attract new and younger members to the party and to encourage junior leadership within. Although policy documents are routinely distributed among party leaders, the only means for widely disseminating these documents to rank and file members is through the party’s official newspaper Al­Thawra that is distributed throughout the country. 3.4.3. Party Legislative and Governance Profile Although the YSP boycotted the 1997 parliamentary elections, Yahya Abu Usba’a, member of YSP Political Bureau, contested the election as an independent, informally affiliated with YSP shortly after the elec­tion. YSP’s only MP, Sheikh Yahya Abu Usba’a is a prominent leader within YSP. He is in continuous contact with the YSP leadership and consistently follows the YSP line in Parliament. However, for all prac­tical purposes, the YSP does not have representation in Parliament commensurate with its strength as a party. Now YSP is not a governing party or part of a governing coalition. Part of the reason why YSP has not been always as effective as an op­position force could be because of its inability to decide exactly what role it should play. The old guards in YSP would prefer that the party should play the role of extra-parliamentary opposition, agitating and criticising from outside the system. The reformers would prefer that the party should take on the role of official opposition, participating in elections, and engaging in dialogue with the government.