Sumaya Ali Raja

Sumaya Ali Raja (born c.1954) is a Yemeni journalist and political activist. In December 2005 she became the first woman to announce herself as a candidate for the Presidency of Yemen.

Life Ali Raja grew up in Taiz, in a family of seven children. Her father encouraged her and her three sisters to break with taboos and appear in public unveiled. After some education in Yemen, she followed her sisters aged 14 to study at a North Carolina high school, and on to study political science at Southwest Missouri State and broadcast journalism at the University of Kansas. In the late 1970s she and her sister Jamila were among the first female TV newscasters in Yemen.

In January 2007 she announced her intention to established a liberal political party, Al Bushra Party, "to achieve equality between men and women, preserve heritage, and enhance the rights of children".