By Ahmed Aljarallah
This commentary was published in The Arab Times on 05/04/2011
The daily incidents in Yemen have proven that President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s peaceful and constitutional transition of power is a step in the right direction. In this manner, he will enjoy the support of most citizens, so it is improper for him to abandon the majority and the national norms upon which the modern Yemen was built, regardless of the noise made by the minority group calling for his ouster. It is wrong to expose the man, who united Yemen, stabilized the nation and developed its economy, to crisis and disharmony just to satisfy the whims of a few dictators.
The minority dictatorship era in the Arab world has ended, as manifested in the ongoing public revolt against the minority dictator group led by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. The groups that have been calling for the unconstitutional removal of Saleh from office should understand this. The opposition groups have disregarded proper counseling, while keen on dragging Yemen into tribal war by inciting public revolt against the authority.
Yemen is a fertile land for tribal wars. If an issue goes beyond the natural political path, it will be easy to wage a 21st century-style war. Besides the widespread tribal culture, the country is also grappling with the al-Qaeda terrorist group, Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthis, who have been forcefully knocking on the Yemeni door for a long time. Saleh still has the strength and power to control these groups. However, Iran has a special agenda in the region, which led to the formation of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has ensured that the small group is armed to control the entire country. It has also ‘planted’ Houthis on the Arabian Peninsula.
Saleh is brave enough to face his foes calmly. He draws strength from the constitutionality and legitimacy of his government to protect the country against the whims of tension-provokers. He has taken appropriate steps to prevent the recurrence of incidents in Tunisia and Egypt in his country, especially since the daily events in the two nations entail that it will take years before they recover from the crises.
Yemen has affirmed that those who have been calling for the ouster of Saleh have not presented any political alternative. Their disagreements clearly indicate that many of them are actually eyeing the presidential post. Contrary to their claims, these people are not pro-reforms.
Saleh has repeatedly announced his readiness to step down peacefully according to the clear national agenda to maintain stability. However, the so-called opposition has refused to lay down the mechanism for the peaceful transition of power. Are they scared of the possibility that the citizens might hand over governance to an outsider?
This commentary was published in The Arab Times on 05/04/2011
The daily incidents in Yemen have proven that President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s peaceful and constitutional transition of power is a step in the right direction. In this manner, he will enjoy the support of most citizens, so it is improper for him to abandon the majority and the national norms upon which the modern Yemen was built, regardless of the noise made by the minority group calling for his ouster. It is wrong to expose the man, who united Yemen, stabilized the nation and developed its economy, to crisis and disharmony just to satisfy the whims of a few dictators.
The minority dictatorship era in the Arab world has ended, as manifested in the ongoing public revolt against the minority dictator group led by Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. The groups that have been calling for the unconstitutional removal of Saleh from office should understand this. The opposition groups have disregarded proper counseling, while keen on dragging Yemen into tribal war by inciting public revolt against the authority.
Yemen is a fertile land for tribal wars. If an issue goes beyond the natural political path, it will be easy to wage a 21st century-style war. Besides the widespread tribal culture, the country is also grappling with the al-Qaeda terrorist group, Muslim Brotherhood and the Houthis, who have been forcefully knocking on the Yemeni door for a long time. Saleh still has the strength and power to control these groups. However, Iran has a special agenda in the region, which led to the formation of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran has ensured that the small group is armed to control the entire country. It has also ‘planted’ Houthis on the Arabian Peninsula.
Saleh is brave enough to face his foes calmly. He draws strength from the constitutionality and legitimacy of his government to protect the country against the whims of tension-provokers. He has taken appropriate steps to prevent the recurrence of incidents in Tunisia and Egypt in his country, especially since the daily events in the two nations entail that it will take years before they recover from the crises.
Yemen has affirmed that those who have been calling for the ouster of Saleh have not presented any political alternative. Their disagreements clearly indicate that many of them are actually eyeing the presidential post. Contrary to their claims, these people are not pro-reforms.
Saleh has repeatedly announced his readiness to step down peacefully according to the clear national agenda to maintain stability. However, the so-called opposition has refused to lay down the mechanism for the peaceful transition of power. Are they scared of the possibility that the citizens might hand over governance to an outsider?
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