Saturday, May 7, 2011

Yemen And GCC Initiative

By Labeed Abdal   
This commentary was published in The Arab Times on 07/06/2011 

Under the GCC ‘transition of power’ initiative on solving the crisis in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh should resign within one month and he must hand over power to his deputy within a week after signing the initiative. A government with the ability to strengthen national unity will be formed by members of the incumbent govt, the opposition and other political groups to be followed by its oath taking in the presence of Saleh.

However in terms of timing and content, the initiative came too late. It was presented only after the people of Yemen took to the streets to demand for change and the alleged killing of several young protesters by Saleh’s forces, thereby raising doubts on the legitimacy of the regime.

Without a doubt, there are similarities between the tense situation in Yemen and that of Egypt before the downfall of the previous regime. Reforms are no longer beneficial when the regime loses the sense of justice and respect for the people, especially their fundamental right to express their views freely.


Moreover, the regime reached a point of no return when it lost the people’s trust.

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