Publicity blitz to keep Yemen polls alive

Sana'a: Yemen has begun a publicity campaign to get citizens to vote in the upcoming presidential election, officials said on Monday, part of a deal to ease President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office and pull the country back from the brink of civil war.

With Vice-President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi the only candidate in the February 21 vote, Yemeni officials fear that a low turnout will dent the legitimacy of the man expected to lead Yemen during a two-year interim period when crucial decisions dealing with restructuring the armed forces and introducing constitutional reforms are expected to be taken. "Your vote protects Yemen," read a giant poster hung in Sana'a.

Abdul Wahhab Al Qudsi, head of the electoral commission's external relations, said preparations for the vote were in full swing. "[Our] main committee has gone to different provinces and the subcommittee will go off this weekend," he said.

It will be the first time in 33 years that a candidate other than Saleh — now in the United States for treatment of injuries sustained in an assassination attempt last year — will head the country, located along key oil shipping routes.

Public divided

Many Yemenis feel the vote will avert the threat of civil war. "We will vote in order to avoid war," Abdullah Mutlah said as he sold his customers qat — a mild narcotic plant used widely across Yemen.

Others said they felt cheated by the election, regarding it as a waste of time and money. "Why are there elections if there is no competition?" shopkeeper Saddam Abdullah said. "Why are millions of riyals being spent on elections whose results are already known?"