Gulf | Yemen
Yemeni opposition launches talks to plan its next move
The Yemen main opposition parties are launching consultations for conducting a national dialogue to resolve a long standing political crisis with the ruling party.
- By Nasser Arrabyee, Correspondent
- Published: 23:27 November 22, 2008
Sana'a: The Yemen main opposition parties are launching consultations for conducting a national dialogue to resolve a long standing political crisis with the ruling party.
Leaders of the opposition alliance, locally known as the Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs) which include the Islamists, Socialists and Nasserites met on Friday at the headquarters of the Central committee of Yemeni Socialist Party in Sana'a, and decided to start extensive consultations in all provinces over what to do next after they refused to participate in the parliamentary elections of April 2009.
The meeting came after rallies and demonstrations held by the opposition JMPs in many cities and towns in Yemen over the last week where they expressed their refusal to participate in the coming elections without agreement over their administration.
The JMPs estimated that two million people took to the streets on Thursday in different places all over the country to protest the ongoing preparations for the elections next April.
'Fed up'
"About two million citizens taking to streets for condemning the forgery of elections is a very clear message the people are fed up with the policies of the ruling party," said Abdul Malek Al Mekhlafi, prominent politician in the JMPs.
"There is failure in all fields, political, economic, social, educational, health. Those millions want to say: Enough monopoly of power, enough corruption, enough spoiling of the nation's wealth," said Al Mekhlafi.
Chairman of Shura council, and president of Saleh advisory council, Abdul Azeez Abdul Gani said what is happening now with the opposition JMPs is normal and that it happens before any election.
"Before every election, JMPs are accustomed to indulge in such clamour with the objective of making additional political gains," he said.
"The JMPs want to reach a stage of constitutional vacuum, by such refusals and incitement. They do not constitute all the opposition parties, there are many other opposition parties that want to exercise their rights," said Gani, in reference to 13 other small opposition parties, none of whom are represented in the parliament, but who are in alliance with the ruling party.
However, Abdu Al Janadi, the spokesman of the supreme elections committee, which is not recognised by the JMPs, played down such demonstrations saying the process of reviewing the electoral registers was going on in some 98 per cent of the country's elections centres.
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