There is no easy way out for Yemen

For Yemen to emerge from its current crisis and avoid disintegration and falling into chaos, President Ali Abdullah Saleh will have to take long-awaited and painful decisions. Saleh will have to accept that the old-fashioned temporary solutions in trying to appease a faction, squash a rebellion by force, or prevent the media from covering growing problems around the country will simply not work this time around. The problems have grown out of proportion and cannot be contained by the usual rhetoric or symbolic, decorative gestures here and there.

Here, I will try to describe the most important decisions that the president will have to take in order to try and prevent a doomsday scenario for Yemen, not only for the sake of unity of its land and people, but for the sake of stability of the region.

The first and foremost priority for Saleh is to build the trust of the public in the judiciary by establishing the rule of law as it is supposed to. A real test for the president is in bringing the powerful, corrupt individuals in his regime to justice.

The people have had enough of the rhetoric about the need to combat corruption while showing no real progress on the ground when it comes to big names. Such a move will have to be genuine and sweeping. It must not bring a few scapegoats to trial while leaving the rest untouched.

Apart from corruption, action needs to be taken to resolve the numerous cases of crimes committed against civilians and land grabs by powerful tribal leaders and senior military officers, particularly in the south and west of the country.

Strong action in this regard will bolster the standing of the regime and show it is committed to justice and equality for all citizens, regardless of what class, tribe or province they belong to.

The parliamentary elections that were supposed to be held in April have been postponed and temporarily replaced by a bizarre and unprecedented vote by the members of parliament themselves. Such an act reflects a poor sense of understanding of how democracy works. One can't simply vote for himself to remain in his parliamentary seat for another two years without consulting the people. Yet that is precisely what happened in Yemen this year.

On the other hand, the two-year delay may not be the biggest problem. The real problem is the seriously deficient election process, which leaves little room for competition. The presidential elections of 2006 were a clear example of this problem and unless Saleh acts strongly to correct this serious flaw, democracy will remain handicapped.

Saleh will have to relinquish his grip on the media and allow the reporting of events in the south and other parts of the country without accusing journalists of 'inflaming hatred' or acts 'against the national interests of the country'.

Recently, many newspapers were prevented from publishing, including Yemen's most widely read independent daily, Al Ayyam, whose headquarters in Aden was besieged and two of its employees killed by government forces.

News websites were blocked, and various acts of intimidation against journalists through trials and threats have increased. Such acts are counter-productive and only inflame the situation across the country because in the age of satellite TV channels and the internet, it is virtually impossible to block out information all the time. People, particularly in the south, feel that their voices will not be heard because the media are prevented from reporting about their protests and miseries.

Finally, the regime needs to understand that unity for Yemen, regardless of how great an accomplishment it may be, is not a goal in its own right. Unity should have been an umbrella under which every citizen would be treated equally and justly. It is a means through which development and prosperity should have manifested themselves across the country.

Often times the regime portrays unity as a final destination, the last bus stop after which everyone is expected to leave the bus without asking any questions.

Obviously, unity as a symbol has never been and should never be seen as the reason for the deterioration of living standards and all the negatives that have dominated the lives of Yemeni citizens.

Although calls for breaking up Yemen and turning it back into two or more countries are not the solution to the ongoing crisis, it is important to explore the reasons behind those calls and try to remedy the situation before it is too late.

There is no easy way out of the mess Yemen is in right now. I cannot provide the secret recipe that can save the country from disintegration. But I am convinced that using force to squash local calls for separation, targeting the media, turning a blind eye to corruption and lawlessness, and underestimating or discounting the real roots behind the calls for separation are all the perfect recipe for disaster.

Walid Al Saqaf is the administrator of YemenPortal.net and a Phd candidate at Örebro University, Sweden.