Building Yemen anew

A day of victory — nothing can better describe the historic election that ended 33 years of the darkness of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. Yemenis finally took the first step towards building democracy in a country that only escaped the abyss of civil war by a miracle, as the result of the GCC initiative.

It was a dream come true for millions of people in Yemen to see Saleh leave the presidency. But the price was not cheap at all — about 2,000 children, women, young and older people sacrificed their lives to free Yemen from injustice and tyranny. Yemen is a country where there are more than 60 million firearms.

President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi's speech a day before the election had a positive impact on the youth and changed their attitude towards boycotting elections. Nobel laureate Tawakul Karman had inspired the youth in Change Square to vote for historic change.

Despite many security-related incidents during the election, and the obstacles created by different groups, including individuals from the separatist Southern Movement and the Al Houthis who opposed the election, the caretaker government led by Mohammad Basindwa succeeded in seeing Yemen safely through the transitional period. Now, the new president, Hadi, has the legitimacy to rule the country for the next two years.

Hadi has the responsibility of implementing the next phase of the GCC initiative, starting with drafting the new constitution and working out the differences between all parties and calling for national conference that does not exclude anyone. There's an urgent need to solve the critical and complicated issues facing the new Yemen.

It is time for the Yemeni elite to stand by Hadi and support him in his efforts at reform.

One of the biggest challenges facing the new president will be restructuring the military, especially given that the former president's family is still in control. Saleh's son Ahmad Saleh still heads the Republican Guards and his brother Mohammad is still the Commander of the Air Force.

The same is the case with the former president's nephews: Tarek Mohammad Abdullah Saleh is still the Commander of the Presidential Guard, Yahya Mohammad Abdullah Saleh the Commander of the Central Security Forces and Counter-terrorism Unit, and Ammar Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, Commander of the National Security Bureau. The list goes on.

Combating hunger

I assume that Hadi will form a new national security committee that is responsible for reforming the existing military units created by Saleh to protect his regime. But I am afraid that there will be compensation for those who will resist. However, they do not have the right to object to any decision that will be made by the committee in Yemen's best interest.

The international community has to play a major role in order to support the new government financially to rebuild Yemen. The declaration by US Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan to again support the counter-terrorism unit in Yemen is worrying, as that unit is still under the control of Saleh's nephew.

It has been used to kill peaceful protesters instead of the so-called "terrorists" that Saleh created to blackmail the US, European and the Gulf countries. I do not deny the existence of Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, but the real terrorists in Yemen are poverty, unemployment and lack of proper education.

So it is wiser to use the $50 million (Dh183.5 million) that was set aside by the US administration for military assistance to the new government in order to combat hunger in the poorest country in the Arab world, and fund developments projects that were put on hold because of the unrest.

Yemenis were extremely happy in the main cities the day before the election to have electricity for more than 24 hours without interruption, and hopefully this is will continue. This is the kind of support this poor nation is looking for.

Re-building Yemen into a modern state and establishing security also should be one of the main goals of the new government; reform is necessary in all sectors — economic, social, health and education.

I know it seems a dream to be accomplished within the next two years, but I am sure the new president will be able to push for these reforms if he chooses the right people and learns from the mistakes of his predecessor.