Rebuilding Yemen

Former Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh left the country after winning immunity from prosecution. I think the immunity law did not only award Saleh a safe exit but it also definitely rescued Yemen from civil war.

There are a lot of people in Yemen unhappy with the immunity law, especially those who lost their loved ones. I also feel the same way and I am not satisfied with the manner in which Saleh left the presidency. He should have been made to stand trial, and been held accountable for every drop of innocent blood that was shed.

But it is in Yemen's best interest. I really have no doubt that the Yemen's Prime Minister Mohammad Basindwa who cried in parliament when passing the immunity law loves Yemen as much as all Yemenis who criticise the government for passing such a law! He is a veteran politician, and he knows that political intrigue could lead Yemen into an abyss.

Let's be wise, keep our feelings aside and put the interest of Yemen above all. Yemenis are facing a historic opportunity to stand side-by-side and put their differences aside to prove to the international community that they can move on.

Issues left unresolved by the former president are many. They include poverty, mismanagement, corruption, the deteriorating health and education system, and the terrorist threatthat concerns the international community the most.

Regional and international support is urgently needed for the new government because without it there will be no hope to overcome the problems created by Saleh's regime. We all know Yemen was a failed state with declining oil and gas resources and humanitarian crisis.

Revolution still simmers in Yemen. It is clear that justice needs a lot of time and effort to achieve; and in government ministries, institutions and the military, employees and soldiers are protesting against corrupt officials in the institutions and against army commanders loyal to Saleh's regime.

On Sunday, during an Air Force meeting, an officer threw his shoes at the commander of the Air Force, Mohammad Saleh Al Ahmar, step-brother of Saleh! Then the airport was closed shortly thereafter, and many of the soldiers and officers in the Air Force are still protesting in front of the acting president's house, demanding the dismissal of the Air Force commander.

The scourge of qat

Building a modern state requires the full support of all factions of society. In a positive step in the last couple of weeks, the youth showed that the revolution and change they are working for is not in the political system only — they also tackled the issue of chewing qat (mild narcotic leaf) — the worst social phenomenon in Yemen.

Hind Aleryani, a female social activist based in Lebanon, started the idea on Twitter, calling on all Yemenis to stop chewing qat for one day. She called it "a day without qat" and set the date and established a campaign on Facebook to encourage young people to take the first step towards uprooting the cursed tree that has contributed to the destruction of Yemen's economy.

This campaign created a kind of optimism among a big segment of the youth and human rights activists not only in Yemen but also in the region. Youth should continue such campaigns and get rid of qat, with plans for a week, a month and a year without qat.

The new government should encourage and give priority in their developments plans to encourage Arab investors in the agricultural field to invest in Yemen especially in basic food essentials. Yemen has more than half a million children facing malnutrition and millions inching towards starvation.

Yemenis, who have been protesting peacefully since mid-January last year, successfully achieved their dream of overthrowing their dictator. Yemen is another Arab Spring constituent to remarkably head off further bloodshed in the country. This is the result of all the sacrifices made by Yemen's youth, and the next government should not ignore their sacrifices and work with them and all other parties to rebuild and reform the country.