Reform = Treason (2)
Undermining national unity? Reform and equality and decentralization of power will certainly be a postive force on the cohesion of the state. They call anyone with any forward thinking a seperatist. That’s another big allegation.
Meanwhile, the unity of Yemen is seriously undermined by the discriminatory policies of the state (Saleh) toward the supposedly equal partner (the Southern governates). It has been termed internal colonialism, in that there’s a policy of collective retribution, theft of resources and property, exclusion from govermental employment, and a more restricitve and economically harsh deployment of the “law” and public funds.
And what nerve to accuse them of operating from personal interests when its the personal intersts of Saleh and his family and cronies in all the top positions that determines public policy in Yemen.
SANAA, Yemen, Dec. 1 (UPI) — The war of words between Yemen’s government and opposition continued as officials affirmed plans to combat corruption.On Thursday, Foreign Minister Abu Baker al-Kurbi accused internal and exiled opposition groups of seeking to harm the nation for personal gains, stressing political and economic reforms were inevitable.
“The opposition abroad does not represent anyone and we should not care about it,” al-Kurbi said.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on opposition parties to play a constructive role with regards to the proposed reform programs.
“Parties should not seek destruction and undermining national unity for the sake of personal interests,” he told the Military Academy Wednesday.
Saleh’s comment was the first official response to the opposition’s call to replace the existing presidential system with a parliamentary one based on transparency and accountability.
Ali Wafi, a senior member of the opposition Yemeni Gathering for Reforms party, said corruption and waste of public funds over the past five years reached $5 billion in a country where half of the population lived under the poverty line.
Exiled opposition leader Abdullah Salam al-Hakimi was quoted by daily Yemen News Thursday as saying, “Our regime is willing to have dialogue with foreign countries but considers any dialogue with its nationals as an insult and treason.”
He said the opinion of non-Yemeni institutions and researchers are respected, while any opinion by Yemeni nationals, inside or outside, which does not conform to the views of the authorities, was criticized.
In a related development, an official source said Thursday the government was placing the final touches on a comprehensive plan for large-scale reforms, including the formation of a national independent body to combat corruption.
The pro-government weekly Sept. 26 quoted the source as saying “the plan consists of a series of large-scale democratic, economic, financial, administrative and judicial reforms in addition to boosting free press and women’s role.”
He noted the plan defined specific criteria for streamlining expenditure and activating financial laws and departments of inspection, observation and accountability.
