US Support Fair Elections in Yemen
Considering the deployment of state resources over the last two days to support Saleh’s stage production, a fair election in September seems a remote possibility, but Im happy the US is paying attention.
YO A report from the US State Department called on Yemen to take more serious steps in the crackdown on corruption. The report also praised Yemen’s achievements in this regard. “America is hopeful of carrying out fair and free elections in Yemen”.
Assistant Deputy Secretary of State for the Near East, Scott Carpenter said. He added that his country and the G-8 member states would commit assistance to Yemen to make its forthcoming elections a success. He said that the US administration welcomes democratic dialogue and steps taken towards political openness and hopes for fair and free elections in Yemen. Carpenter is scheduled to participate in the upcoming Sana’a conference on democracy and political reform and freedom of expression, which is part of the G-8 initiative aimed to promote democracy in the region.
US State Department had earlier emphasized that Yemen’s government needs to prosecute senior government officials for engaging in the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation. The annual report considered Yemen one of the sources of child trafficking to Saudi Arabia to earn money begging and working as unqualified labor such as street vendors. It also called for suing government officials involved in the trafficking of children for labor as a form of corruption.
Another democracy conference in Yemen, that’s funny. It’s better to talk about democracy than not, but that’s no indication of it’s existance.
