Bin Shamlan Speech
YO:
JMP presidential candidate Faisal bin Shamlan has announced that the coming elections represent a choice between truth and untruth, progress and backwardness, and poverty and prosperity. In a series of electoral rallies, he has strongly criticized the incumbent government as corrupt and power-hungry.
In a recent rally in Shabwa governorate, bin Shamlan asserted that it was the deteriorating situation in Yemen that prompted the JMP to design a comprehensive program for national political reform. “It is the ruling party’s desire for power and its refusal to share it that has led to this miserable situation,” he said.
In particular, he insisted upon the importance of establishing a completely independent judiciary that could exercise its authority without political interference. He also asserted that services in the governorates were implemented randomly and with the assistance of corrupt tenders, rather than careful planning.
In terms of foreign policy, bin Shamlan said that his political world view would be divided into three separate geographical spheres of attention—neighboring Gulf states, the Horn of Africa, and the rest of the world. At another rally in Mukalla, he was even more emphatic about the need for regime change. “You want reforms carried out just like the citizens of other countries,” he said to the crowd.
“But the question is—how? The answer is—by a change of government. Change is only way to achieve reforms, because we need a strong political system to carry them out.” He then urged the crowd to use the elections to achieve this. “I know you want to seize this chance, in spite of the obstacles placed in front of you by the ruling party,” he said. Corruption and the need for accountability was another key point of his speech. “We see that corruption is continually increasing,” he said.
“Yes, there are local administration laws and people have the power to elect local representatives, but in the end any benefits from this are destroyed by the appointments of directors and governors. All state power is concentrated in the hands of the president. We want a president for Yemen, but we want his power to be distributed, which means a separation of power.” District directors should be elected locally, he added.
He then made a comparison between the state of Sana’a and that of the capitals of other Asian countries. Despite its small size, Sana’a has a larger population of beggars, a poorer sanitation network and higher rates of mental illness than other Asian capitals.
He blamed this not on poverty, but poor urban planning, financial mismanagement, and the destructive policies of centralization—yet again pointing out that the upcoming elections give the people a chance to change this. He also pointed to the need for local, qualified workers to run the affairs of state, and criticized the government for neglecting education and training, as well as not doing enough to create jobs. “Education is important,” he said.
“We want to tackle the problems of poverty and unemployment. If they are telling the truth, there is US $6 billion in monetary reserves. Why hasn’t the government used US $4 billions to create jobs or set up programs for the unemployed?”
