Hassan Baoum Elected President of Southern Provisional Government
On Friday, October 31, Hassan Baoum was designated as head of the newly formed Southern Provisional Government. Baoum, who resigned his leadership position in the Yemeni Socialist Party, was arrested for treason in April 2008 after speaking at a rally. His detention inflamed tensions and prompted demonstrations throughout the south. Along with 863 other southerners, Baoum was released in September. Reports indicate the authorities in Sana’a recently ordered the re-arrest of 59 southern activists and civil leaders, including Baoum, although the warrants have not been served as of yet. Security forces were unable to approach Baoum due to the presence of hundreds of armed men, Yemeni media reported ten days ago.
Later this month, the southern governorates, each represented by 50 delegates, will hold a conference to elect a ten member cabinet for the southern provisional government. It may be the first institutionalized authentic expression of popular will in Yemen since the 1994 civil war. The politics of the last decade did not bring about power sharing. The co-option of various opposition leaders does not represent empowerment of the electorate. The ruling party’s hegemony masks the real decision makers who are largely immune to pressure from the citizenry and the opposition parties. One of the few constraints is the need to maintain a pretense of democratization for the international community.
The establishment of a southern provisional government indicates the wholesale rejection of Yemen’s dysfunctional political process and party system as a mechanism of enfranchisement and dispute resolution. The extent to which western observers maintain the myth of power sharing through elections only adds to the increasing hopelessness and sense of betrayal prevalent in the south. Yemen’s 2006 presidential election demonstrated the merger of the ruling party with the state. In typical fashion, the mere existence of an authentic opposition candidate was hailed by international observers as indicative of a mostly fair election. However, the opposition was out-spend and out-gunned during the campaign. Many activists were arrested, fired, beaten or defamed afterwards as President Saleh’s promises of “Hope” and “Change” went unfulfilled.
