Armies of Liberation

Yemen Post

President Ali Abduallh Saleh dismissed on Tuesday governors of five provinces in Yemen’s southern and eastern provinces.
New decrees were issued appointing three of them members in Shura Council, and appointing the two others vices of two ministries. (Read on …)

Fox: Huge protest in Sanaa and Saleh takes his fallback position, its the external influences and the JMP

“The events from Tunisia to Oman are a storm orchestrated from Tel Aviv and under Washington’s supervision,” he said. “What is taking place on Yemen’s streets is just a copycat attempt.”

Dispatched with a tweet? ahaha
PJCrowley Philip J. Crowley
The protests in #Yemen are not the product of external conspiracies. President #Saleh knows better. His people deserve a better response

Update: Kirby denies

Qirbi denies apology for Obama 05/03/2011
NewsYemen, Sana’a:
Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-President Ali Abdullah Saleh did not apologize to the American President Barack Obama as the most common. Qirbi said in a statement yesterday evening, the first Thursday in favor of “Obama explained what he meant in accusing the United States and” Israel “in the manufacture of chaos in the Middle East, evidenced a letter to a politician,” Israeli “explains it.” He stressed that the benefit was meant in his speech what is happening in the Arab world and stand behind it from the agenda and not Yemen.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s president offered Monday to form a unity government with opponents who want him out of office — provided protests against him stop. Opposition swiftly rejected the gesture. (Read on …)

Al Tagheer points out the contradiction of their current statement saying most protesters are JMP members, when earlier they denied any connection to the protests. Article also notes Abdelmalik al Houthi’s earlier statement supporting the right of people to peaceful protest. I find it astounding the nearly a decade after their establishment, the JMP is still unable to issue a statement in English. But even in Arabic, its an ambiguous statement. Update: but to follow is a full English translation of the al Tagheer article:

Yemeni opposition announces its renewed refusal of dialogue with the regime

19/02/2011 at 17:33:00, Al-Tagyeer, Sana’a, Special

Yemeni opposition announced today Saturday its refusal of any dialogue with the authority of General People’s Congress amid spontaneous protests of thousands of citizens in a number of provinces demanding the toppling of the regime. The rotating Chairman of of the JMP coalition said “there can be no dialogue with an authority using thugs and violence against peaceful demonstrators “.

Yemeni parliamentary opposition had confirmed nearly a week ago its agreement to resume dialogue with the ruling party under the initiative of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which included the cancellation of the constitutional amendments in particular and the postponement of the elections. (Read on …)

What happened to the demand he fire all his relatives from the leadership posts in the military and security forces? How about a full and transparent accounting of public funds? They should have demanded something tangible. They also disassociated themselves from the protesters, as they did in 2005. These reforms and the dialog to bring them about were agree to following the 2006 election, and haven’t happened yet. Its not only the US that prefers stability over progress…

13/2/2011 YemenOnline: (Xinhua):

Yemen’s opposition on Sunday accepted a political reform initiative offered earlier this month by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in which he pledged not to seek another Presidential term or hand over power to his son. “We accept the political reform initiative offered by President Saleh on Feb. 2,” the opposition coalition said in a statement. ” We are ready to begin the national dialogue with the President’s ruling party as of this week.” (Read on …)

That’s a new, interesting and on-point demand. President Saleh’s relatives have mass land holdings, own much of the nation’s businesses and also head the military and security forces. There’s not much chance of the military taking the side of the people in Yemen.

4/2/2011- YemenOnline
Yemen opposition calls president to sack his son and relatives from high security and military positions

Leaders of the Joint Meeting Parties JMP (Opposition) have called Yemeni president Saleh to sack his son Ahmed Ali from the leadership of the republican guards and other relatives that occupied high positions in security and military forces in Yemen. President Saleh must take these step to confirm the credibility for reform” Opposition leader Zaid Al-Shami says.

True. The JMP missed a good opportunity to reach out to the southern opposition. With the external pressure and an enhanced coalition, they might have forced real reforms. All the reports today sound as if the contest is to be the mayor of Sanaa, which maybe it its.

The National: On numerous occasions, party leaders have openly opposed him during news conferences, only to sit with Mr Saleh later in the day behind closed doors.

Experts believe that opposition parties are still not ready to govern and there is no obvious successor to Mr Saleh.

Unlike Tunisia, Yemen’s six opposition parties are united under the umbrella of the JMP, however, Ali Jaradi, the editor in chief of Yemen’s independent Ahale newspaper said the situation could quickly change. “Currently, the JMP is uniting the opposition against one person, which is Saleh.” But when he is “out of the picture, disputes among them will start due to them being from six differently ideological political parties”.

The Yemeni political analyst Mohammed al Khaberi said the goal of Yemen’s largest opposition party, Islah, is not to rule but to change the regime and ensure a transparent government. All other JMP parties want the opposite, and are craving the seat of the government. They see Islah as a brick wall standing in front of their political ambitions. (Read on …)

Protests in Yemen were peaceful today. Armed regime thugs parked their SUV’s in Yemen’s Tahrir Square yesterday, so the protest was moved at Sanaa University. President Saleh yesterday promised not to run for president again (a pledge he made before the last two elections that he won) and not to install his son on the throne when he goes (but no word on installing the nephews currently charge of the security forces and military.) Saleh is a consummate liar and the King of Spin, nothing he says can be believed but he’s obviously rather nervous now, conceding to the oppositions demands even before the protest was held. For more coverage, see Crowd Voices/Yemen. (Read on …)

No? The protest on February 3 is the last stage of the first step. WTF? Its a unique historical moment and the JMP caved. Saleh’s regime wholeheartedly promised electoral reform in exchange for the JMP accepting the results of the flawed 2006 presidential election. Its five years later, and there’s no reform yet, but they believe the same empty promises? If the opposition leaders are not ever going to challenge the regime, they should become bakers or farmers. In Yemen, people call the JMP “the other face of the regime,” for good reason, and a recent public opinion survey showed nearly no confidence in their ability to represent popular demands. The JMP is toothless because it is enmeshed in the status quo. This is not a good faith miscalculation, its a sell-out. They should leave on the same plane as Saleh. Update: a good analysis of prospects for Yemen at the Media Line.

Yemen’s opposition seeks reforms not ouster of President Saleh, opposition leader says
By Nasser Arrabyee, 01/02/2011

The head of the opposition coalition said opposition in Yemen has not yet officially demanded the President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down like Egypt and Tunisia.

“The opposition has not arrived its final stage, and it is still demanding serious and genuine reforms,” said Mohammed Al Mutawakel, chairman of the supreme council of the Joint Meeting Parties, the coalition of the main opposition parties.

“When people become hopeless of genuine reforms, then demands for removal of the regime will be used like Egypt and Tunisia.” — “Thursday’s demonstrations will be the last thing of the first stage of our activities which we started in the mid of last January, to refuse all unilateral steps taken by the ruling party for holding elections and constitutional amendments,” said Mohammed Al Kubati, the spokesman of the opposition coalition, Joint Meeting Parties, JMPs. (Read on …)

Saleh suddenly wants to talk. And reform. Maybe the JMP will decide to ratchet up their protest colors from pink to fuchsia. Watch out if they get to red. Update: Woops, Saleh made the announcement but forgot to invite the JMP to dialog.

Yemen Post: Opposition leaders will sit today to discuss the President Saleh’s call to end protests and come to the dialogue table.
The call by the president came after he met with high ranking officials from the ruling General People Congress GPC party yesterday.
Sources in the opposition told Yemen Post that they will not have dialogue with the ruling party until all decisions made by the ruling party over the last three months be cancelled.
The opposition source also mentioned that they are not optimistic about returning to the dialogue table with the ruling party as history has shown that dialogue always makes matters worse due to the negligence of the ruling party.

Its not just Sana’a and Tawakkol Karaman, demonstrations were held all around Yemen this week. The factor in determining if protests continues to spiral in Yemen may be what happens in Egypt tomorrow, and it really doesn’t look good. With the internet cut in Egypt, people are expecting a blood bath. Worse yet, I don’t think either the JMP or GPC in Yemen have a plan if the protests outstrip the leadership that called them, beyond making a deal or opening fire, respectively, as they usually do. The US can’t be caught as flat footed as it appears at the moment. Thirty years may be the natural expiry date for dictatorships.

Demonstrations and protests in TaizPublished:27-01-2011, SANA’A, Jan. 26 — Popular protests and demonstrations have expanded to include Aden and Taiz, and the Joint Meeting Parties have threatened to start more protests in other governorates. (Read on …)

Hamid al Ahmar reiterated his call for Saleh to resign and condemned the unilateral action taken in Parliament that paves the way for Saleh’s continuing reign. Nearly all the constitutional amendments since 1990 have reduced civil rights and popular empowerment.

Hamid al-Ahmar: Al-Qaeda emerges from the Presidential Palace January 5, 2011 – Sahwa Net – Secretary General of the National Dialogue Preparation Commission Hamid al-Ahmar strongly slammed the ruling party polices in Yemen, calling President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. (Read on …)

JMP takes stand against secession

Yemen Observer
Article Date: Dec 20, 2010 – 11:48:02 AM

The General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party Yasin Saeed Noman said that their party calls for a federal state and rejects the call of the former party’s southern leaders Ali Salem al-Bidh, Abo Bakr al-Atas and Ali Nasser Mohammed who call for separating southern Yemen. (Read on …)

This is a huge development that will not please the Yemeni government in the least. The NDC is a grass roots initiative bringing together reformists and concerned citizens, including many prominent personalities from across the political and social spectrum including some from the GPC. They’ve held several consultative meetings and issued many statements. Some members (like Tawakkol Karaman and Ahmed Saif Hashid) resigned due to the committee’s non-performance. Others have accused the group of seeking to replace the parliament. But its more substantive than any other initiative for reconciliation including the Saleh regime’s endless barrage of threats, empty promises and lies.

Dialogue Committee, Houthi Group in Coordination Deal
Yemen Post: The national dialogue preparatory committee and the Houthi Group reached an agreement at their meeting in Saada on Thursday for forming a joint commission to coordinate addressing various national issues. (Read on …)

The state unilaterally passed an election law (in violation of both the 2006 and 2009 agreements with the opposition JMP). On Tuesday riot police were stationed around Freedom Square and the Parliament to thwar an public protests.

Al Sahwa: Senior opposition leader assaulted in Sana’a, 15/12/2010 –

Sahwa Net- Secretary-General of the Nasserite Unionist People’s Organization Sultan al-Atwani was attacked on Wednesday and taken immediately into hospital. (Read on …)

I think every detail of the 2006 and 2009 agreements between the JMP and GPC has been violated.

Yemen Post The ruling party voted the new controversial election law amid the refusal of other parliamentary blocs to the vote, in a move that was described as a coup against all agreements between the General People’s Congress and the opposition topped by February 2009 deal. (Read on …)

It is important to note that under current rules of voter eligibility, the 30,000 northern soldiers transferred to Aden and Abyan for the Gulf Cup would be allowed to vote in those governorates. One of the important electoral reforms that the EU observers recommended following the 2006 presidential election was to require military personnel and businessmen to vote in the district of their residence, and disallow place of employment as a domicile. None of the recommendations have been instituted although both the GPC and JMP agreed at the time. The failure of electoral reform led to the two year postponement of the parliamentary elections in 2009. The voter rolls contained many dead persons, children and more male voters than Yemeni men. Another area of disagreement with the JMP was the composition of the SCER, the oversight body for elections and referendums. Various western governments and organizations are pushing for the elections to be held on time in 2011, which would add a veneer of legitimacy to the Saleh regime and its designated representatives in Parliament.

SABA: ADEN, Nov. 30 (Saba) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on Tuesday for electing a new Supreme Committee for Election and Referendum (SCER) from the judicial authority. (Read on …)

Its the perfect day to make this announcement, now that AQAP sucked all the air out of the room. The elections in 2009 were delayed for two years because no progress had been made on electoral reform since 2006’s presidential election.

Yemen Post: The ruling Party General People’s Congress GPC has made known that parliamentary elections will take place on April 27th next year after the failure of dialogue with the main opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties JMP, official media reported on Monday. (Read on …)

al Sahwa: Sahwa Net- Yemen’s main opposition parties, the Joint Meeting Parties, have called for an urgent meeting to discuss obstacles that stand before an inclusive national dialogue.

In an exceptional meeting, JMP approved suspension of their participation in what is called the 30-participant committee, made up from members of the ruling party and opposition parties, until a clear decision is taken to remove all hurdles that impede the national dialogue. (Read on …)

This is the same issue that brought the 2009 Parliamentary elections to a stand still. The SCER oversees the elections and election monitors and the electoral list (which in 2006 contained more male voters than men). The JMP asserted the positions on the SCER should be split between the JMP and GPC, but the regime said judges were good candidates for the positions and nominated its list, rubber stamped by parliament. The JMP is getting hemmed in the issue of the proportional list, which it favors, by international pressure just to do something that looks like an election. YObserver:

The Supreme Commission For Elections and Referendum (SCER) endorsed on Monday the schedule for the upcoming parliamentary elections set in April, which the Yemeni opposition considered “contrary” to the agreements of the “national dialogue” that began last Saturday. (Read on …)

Apparently they widened the scope of the discussions beyond electoral reforms to include other national issues.

Yemen Observer: Yemeni political parties started Saturday their first meeting for national dialogue over political and electoral reforms before the coming parliamentary elections scheduled in April 2011. (Read on …)