SANAA – Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, eyeing protests that threaten to topple Egypt’s long-time ruler, indicated yesterday he would leave office when his current term ends in 2013, after three decades in power.
Mr Saleh, a key US ally against al-Qaeda, also vowed not to pass on the reins of government to his son and appealed to the opposition to call off protests as a large rally loomed. “I present these concessions in the interests of the country. The interests of the country come before our personal interests,” he told his parliament, Shura council and members of the military.
“No extension, no inheritance, no resetting the clock,” he said, making reference to ruling party proposals on term limits seen as designed to enable him to run again.
The move was Mr Saleh’s boldest gambit yet to stave off anti-government turmoil spreading in the Arab world as he tried to avert any showdown with the opposition that could draw people into the streets in impoverished Yemen.
His remarks came a day before a planned large opposition rally, dubbed a “Day of Rage”, seen as a barometer of the strength of the Yemeni people’s will to follow Egyptians and Tunisians in demanding a change of government. “I call on the opposition to freeze all planned protests, rallies and sit-ins,” Mr Saleh said.
“I call on the opposition after this initiative to come and form a national unity government in spite of the ruling party majority. We will not allow chaos. We will not allow destruction.”
Yemen, already slipping toward becoming a failed state, is trying to fight a resurgent al-Qaeda branch, cement peace with Shia rebels in the north and quell separatism in the south, all in the face of crushing poverty. One-third of Yemenis suffer chronic hunger.
“I think it is very significant,” Dubai-based security analyst Theodore Karasik said of the move. “What they are doing in Yemen is trying to not have what happened in Egypt. I don’t know if it will be enough to satisfy people. It may try to heal some of the cleavages between, for example, the southern secessionist movement and Sanaa, but is it going to be enough for everyone?”
The United States leans heavily on Mr Saleh to help combat al- Qaeda’s regional Yemen-based arm that also targets neighbouring top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. More instability could mean significant political and security risk for the Gulf region.
Yemen’s biggest opposition party welcomed the initiative but said today’s rally in the capital Sanaa would still go ahead.
The rally’s size and mood will offer the first glimpse of popular reaction to Mr Saleh’s concessions. “We consider this initiative positive and we await the next concrete steps. As for our plan for a rally tomorrow, the plan stands and it will be organised and orderly,” said Mohammed al-Saadi, undersecretary of the Islamist Islah (reform) party.
“This is a peaceful struggle through which the people can make their voices heard and express their aspirations.” – (Reuters)