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Yemen ruling party calls for new govt.
Yemen's ruling party has recommended forming a new government tasked with drafting a new constitution based on a parliamentary system.The recommendation was made by the Central Committee of the People's Congress on Sunday, as protests against President  President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh's... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He had been part of the conspiracy that bumped off his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, in the usual tiresome military coup, and he has maintained power by keeping Yemen's many tribes fighting with each other, rather than uniting to string him up. ... 32-year autocratic rule intensify, Rooters reported. Anti-regime protests escalated furiously on Sunday, a day after Saleh made a controversial televised speech, saying his government is firm despite demonstrations. The president also set a condition for his immediate step-down, saying his respect and prestige should be maintained, but warned the country is like a "time bomb" that could slide into civil war unless there is dialogue. The speech spawned even more outrage when protesters, who were holding a sit-in, threw shoes at a public television screen, demanding Saleh's immediate resignation. However, The infamous However... Saleh said in a meeting attended by the members of the ruling party on Sunday that he "derives his strength from the people" and warned the opposition groups that he would not make any further concessions from now on, Yemen News Agency reported. The president had vowed to quit power at the end of the year after holding presidential elections and leading the country to a "safe shore," but he has once again reiterated he will stay in office until the end of his current term in 2013, reports said. More than 80 people have been killed in the government crackdown since protests against Saleh's three-decade rule started in mid-February. Posted by: Fred 2011-03-28 |
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