The Yemeni opposition parties criticized ruthlessly President Ali Abdullah Saleh and held him accountable for all violations that took place during the voting and screening processes of the parliamentary election. Mr. Mohammed Qahtan, head of the political department at the Islah Party party said in a press conference last Monday that democracy in Yemen came as a result of a military balance between the GPC and the socialist parties after the unification. But after the breakdown of this balance due to the civil war of 1994, the margin of democracy started to shrink dramatically. He said, âwe believed in the democracy of president Saleh but he proved to be not different from any other Arab leaders as he ordered the nationalization and blundering of our constituencies by force.â
| Ummm... Not a smart thing to say to a dictator... |
He addressed the president in a courageous manner by saying âyou are the reason of all this trouble we are going through and democracy will not go ahead unless you do it yourself.â He pointed out that the ruling party tried to drag the opposition into violence and bloodshed but the opposition, as he said, could escape this trap and making concessions to avoid violence.
| I hope they're going to start soon... |
He pledged that the regime will be brought down through more democracy and hard work on their part. However, it seems that Qahtan was subjected to harassment for his strong criticism of the president.
| Hey! Careful with that feather! You almost knocked me over with it! |
In a press statement distributed Thursday, Qahtan apologized to the president. âAs I believe that the president of the Republic has a big heart as he is the father of all Yemeni people, I would like to apologize to him for my statement which could be understood as offensive to his Excellency. I hope that he would accept my apology,â the statement said.
| "Instead of tossing me into the calaboose to rot..." |
This apology was yet followed by another formal apology from the Islah party as a whole. The party held an extraordinary meeting last Friday and apologized to Saleh for the offensive of Qahtan. Islah said that the leadership apologizes in the name of all its members to President Saleh on the offensive made by Qahtan. Islah emphasized that they enjoy good and deep-rooted relations with Saleh, who remains a leader of all people of Yemen.
| "At least we could pretend we did, until Mr. Dummschitz opened his mouth..." |
On his part, Dr. Abdullah Dahan of the Nasserite party said the fight was not between the candidates of the opposition and the ruling party; rather it was a fight with the state with all its power and potentials. The opposition pledged to count all violations and put them into question before court. |