Yemen Update

Well, what's new... The petrol azmeh seems quite serious this time, with hardly any petrol available around the city. A military committee is still trying to remove the barricades, sacks filled with sand that are all over the place, checkpoints, and army vehicles from the public streets, but it's not quite clear whether or not this is really working. Protesters seem to have decided to continue their protests (against what exactly??) until they are in the government themselves. There is the idea of starting Friday demonstrations again from the pro-government side until the protests of the anti-government side stop. Anything new here? Not really...

Interesting Remark

I just read the following in a Reuters article and thought it was an interesting remark of the American Embassador in Yemen:

Al Masdar Online, one of the publications which attended a briefing with Feierstein, cited him as saying, in Arabic translation: "Being peaceful isn't just about not carrying weapons. If 2,000 people decided to march on the White House, we wouldn't consider it peaceful and we wouldn't permit it."

Picture (Garbage)

Could it be that the garbage collectors are protesting, too?
Or is it just the lack of fuel that Sanaa is suffering from again?

Democracy in Yemen - Some Thoughts

Yemen, for years, has known more democracy than many other Arab states. There is a multi-party system, with an opposition. The 2006 elections between President Ali Abdullah Saleh and an opposition member were free and observed by the international community. Another sign of democtracy, or maybe it should be called freedom, is that the sit-in wasn't immediately taken away by the armed forces. Instead, the youth got the opportunity to speak up.

Some people say that the President has too much power, though. We should ask ourselves if this is wrong in itself. Going back to the early days of Islam (and we should, since Yemen is an Islamic society), we notice that the khalifas who ruled the Muslim world had exclusive power. They would consult with some trustworthy men on important issues but then the final decision was theirs. And, especially in Abu Bakr and Umar Ibn al-Khattab's time, no one would dare to go against their orders. Why? Because the leader should be obeyed.

Surely, the khalifas at that time were better Muslims, more just, honest, and Allah-fearing than any leader nowadays. This, however, doesn't change the obligation to obey them unless they openly demonstrate unbelief.

This cannot be said about Yemen's President. He gave his people the freedom to live their lives in an increasingly peaceful environment. He solved many problematic obstacles in this process and somehow kept all quarreling parties satisfied to a great extent. The things that he did wrong Islamically will be on his record on the Day of Judgement, as is the case with any other human being.

Yemen is a tribal society and needs a strong leader if the country is to stay together. Too much democracy, or discussion, will inevitably lead to losing grip> Each tribe, group, or even individual may not know what to expect next and may therefore do whatever is in his own advantage. That this is not what Yemen needs is something the (western) international community is not fully aware of. Yemen cannot copy western democracy, simply because it isn't, and will never be, a western country.

Friendly, but not Polite

Since no one is perfect, it's time to let you know a bit about some negative traits the Yemenis possess.

An old colleague of mine used to say, when asked about his opinion of the Yemeni people, "friendly, but not polite." I guess you get used to it, but coming from the west it may be awkward to see customers in a shop calling out, "Give me this and that!" The words 'please', 'excuse me', or 'sorry' seem to be rarely used.

Yemenis are straight-forward, too. A stranger may ask you all sorts of personal questions you may feel uncomfortable with. Of course you don't have to give a straight answer, but this needs some practice! A good tactic is to turn the attention to your questioner by asking him/her some questions instead.

And then you have the staring-the trait that I personally feel is the most annoying. Not only kids, but also adults may even stop walking to just stand there and stare at you, without even uttering a greeting. They don't consider this to be rude behavior. A firm "assalamu 'aleikum!" or remark like "Are you looking for something?" often helps.

Oh, and the people always try to get in front of you in a line, whether that's a line at the bank or a line of cars waiting at a check-point. In the latter case, three or four lines are formed, and they all want to push their way through. The solution? Simply doing the same!

Democracy?

For the time being, things have quieted down after the forming of the new interim government. However, the situation is all from stable because WHO is actually happy with it? Only the opposition members who have gotten a place in the new government. The youth was warned, and it turned out to be true: the opposition took over their uprising and it's them who won. The youth is mad since they haven't gained anything. The President-supporters are sad because they feel they have lost.

Moreover, the country is on the verge of bankruptcy and it will take years to recover. "Yemen has been destroyed" is what many people say, quite rightly.

On the TV and radio we can hear the new people in charge thank everybody for backing the GCC agreement. They now talk about law and order, while it was them who backed the lawlessness for nearly a year! As if it's all a big game, a big show.

They praise the early presidential elections, which have been set for February 21, 2012. But what kind of election will that be? There'll be only one candidate: the current vice-president. This is all very well, since he has the most experience for this arduous job, but they shouldn't call it 'elections' then, should they? And why weren't parliamentary elections held? Is this democracy? Many Yemenis have their doubts.

It's also not clear what the separation movement in the south will do, the Huthi's in the north, and other groups that have been striving for local power.

It's quite well possible that Yemen will stay divided - not in name, but in reality.