Bangladesh life: Yemen sees early stages of revolt after Tunisia and Egypt

Big News Network.com
Saturday 5th February, 2011

Thousands of protestors took to the streets of the Yemeni capital demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the country for over thirty years, despite concessions made by the Yemeni strongman.

Saleh has been in power in Yemen for 32 years and, apparently looking to prevent a scenario similar to that seen in Tunisia and Egypt, recently announced that he would not seek re-election in 2013, when his current term of office ends, and that he would not seek to place his son in power.

This announcement was not met favourably by some members of the public and they took to the streets of Sanaa in their thousands, calling for Saleh to resign at once.

Yemen is plagued by poverty, corruption, unemployment and underdevelopment. It has been described in the international community as a failed state and there is growing anti-Saleh sentiment in the country as he is perceived not to have done enough to develop the country during his three decades in power.

However, just one kilometre from Sanna University, where the anti-Saleh protests took place, a pro-Saleh demonstration was held, calling on the public to support the president and allow him to finish his term of office.

In Yemen, a country where public opinion is tightly controlled and protests are usually put down with force, the demonstrations were markedly peaceful, with very little sign of security forces.

Saleh made a national address, criticising his opponents and calling for dialogue between political opponents in government.

There is widespread suspicion that if Saleh remains in power until elections in 2013, he will be able to exercise considerable influence over the result, as he has done for the last 32 years.

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