Silent revolution in Arabia: Yemen's president hard-pressed By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Tuesday September 12, 2006

Cairo- The cliche goes that the Arab world is at its most modern in Lebanon and at its most backward in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world. While it is true that tribal ties are more important in Yemen than ideologies, it is also true that the poor house of the Arabian peninsula - where men still wear traditional wraparound robes and women hide their faces behind black veils - is experiencing an electoral campaign that is more democratic than in other Arab states in the past year.

On September 20, Yemenis are due to elect new local councils and decide whether President Ali Abdullah Saleh should step down after 28 years at the helm of the region the Romans called Arabia Felix, or Happy Arabia.

Unlike the presidential campaigns in Egypt and Tunisia, where it was clear from the start that no opposition candidate had a chance against the incumbents, the fight for the top spot in Sana'a is proving to be gripping.

Five of the larger opposition left-wing and Islamist parties have agreed on a joint presidential candidate and manifesto.

Their candidate, former oil minister Faisal bin Shamlan, comes from the province of Hadramaut and was already a member of the government in Aden before North and South Yemen reunified.

Bin Shamlan has made the major theme of his election campaign the fight against corruption, and he is a credible anti-corruption candidate as he relinquished his ministerial post in 1994 in protest against bribery and the taking of personal advantages, a rare move by an Arab politician.

At campaign rallies in Hadramaut in recent days, he has promised "more schools, more hospitals and more roads."

Nobody gives any of the three other candidates a chance of winning the presidential election, so Saleh has been saving all his attacks for bin Shamlan, the white-haired challenger from the provinces, who at 72 is eight years older than Saleh.

In a country like Yemen, where respect for the wisdom of elders is a primary virtue, Shamlan's age is no disadvantage, although questions must be asked about the likelihood of the septuagenarian seeing out the full seven-year presidential term.

Saleh said last year that he did not intend to stand for re- election and therefore opened the way for a democratic power change.

Saleh's critics saw the announcement as merely tactical and were ultimately not surprised when Saleh allowed himself "to be persuaded" by his party, the ruling General People's Congress, to stand for re- election after all.

The Yemeni population does not think that the ruling party will be able to cheat in the vote-count in a two-man race between Saleh and bin Shamlan as the Electoral Commission has many prominent opposition figures in it.

The election campaign has been mostly above board, with only a few instances of opposition supporters being held up at roadblocks and bullied.

Whether the country will remain as calm on election day and during the vote-count is as yet unclear: at the end of the day, the possession of fire arms in Yemen is a sign of virility.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur