Agreement reached in Yemen last weekend setting out a timetable for reform of the country's political and electoral systems has been broadly welcomed by opposition parties, writes Nasser Arrabyee in Sanaa Yemen's ruling and opposition parties agreed at the weekend to try to solve the country's long- standing political crisis by conducting "essential and genuine" reforms of Yemen's political and electoral systems before next year's parliamentary elections in April 2011. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he would be willing to form a national government consisting of representatives of all the parties if they could turn what was agreed on Saturday into action. The country's ruling party, the People's General Congress (PGC), and a coalition of four main opposition parties known as the Joint Meeting Parties (JMPs) agreed to implement a February 2009 agreement, according to which parliamentary elections would be postponed to April 2011. After 17 months of political wrangling, the parties under the sponsorship of President Saleh signed a 10-point plan to implement the February 2009 agreement, which also stipulates carrying out political and electoral reforms. However, one of the most important of the opposition's demands was met even before the agreement was reached when 28 political detainees from the country's Southern Movement were released. It was also announced that some 400 Al-Houthi rebels, members of the northern Shia movement, would be released soon. Former MP Ahmed Ba Mualem and former ambassador Kasem Askar were among the leaders of the Southern Movement released this week after they had been sentenced to between five and ten years in prison on charges of harming national unity. Meanwhile, four people were injured, including two soldiers, on Monday in the southern province of Al-Dhale'e in clashes between security forces and supporters of the separatist movement, who were described as giving a "heroes' welcome" to the 28 men who were released. While the country's opposition parties insisted that the national dialogue planned after last weekend's agreement would include representatives of the Al-Houthi rebels and the Southern Movement, some separatist leaders commented that the agreement was an external affair that did not concern them. "The agreement does not matter to us. It matters to the Sanaa regime and its allies. What we southerners want is our independence," said MP Nasser Al-Khubaji, one of ten self-declared leaders of the Southern Movement. Under the agreement's 10-point plan, one of the most difficult steps will be for the country's parties to form a 200-member committee to prepare for comprehensive national dialogue and draft constitutional amendments that will bring about the planned political and electoral reforms. One hundred members of this committee will be from the ruling party, and 100 will be from the four opposition parties, which include the Islamist Islah Party, the Socialist Party, the Nasserite Party and the Baath Party, the only parties represented in the parliament. Islah currently has 46 seats in the 306-seat parliament, while the Socialists have seven, the Nasserites two and the Baath one. "If the steps agreed upon today are implemented, we are ready to form a national government from across the political spectrum to conduct the elections on time," Saleh said at the signing ceremony in the presidential palace, which coincided with celebrations marking his 32nd year in power. At the ceremony, the representative of the opposition coalition, Abdel-Wahab Mahmoud, said that "we are happy with this agreement, and we are happy that His Excellency President Saleh has sponsored the agreement. We hope that we will have his confidence and cooperation over the coming period." The agreement was also welcomed by other opposition parties not represented in the parliament. The leader of the Al-Houthi rebel movement in the north, Abdel-Malik Al-Houthi, also welcomed the agreement, saying in a statement that "removing the impacts of the Saada war will be one of the essential factors for political stability." The Al-Houthi leader, overseeing a fragile truce with government forces since February after six years of sporadic conflict, demanded the release of all detainees, the reconstruction of the northern city of Saada and compensation for all those affected by the conflict as conditions for the success of the agreement. Over the last week, the government has accused the Al-Houthi rebels of killing 11 people, eight tribesmen loyal to the government and three soldiers, in an ambush in Saada. Two days later, Al-Houthi accused the army of killing three and injuring five of his supporters in an ambush, also in Saada. Domestic reactions to the agreement have been varied. According to Mohamed Al-Dhaheri, professor of politics at Sanaa University, "the agreement is a limited step in the right direction, but there is an absence of implementation." "Yemen does not need agreements that are not implemented," he said. "It needs the political will to implement agreements." According to political analyst Ali Al-Jaradi, the agreement was "a good chance for the political parties to reform the political and electoral systems and to rescue the nation from political and economic crises." Minister of Information Hassan Al-Lawzi said the agreement was a victory for all Yemenis who agree on its general objectives and aspirations. However, some observers view the agreement as being more of a solution for the country's political parties than it is for Yemen itself. Some say it has come about as a result of pressure from the US and the EU, which do not want to see further unrest in Yemen, fearing that this could provide fertile ground for Al-Qaeda. Abdullah Al-Fakee, a professor of politics at Sanaa University, commented that "pressure from the European Union and the United States was behind the agreement." Other voices have also criticised the agreement for being insufficiently inclusive. "The dialogue will not solve the problems of the protests in the south and the armed rebellion in the north, as the participants will only be from the ruling party and its allies and the JMPs and their allies," said Ali Saif Hassan, chairman of Yemen's Political Development Forum.
