The spirit of Saleh lives on with the non-election in Yemen, says Nasser Arrabyee The early presidential elections on 21 February are supposed to usher in a new order in Yemen. On 7 February, Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi launched his election campaign with a big gathering in Sanaa attended by senior state officials, ministers, members of parliaments and Arab and international diplomats. Revolutionaries were conspicuous in their absence. Hadi will be the only candidate as agreed by all conflicting parties and approved by the parliament and welcomed by the international community as the only possible solution for a longstanding crisis. "The 21 February elections will be the way out of the crisis that was nearly a civil war," said Hadi in his first rally. "The elections will be the first step towards the good and safe future," he added. After elections, Hadi said a comprehensive national dialogue will be opened and no one would be excluded from that dialogue. All political issues will be addressed including the most difficult two: the rebellions in the south and in the north, which are locally known as Hirak and Al-Houthi. "There will be no red lines in the dialogue," Hadi said stressing that all groups would participate. Abdel-Karim Al-Eryani, the second man in President Ali Abdullah Saleh's party said, "The 21 February elections will not only be confirming the principle of peaceful transfer of power and confirming the constitutional legitimacy, but they will also be the solution to the crisis." And Prime Minister Mohamed Salem Ba Sundaw, who was representing the opposition in that rally, said, "this election will guarantee the peaceful transfer of power, so we should recognise the reality and vote for Hadi." In a common statement issued on the same day, the five ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council, the EU and Gulf countries in Sanaa called on Yemenis to do their best to make the elections a success. On his part, the outgoing President Saleh, who is currently on a visit to the US for medical treatment, has repeatedly said that he will return to Sanaa to participate in the installation ceremony of his deputy Hadi. Almost every one in Yemen is looking forward to that historic date despite concerns and worries of possible violence to thwart this internationally mediated step to end the one-year political crisis. Al-Qaeda is among the groups that dismiss the elections and try to keep up the chaos as the best solution for them. But the crackdown is underway. Although the elections will not be competitive because only one consensus candidate will be running, the majority of Yemenis see the step as the only possible way to transfer the power peacefully. They say it's a great and unprecedented lesson to be learnt by the coming generations. If it's bad, it is to avoid the worst, which is the war over who will rule.
