Yemen: Precarious Situation A Week From Presidential Elections

The Presidential elections that will complete the power transition of Yemen ending the 33 year long ruling of President Ali Abdhullah Saleh will be held on February 21. The transition was negotiated between Saleh and the Gulf Cooperation Council and signed in November 2011. Critics rose against a lack of democratic process as Yemeni Vice President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi is the only candidate to the coming elections. However, the country Director for the U.N. Development Program, Gustavo Gonzalez, said “The upcoming presidential election is the first step in this challenging journey,” considering the Yemen political development.

On Sunday,  Yemeni Southern separatists set fire to a tent camp housing anti-government protesters in the port city of Aden. The anti-government favored the upcoming Presidential elections and targeting their camp was a protest against those elections. Earlier last week in the Dalea province, Yemeni military forces killed two people when they opened fire on  southern separatist demonstrators that were calling for  a boycott of the presidential elections. Southern separatist feel isolated from national power and accuse the northerners of usurping  their resources. The separatists wish to revive a southern socialist state that was united with the north in 1990. Claims for independence increased during last year uprising, while Saleh government was loosing control on part of the country.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Northern powerful tribal coalition Hashid, Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ahmar, expressed its support in the creation of a modern civil state. Al-Ahmar, who was an early vocal opponent to Saleh’s regime during the upheaval, called for successful of presidential elections. Moreover, Al-Ahmar had urged the Yemeni authorities to meet the demands and grievences of southerners, stressing that they are legal and valid.

Ansar Al-Sharia’s militants, an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, announced the execution of two Saudis and a Yemeni accused for leaking the United States information used to carry out drone strikes in the area. Last year, Islamist groups used the lack of a strong central government to assert their control over certain areas of Yemen.