President Saleh addresses ruling party, warns of chaos

SANA’A, March 29 (Saba)- This is a speech delivered on Sunday by President Ali Abdullah Saleh at the 4th session of the General Committee of the Ruling General People’s Congress party. The General Committee of the GPC is holding its meeting under difficult circumstances in the country. Ever since the presidential elections in 2006, the situation has been gradually escalating in the Yemeni arena, be it demonstrations or sit-ins. We said that the freedom to express one’s opinion falls within the framework of democracy because our regime is based on political pluralism and a multiparty system. This is what we have chosen after 22 May 1990 when we raised the flag of the Republic of Yemen. We said that this is a democratic and pluralistic choice. It is wrong to associate poverty with the inability to express one’s opinion. This opinion and this democracy mean that people are allowed to breathe and speak their minds. It should, however, be expressed in a reasonable, ethical, and disciplined manner and within national principles. Nevertheless, they have violated all this to a large extent and misunderstood the notions of democracy. They say: I did not give him a scholarship, I did not give him a loan, I did not employ his son, and then they head to the protest square. These are personal issues rather than national issues. They did not address national issues, such as the economic, cultural, social, and educational aspects and services. The people have demands, do we not all? They are taking things personally and their understanding of democracy is completely and deliberately wrong by some political parties. By deliberate, I mean that they want to destroy all that we have built culturally, politically, and economically out of hatred. I will go over with you the developments of the recent crisis that has been going on for two months. Every time we offer concessions, the ceiling of demands rises. It is not out of weakness that we agree to such demands. We are trying to avoid general unrest in the country, we are also avoiding bloodshed, and this is not weakness. They truly know who Ali Abdullah Saleh is. They truly know who he is. However, every time we make concessions, and I do not make decisions on my own, I have a leadership – the GPC – and I never make any concessions before discussing and coordinating with the GPC leaders. It is not true that Ali Abdullah Saleh makes concessions as he sees fit. There is a political leadership in the country, starting with the vice president, prime minister, parliament speaker, Shura speaker, Supreme Security Committee, General Committee, and the army command. This is the leadership, in addition to the political adviser. We all make decisions, and according to the bylaws of the GPC, we negotiate with the General Committee and all political parties according to the bylaws, and we propose our views before the Permanent Committee. The committee is convening today so that we can discuss what is happening, and the committee is responsible for taking the necessary and critical decisions because it represents all of Yemen’s people. They are now demanding the fall of regions in Saada, Marib, Abyan, Jawf and Shabwa. I was saying yesterday – or before yesterday – that they have gained their experience from the war of the summer of 1994, they are totally experienced in looting camps. They are now using tribes to attack military camps. Where is the role of the tribes, the Permanent Committee, and you as leaders in the society? You are supposed to defend and stand by the army and the security services. Only yesterday, Al-Qaeda launched an attack on a post in Lawdar and six of them were killed. Today, following the morning prayer, they attacked a military police checkpoint, killing seven members of the military police and wounding seven others. There is too much talk. What is our role as a political organization? We are facing this insurgency and we are facing these political parties; however, how can we immediately act in our villages, streets, cities, and governorates side by side with the local authorities to confront this flagrant challenge? They are conspiring against the army and security services so that the regime would respond harshly. I am responsible for blood, you must understand that I am responsible for the blood of the people, I am responsible. But where do you stand from all this? Just like you came on Friday [ 25 March] from Taiz, Ibb, Lahij, Aden, Hodeidah, Hajjah, and all over, and you delivered a strong message. I received a strong message, which said that you stand in Taiz in support of the local authority and security. One forms local committees to maintain security in the neighbourhoods. When they see you so united and strong, everyone will think twice. I draw my power from the people. I do not draw my power from tanks. I draw my power from the people. Prove your presence in your neighbourhoods. Scholars must carry out their duties in mosques, and the same goes for intellectuals, clerics, and youths each in their own field. When they see you playing your roles, [changes thought]. You are the majority. You are a large majority. However, as a majority, you should shoulder the responsibility. Shoulder the responsibility in your neighbourhoods, villages, and areas. Why are you leaving the army now? For example, look at Khanfar. Yesterday and today, they seized a munitions factory. Who attacked? Al-Qaeda. Now, they have all joined efforts – the Al-Qaeda Organization, the Huthists, the Joint Meeting Parties [JMP], as well as those who defected from the army. They are all against order and the majority. They do not believe in the majority. Why? If they believe in democracy, we would have all gone to the ballots and rotated power peacefully. If you have a vote and a presence, take it. No. They literally say we want you to issue statement number one and a constitutional announcement that you will step down, leave, and hand us the authority. By “us” I mean the JMP. Just like that, they tell me: “Leave with your sons and relatives.” Alright, we agree. I, the president and my relatives, etcetera. Then, they tell us that the state’s high-ranking leaders in the government, parliament, and everywhere should leave power. Then, they want to root out the GPC in the manner of the Bathis in Iraq. Now, the JMP has made a clear decision that they are not making any concessions. We make concessions to spare the country the ravages of war, but from now on, we will not make any concessions [crowd cheers]. We will not make any concessions. If you stood up for yourselves, if you organized yourselves and stood in your villages, homes, and governorates, you would be shouldering the responsibility of the local authority alongside the security agencies and army. We respond with proofs ad logic. Protect your areas. Protect Marib. Currently, gas, diesel and fuel are cut off. However, why do the media, intellectuals, and politicians not condemn the road blocks that are cutting off fuel and gas supplies from the people? What can Prime Minister Ali Mujawar’s government do for you? What can Ali Mujawar do? From where will he get you gas or oil? They block roads to create confusion and a problem among the people. They annoy the people. We hear someone saying when the government is gone we will buy gas, gasoline, petrol, and kerosene. Well, this is chaos. If we were to close ranks and stand as one before this challenge, the crisis would end but if we are waste efforts to organize rallies, nothing will happen. They armed themselves. Currently, they are cordoning off areas and attacking checkpoints. Stand up for yourselves in order to defend your existence and the security and stability of the homeland. They take hold of areas and plot against the local authority and the army, what comes next? They say God will solve the problems. How do you know that Hadramout will return after it was taken? How do you know that it will return to you? How do you know that the South will return? How do you know that Saada will be yours? Alas. If it falls, there will be chaos. Everyone will resort to his tribe. Everyone will carry his rifle and go to his tribe. It will be a new Somalia. We should stand up and prove now that we are still under constitutional legitimacy, and we should unite and shoulder the responsibility – yes, have sleepless nights and face hardships in the morning, all for the well being of the country. Nevertheless, if we go on ranting, spouting, giving statements, analysing, and making proposals [changes thought]. Well, the drawer next to me is filled with proposals. Everyone thinks about something and believes that he has the only right opinion. His opinion is right and the rest of the people cannot reason. They made proposals and we agreed. We agreed on the scholars’ eight-point initiative, and that there would be no hereditary succession or extension for the parliament’s term. We agreed to form a national unity government, to amend the constitution on the basis of a parliamentary system, and to form a supreme committee. However, they rejected all that. Let us form blocs for the elections. Let us amend the constitution. Let us form a government of national unity or national reconciliation to manage the election process and supervise the voting. We can call for early presidential and parliamentary elections. Let us do that. The most important thing is that the people avoid bloodshed and sedition. If there is sedition, it cannot be amended. No one should believe that things will return to their normal state. If the country faces sedition, it will be a tribal, sectarian, and region-based sedition. This momentum which we are witnessing – this democratic, economic, and cultural momentum – will not return. They rejected democracy. They reject democracy. They say that democracy is chaotic in the region and that we will pay for this democracy. They do not want democracy. Let us agree on how to achieve national reconciliation or a broad national front that includes all the political forces based on the Tripoli Agreement, which stipulates the establishment of a unified political organization. Yemen did not handle pluralism. Let us form a broad national front. Let us integrate you in the process so that you do not say that the GPC is monopolizing authority. Come, let us form a government, and amend the constitution and its articles. If you do not believe in political pluralism, then you simply do not believe in it and you can reject it, and the majority is not the president, it is the goal. The goal is the majority. In 2006, how many votes did the president get from the local authority? How many votes did they receive? This drove them crazy. Fine, we do not want to exclude you from the decision making process. Come join us in the government, and let us discuss with technical and legal experts ways to amend the constitution in a manner that allows us to work as full partners. In this full partnership, no one will be excluded and everyone will have a role to play. Since you do not believe in political pluralism, we will work accordingly. And you are the minority, and you did not respect the majority. You are staging sit-ins outside Sana’a University. You gathered 1,500; 2,000; 10,000; 20,000; and even 25,000 persons to pray on Fridays. You fill up buses and cars with these people, take them to the sit-ins, and tell them to just sit there. Those are your protesters. As for us, we gathered two million persons in Taiz, Hodeidah, Hajjah, Ibb, Bayda, and Hadramout. We are millions in each rally. But no, they are the minority yet they still want to impose their opinion on the majority. Why do they not respect the majority? Okay. We agree. Come, stop the violence, end the insurgency, end the road blocking in certain areas, and stop the attacks on the authority and on the army. Come, let us agree on forming a national accord government and a political committee for amending the constitution. If you are not content with democracy and the multiparty system, then come. We are not against amending the constitution, so come and let us amend the constitution. Let us, as I had said earlier, form a broad national front. The homeland is lamenting over the bloodshed. How can we reassure children, women, and men? How can we restore security to the homes of the people and to the Sana’a University? Children cannot go to schools, women cannot go to the grocery stores to buy their needs, and sick people cannot go to hospitals. And on top of that, the water supply is cut off. You have been acclaiming, exclaiming “God is Great,” dancing, and singing all the time. Close down these neighbourhoods. They shout slogans. What kind of slogans are these? Wa Islamah! Wa Mu’tasimah! Until the ouster of the regime. Who will be the one to expel the regime? The conspirator will definitely be expelled, and he who conspires against the homeland should leave. Anyone who conspires should be the one to leave, and not the person who is legitimately in power. The person who has legitimacy has called for holding discussions and engaging in dialogue for the peaceful transfer of power. Come, let us discuss and allow for a peaceful transfer of power. In the end, I would like to thank my brothers and sisters who spoke today in all honesty, enthusiasm, and seriousness, and I appreciate this great attitude and greet them from the bottom of my heart. There is only one thing I need you to do, and that is to stand by the local authorities and constitutional institutions in all the governorates, districts, alongside the security agencies and military institutions. You should be supportive as the army and security forces carry out their duties, and you should stand by them. Stand by them, the people, and the army. The last point I want to make before ending my statement is that I suggest the formation of a committee for dialogue with our brothers in the parliament – and to whom I have something nice to say changes. The committee would be formed of parliament members including Sultan al-Barakani, Ahmad Sufan, Mabkhuth Bin-Madi, Abduh Radman, Awad al-Wazir, Mahdi Abdul-Salam, Ahmad al-Zuhayri, Yasir al-Awadi, Abdul-Aziz Karaw, and Nabil Basha. The aforementioned should engage in dialogue with their colleagues, and we want the GPC to stick together and we do not want a split in the party. Another point I want to suggest is that the GPC in this session ratify the expulsion – the complete expulsion – of the turncoats. They were not genuine GPC members, but infiltrators in the GPC. Some of them were with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, some were with the Nasserite, and others were part of the September Party. These people were infiltrators in the GPC, and it was good to lift that burden off our shoulders. These people must be completely separated from the GPC, and the Monitoring Committee must issue a list of all their names, and hand it over to the General Committee, which in turn should take authorization from the committee to issue a dismissal decision. A dismissal decision will be issued for every turncoat, weakling, shaky person, and those with double standards. They were infiltrators. Some brothers out there have made very interesting statements. Why did they join the GPC? They did not join out of conviction, but out of personal interests, as some of them sought to become governors, and others had their own plans. The best thing they did was to remove their masks, and so you should shake this load off your shoulders and leave. In reality, those people were not genuine GPC members. They only sought to fulfil their personal interests. These are infiltrators, and we have just shaken off a very large number of them off our shoulders who have been there since the GPC was formed in 1982. The opposition heard the statements I made during my televised interview, and is once again making conditions that if the president leaves power, the next president should not communicate with the people, and should be locked up in a room so as to prevent him from communicating with the people. This is what they fear most. God forbid, fear! As politicians, they should not have been so afraid. And they are putting such conditions so that the president will be afraid, but for whom should I be sticking my neck out? Thus, as a president I must stand tall, fearless, and firm so as to face this challenge. The initiator is the aggressor. The initiator is the aggressor. Thank you so much for you Saba