President Saleh calls for launch of national dialogue

SANA’A, August 01 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh has called on the national dialogue committee to hold its first meeting next Wednesday.The committee consists of the General People Congress (GPC) and the opposition alliance of the Joint Meeting Pastries (JMP).Under the auspices of President Saleh, the Yemeni parties, represented in the Parliament, have signed a joint minutes to implement the 2009 February agreement. In order to carry out the agreement of 23 February 2009, the GPC and the JMP agreed on the formation of a preparatory committee and the preparation of a comprehensive national dialogue, as stipulated in the 2009 February Agreement. The agreement’s first article states the following: All political parties and civil society organizations shall be given the chance to discuss the constitutional amendments necessary to develop the political and electoral system of the nation, including the proportional system.The participants agreed on carrying out the joint minutes as follows:1- The JMP shall meet with the GPC as representatives of their partners and allies in a preliminary meeting, during which each side defines and names its partners and allies that will represent it in the joint National Dialogue Preparatory Committee. No side shall object to what the other side presents.2- Once the two lists are complete, the joint National Dialogue Preparatory Committee shall be formed from 200 members, chosen equally from both lists.3- The sides which signed the 2009 February Agreement shall sign the agreement’s minutes.4- In addition to the two aforementioned lists, the two sides shall list the names of the civil society organizations and the political, social, and national parties and prominent figures that the joint National Dialogue Preparatory Committee will call and consult. Whoever accepts the idea of national dialogue shall be added to the list, with regard to the same standards of the committee’s formation, as per number and representation.5- The consultation of the other political parties, social key figures, and civil society organizations, which are interested in joining the national dialogue shall continue with no exception.6- The dialogue’s timeframe and regulations shall be prepared.7- The committee shall take decisions by consensus and the decisions shall be binding on all.8- The committee’s chairmanship will be changed periodically and the committee will hold its first meeting in the Cultural Centre in the capital Sana’a.9- The two sides of the dialogue shall appoint a chairman and a vice-chairman to represent it. If the chairman is from one side, the vice-chairman shall be from the other. The two chairmen and two vice-chairmen shall form the chairmanship body of the joint Comprehensive National Dialogue Preparatory Committee and the rule, If the chairman is from one side, the vice-chairman shall be from the other, shall apply to its committees.10- The committee’s work shall be public and transparent and the public opinion and the brothers and friends shall be able to follow up the dialogue events firsthand. After the signature of the agreement’s minutes, President Ali Abdullah Saleh expressed his happiness over the signature of the minutes between the GPC and the JMP.MD/YASaba