The Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) issued a statement calling for national consultation with all national powers, politicians, intellectuals, academics and all those who believe in political reform to help rescue the country and the people from what it termed ‘the present crisis.’
The enlarged JMP leadership meeting denounced the irresponsible dealing of the ruling party which it says has blocked national dialogue by monopolizing the election’s mechanisms and abrogating voters’ rights by their refusal to commit to qualitative reforms of the electoral system. They also warned of the serious implications imminent due to the government’s misguided or non-existent food and agricultural, poverty relief and income inequality policies. They attributed this mainly to poor wealth distribution mechanisms, a poor development policy, a decline in investment, a steady rise in unemployment, and a real wages decline due to poor price control. Additionally, the JMP alleged that the authorities’ policies have failed to improve living standards, alleviate poverty, rationalize national resources, and spend oil revenues in a sustainable manner.
The JMP statement warned of the threats posed by the ‘southern situation’ because of the lack of a national awareness in tackling the southern issue and refusal to recognize a problem that affects all Yemenis. The JMP rejected the violent methods used to suppress peaceful movements, which do nothing to end underlying problems,
and they accused the government of using arbitrary detentions and trials for political activists in addition to the measures against MP’s. The statement demanded a trial of those who were involved in the violence and the murders during what they termed ‘the southern peaceful protests.’ They also called for the release of political detainees and an end to political show-trials that contradict the constitution.
The statement declaring their support for an end to the bloody war in Sa’adah, the JMP called on humanitarian and civil society organizations to help secure food and accommodation for all of the displaced person.
The JMP had held an enlarged two-day meeting which included all the party’s general secretaries, the JMP parliamentary members and their governorates’ representatives.
Abdulwahab al-Anisi, the JMP supreme council manager, and Idros al-Naqib, a JMP parliamentarian, gave the opening speeches at the meeting.
Abdulwahab al-Anisi held the government responsible for the series of crises which are pushing the country to the brink of disaster. He added that this is the inevitable outcome of flawed polices conducted by the authorities, which have precluded the growth of a democratic system and have helped entrench totalitarian rule. He said the government has marginalized the constitutional institutions and plundered the country’s public wealth for personal gain.
Idros al-Naqib, the JMP parliamentary bloc’s representative, said “what is occurring in the Parliament for amending the elections law is an extortion practiced by the ruling party bloc in order to render the election committee into a staff of servants waiting to receive their bonus and carry out the government’s directives.” Al-Naqib added that they propose that the amendments should be comprehensive, including mending the electoral lists and the electoral venue as well as the impartiality of public wealth, public information, public jobs and the military and security systems.
Abdul-Nasser Habib gave a speech on behalf of the governorates’ executive committees. He denounced the arbitrary procedures which targeted several politicians, writers and artists because of their political views and criticisms of the authorities. He also criticized the persecution of independent and partisan press by fabricating cases against them, threatening them with closure and trumped up charges. He said that peaceful resistance is the JMP’s only option for securing legal rights from a morally bankrupt government. Referring to the southern protests, he said that they hold the authority accountable for the results of their violent confrontation with the peaceful protests and sittings-in that demanded the prosecution of any officials who caused the deaths of innocent protesters.
The JMP has continued its closed meetings on several issues which will be announced in a press conference on Saturday.
In a related issue, the national opposition council parties, which consist of nine parties, held a press conference in which they expressed their concern for the developments in the south and in Sa’adah. They accused both the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the JMP of distributing the country’s wealth and power amongst themselves.
Abdul-Aziz al-Bukair, the Social National Party’s general secretary said that “we support the southern governorates’ demands, which we consider to be legal. As for the war in Sa’adah, he said that we support the government for taking all the necessary constitutional and legal steps to preserve national unity, although he added that the fruits of any peace talks should be made public.