The Joint Meeting Parties continued on Saturday boycotting the parliamentary sessions and are expected to go further than protest, and suspend their parliamentary memberships.
The opposition coalition JMP is protesting unilateral moves by the General People’s Congress, the ruling party, including continuous preparations for the upcoming controversial elections.
“The JMP did not want the ruling party to take the country to the April polls before holding a national dialogue to agree on political and democratic reforms,” head of the JMP Muhammad Al-Mutawakil recently said.
Also, the JMP has recently vowed to step up popular protest against the corrupt regime, organizing massive rallies in various provinces demanding changes, and urging the regime to reverse unilateral decisions including recently approved constitutional amendments.
“Our rallies come to urge demands. Currently we don’t seek the ouster of the regime as those in Tunisian and Egypt. The truth is that if the regime refuses our demands, the people will decide,” said Al-Mutawakil.
“Our objective is to get closer to the people that in case our demands are not met, the people then can go for a true revolution,” he added.
In response to the JMP moves, President Saleh announced what he said were incentives and concessions including that he will not run for president and will not bring his son to power when his term expires in 2013. Saleh also urged to freeze discussing the constitutional amendments that the opposition said if they are approved, Saleh will rule for a lifetime.
The opposition played down the presidential initiations saying Saleh’s speech at the emergency meeting of the House of Representative and the Shure did not have something new, continuing the mobilization of the people for rallies.
Inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolts, Yemeni people have held rallies, mainly in the capital Sana’a, demanding changes. The regime has tried to thwart rallies at the beginning, but protests sweeping the region in the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution helped the regime to think carefully before taking action.
“The regime is truly worried and confused. All steps it has taken in the aftermath of the Tunisian revolution were negative and have exposed its mode,” politics professor Abdullah Al-Faqih said.
“Instead of taking much proper steps such as dismantling his family regime, President Saleh obviously insists on negative steps to stifle the people,” the professor said.