President Ali Abdullah Saleh apologized to the Yemeni women on Sunday after his speech on Friday that slandered the women, who have been calling for his resignation in the squares of change and freedom across the republic.
Meeting women representatives just to express apology, Saleh affirmed there was misunderstanding and that his remarks had not included slander.
“The Yemeni government has been empowering the women and appointing them in various systems. I never doubt our daughters, mothers and sisters, who are the most precious and honest ones and who are beyond what might be said about them,” said the president, whose remarks to his supporters in Al-Sabeen Square triggered widespread anger and criticism.
The people slammed the president and the women urged to try him on charges of harming their honor and accusing them of what they never do. They also handed the Attorney General a lawsuit against Saleh, but the Attorney General said that only the lawsuit against the official media accepted.
“The General Prosecution does not have jurisdiction to deal with any lawsuit against executive and senior officials including the president ,” he said.
In an attempt to ease criticism, Saleh said:” When we said the mixing of women and men was incorrect that only came within our interest in protecting our sisters, daughters and mothers from bad guys and those responsible for chaos”.
“The Yemeni women can’t be for sale or purchase, and those who convince them to take to the streets whenever they wish had previously called for banning the mixing of women and men, pointing to the Islah party, one of the JMP opposition coalition members,” he added.
Some parties use women in elections and they order them to hold sit-ins and take to the streets, but they never give them their rights, the president argued, at a time when massive demonstrations continued across the republic to condemn his slander, urge his resignation and reject any initiative that does not ensure an immediate ouster of the regime.