Head of al-Islah, Abdel-Wahab al-Ansi called on all political factions and fellow Yemenis to rally around the coalition government as to successfully complete the country transition of power and move away from the current crisis.
Ever since former President Ali Abdullah Saleh handed his resignation from power in late 2011, Yemen has been unable to move past its political conundrum, its many factions stuck in a never-ending cycle of grievances and suspicion.
While Yemen should have by now been celebrating its new constitution and preparing for its 2014 presidential elections, political roadblocks have forced foreign partners to seek new alternatives, starting with an extension of President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s presidential term. Even though President Hadi was only meant to stay on for a two-year period, just enough to manoeuvre Yemen through its institutional metamorphosis, delays and insecurity, have blown that plan right out of the water.
And if the international community, through UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, vouched Hadi’s extension plan, noting that Yemen’s president should be allowed to finish the task he was entrusted with, experts have warned that an extension would only exacerbate latent popular frustrations and potentially generate widespread instability.
Yemen’s political woes are far from restricted to its many factions; Yemenis too have begun to lose patience. Racked by poverty, plagued by insecurity, their streets and businesses at the mercy of armed factions; Yemenis no longer want to hear about change, they want to see change implemented on the ground.
Aware of Yemen’s brewing anger and impatience, Abdul Wahab al-Ansi was keen to send a positive message to his supporters, promising that soon, Yemen will see better days.