Mr. Dimitroff! Keep rocking ‘A goat even if it is flying’ [Archives:2008/1169/Opinion]

By Abduljabbar Sa'ad
Thank you Mr. Dimitroff, as you helped us restore trust in our mental faculties after we were about to lose it. Do you imagine Mr. Dimitroff that opposition voices such as Dr. Al-Mutawakil, Mohammed Qahtan, Abdulwahab Al-Anisi, Mohammed Al-Sabri and others convinced us to be cynical about ourselves? They also made us cast doubt on the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) that observed Yemen's elections in 2006 and told us that 83 percent of the electoral process was good.

The various discrepancies and violations, which you named as 'faults' don't affect the final result of the election, nor can they be considered organized rigging, according to you.

But voices of such opposition figures made us doubtful about the election results, as well as the testimonies by your institution and other local and international observers assessing the electoral experience in our country as distinctive. This also persuaded us cast doubt on authenticity of the vote results announced by Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum, whose membership was shared by representatives from both ruling and opposition parties.

Mr. Dimitroff, we are weak in a country where voices of invaders (opposition figures) destroy our sovereignty and values, and these invaders don't respect their homelands, nor do they recognize rights of people.

We are weak in our country due to lack of really strong voices to confront deception and tricks of native invaders. Dimitroff! We lack the nice voice like yours to help us deal with such invaders. We took a deeper breathe when we read your true words.

Mr. Dimitroff! You are lucky for not being Yemeni, Arab or Muslim, which is why you avoided being deceived by these invaders. If your salary comes from our opposition or if this opposition is entitled to give you something as you do for them, they will surely deprive you of every right and leave you starve until death because you don't hesitate to say the truth in public.

Mr. Dimitroff! These invaders are professional in telling lies and want people to communicate their lies to others. Because you speak the truth, you have become a target of irresponsible journalists, claiming to support irresponsible opposition. These irresponsible journalists don't cease telling lies, fabricate facts and magnify small things with the intention of hurting their people and government, elected by people under international observation.

These irresponsible journalists instigate the public opinion against their government in order to justify external intervention in our domestic affairs and make Yemen look like Iraq nowadays.

Sir! Don't be surprised by the position of Jamal Amer, who tried to convince you to condemn governors' election and shift your attention away from criticizing JMP's decision to boycott the election.

In fact, you are always present in support of the truth and true facts on the ground, which is why you gained high respect and reputation among Yemeni people. During his interview with you, Amer did not believe that he was speaking to Peter Dimitroff, Country Director of National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, known here in Yemen as NDI, particularly when you told him the following:

“The important point in this respect is that we see the indirect election of governors as nothing more than a final outcome of 2006 elections, which we view as legitimate and successful yielding landslide victory for GPC. We should not forget that other political parties devoted all their resources and capacities to the presidential race at the expense of local council elections.

“There were violations and fraud during the 2006 election, but these violations and fraud were not conducted at the official level or in an organized manner, which is why we saw those elections as legitimate. Now, we see that the election of governors is a reflection of 2006 votes, and this is what helped it be legitimate.

“The issue that GPC ran in the election alone is because of its landslide victory in the previous election. We wanted the other political parties to participate in the election as this is key to fostering the democratic process.”

Mr. Dimitroff! You made your interviewer stunned like you surprised us too because our brothers in the opposition, even before 2006 elections prejudge facts before they occur. They told people the election is rigged before it was conducted. They continued to say this again and again until they made us and Amer forget the real facts.

Mr. Dimitroff! As we support neither the authority nor the opposition, we totally agree with what you say. We support your words that are based on facts on the ground.

You also said:

“I think that people's legal demands with regard to livelihood and good work represents crude for any political forces worldwide. Political parties have to adopt people's demands and address them on the ground. It is legal for the opposition to stage demonstrations in solidarity with political detainees, however, parties should work in line with the national interest. Political parties may have different policies but agree upon protection of homeland and its political system.

“With respect to calls for secession here and there, parties should have clear positions about these calls since those who advocate secession are minorities behaving in a way contradicting interests of the majority of Yemeni people. Political parties or people of Yemen may tolerate harming the national unity by any one.

“When political parties try to weaken or hurt their homeland, this means that they harm themselves. And if they carry the hammer of destruction, this means they destroy themselves and others. When these parties decide to boycott elections, this means that they admit their weakness and inability to compete in the election. By boycotting the election, these parties shoot themselves with 'mercy bullets'.” These statements imply that you are a strong believer in facts as they appear on the ground. Mr. Dimitroff! Your words are too precious and so is your silence. And this reminded me of an issue from the popular folklore telling that “A guy saw a crow from distance and believed that it is a goat. When his friend told him what he was seeing is a crow, he insisted to say that it is a goat. The crow then flew hovering over his head, and his friend told him 'see it is a crow, isn't it? However, that guy insisted to say 'It is a goat even it flies'.”

Source: Al-Wasat Weekly
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