A Seminar to be organized by Yemen Times on Tuesday “Hand in hand with our president towards the 21st century” [Archives:1999/45/Front Page]
November 8 1999
Yemen Times published articles in the paper that include reports about the public response to the latest orders of the president in regard to the extension of working hours, prohibition of qat in official and military compounds, abolition of private jails, measures to enhance the judicial system, and so forth.
As the newspaper that is the most interactive with almost all sectors of the community including the Yemeni public, Yemeni immigrants abroad, diplomats, officials, and all other sectors, we have been quite amazed at the level of positive response from all these sectors. Week after week, we have been following the president’s steps taken after the presidential elections and the public response towards them. We have been totally impressed!
What we have found is overwhelming and promising. This is not a praise or glorification, it is a mere statement of fact. For the first time ever the public have begun to feel the change. Change in the will of the president to develop a country that can march with the rest of the world in the 21st century. They have seen with their own eyes that some rules are indeed being implemented after years of negligence and ignorance. They have felt that their leadership is determined to have a country without qat, without kidnappings, without corruption, but with security, with justice, with the infrastructure of a modern state.
At Yemen Times, we can not ignore all these positive responses and good developments. We are not a mere news reporter or a news agency, we are more of an institution that has a noble objective to achieve, and that is to develop our country, encourage whatever positive steps are being implemented and criticize and discourage whatever is wrong.
Hence, after observing all the measures the president has undertaken, we are convinced that President Saleh needs our support and encouragement now more than ever before. He is doing the right things, and it is our duty to stand beside him in developing the country and getting it out of its current unfortunate situation. This move may not please some opposition figures, but yet we are sure it is right, and if the president continues, we are willing to do it again and again.
All who raised the posters of the president, praising him all the way through elections, calling him the man of change, why are they silent now that the president is taking action and showing his will to implement his program? Where are all the supporters who were so vocal before the presidential elections? Can’t they see that now is the time that they must encourage him as he is taking courageous and strong decisions that reflect his desire to lead Yemen out of its isolation and push it forward as one of the modern states in the region?
On this occasion, Yemen Times organizes tomorrow Teusday, November the 9th a seminar titled “Hand in hand with our president towards the 21st century.” This seminar purports to display the public response to the measures taken by the leadership since the presidential elections. The seminar intends to pay gratitude to the president for his good intention and strengthen his hands to do more, as the country faces many challenges ahead. The seminar’s objective is to make sure that this atmosphere will continue. We hope that it will do a lot in motivating the president to have a Yemen that is able to confidently enter the 21st century.
It is truly impressive to know that after quitting qat himself, the president promulgated many laws that discourage the chewing of qat in many areas, and encourages quitting it for good. We hail our president and ask for more of these measures to secure a better tomorrow.
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