Actual patriotism is the only solution to the crisis [Archives:2007/1089/Opinion]

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September 27 2007

By: Ali Al-Sarari
On the second day of the military retirees' protest in Khor Maksar in Aden, the regime organized an oratory festival in Al-Dhale'e city as a response to the festival. Via the festival, the regime wanted to show off that it has a large number of supporters who back it and repeat its hollow unity speech, through which it attempts to escape real issues encountered by citizens in the southern governorates. In addition, the regime attempts to transform the issue by eliminating the consequences of the 1994 Civil War.

At the festival, the orators inflamed national feelings and confirmed their adherence to national unity and determination to confront anyone doing harm to it. They don't bear in mind that the real harm paid to unity was the result of discriminative practices, which the authority exercised against military and civil servants in the southern parts of the country. The regime has forgotten that it took oppressive procedures against these servants and forcibly referred them to pensions in an illegal manner.

All the speeched agreed that such procedures are unintentional mistakes or are the result of good intentions. The speeches added that it is necessary for such mistakes to be modified and corrected.

Anyone doesn't need much experience to perceive the nature of contradictory conduct, which the opportunists exercise with the aim of secretly inflaming the feelings of hatred and animosity toward citizens of North Yemen and damaging national interests. These opportunists put on loose dresses of hypocrisy in order to reach certain personal gains at the expense of thousands of noble men, who never reacted to such foolish slogans. Instead, these noble men remained adherent to their legal rights that put them on the queue of patriots and reserve the right of their affiliation to the country of unity, democracy and equal citizenship.

At this point, there is no need for establishing a comparison between conducts of unity hypocrites and retirees who claim their constitutional rights and voice their concerns via peaceful means. What does matter here is the noble feeling of A-Dhale' locals, who confirmed their deep relation between citizens' rights and the national interests.

The arbitrary practices that removed military and civil servants from their jobs after the 1994 Civil War and referred many of them to pensions forcibly are not a mistake. Mistakes of this size are unlikely to be a fruit of good intentions. Instead, they are the production of the type of political conduct that triggers animosity toward national unity and insults the principles of patriotism.

Ali Al-Sarari is a Yemeni Journalist and a well-known politician. He is the head of the information department at the Yemeni Socialist Party.

Source: Al-Thawri Weekly.
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