Al-Nahar [Archives:2004/729/Press Review]

8 Apr 2004
Main headlines
– The president visits France
– Blackmail campaigns against internet cafes
– Symposium on poverty and AIDS in Taiz
– Bajammal returned from China with a number of agreements contributing to expand Chinese investments in Yemen
– Britain opens an office for international development ministry in Sana'a
– Electronic education classes project, opened
– The government intends to reconsider issues of investment

Columnist Faisal al-Soufi says the United States of America puts pressure on the Arab governments to implement political reforms and in return makes it easy for them. The U.S. spared the Arab governments efforts and time and prepared for them a reform plan and America is also willing to take part in the implementation process.
The Europeans on their part also pres for that and say there should be a reform in the Arab world but, as it is their habit, they are slow and miser in that they did not take an effort for preparing a ready-made plan under allegation that the Arabs have to work out the plan by themselves and carry it out by themselves. The Arab governments that do not admit the existence of corruption have on their part took the initiative and put forward seven plans for reform initiatives for the Arab League and the regimes. One of those initiatives was worked out by an Arab country the second strong man in it said that his country was not ready at the time being for accepting the people right to elect their representatives in parliament because the citizens do not know where their interests were and if they were given the freedom of election they would select illiterate and inefficient candidates.
In the course of time there would be many initiatives and we would discover in the end that the Arab world will be amidst a sea of reform initiatives and then we would discover that there was much time squandered in producing reform initiatives without reform.
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