Al-Thawry [Archives:2005/835/Press Review]

14 Apr. 2005
Main headlines

– Following the announcement of the end of military operations, arrest campaign against employees in Saada

– Prosecution summons Ath-thawri editor in chief and two of its senior writers

– As the seven government universities resumed their strike, The government launches unprecedented attack on the teaching staff

– Journalists Syndicate astonishes for presenting the draft amendments by the ministry of information

Columnist Rashad al-Shara'abi says each time the ruling regime is exposed to a crisis or before any electoral project; there would be a call for dialogue and launching dialogue initiatives according to the ruler conditions. The latest call for dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition takes the same course. The regime has formed a committee chaired by secretary general of the ruling party and called it an initiative for dialogue with political parties.

However, it has not paid attention and disregarded the previous calls launched by the same political parties, the latest of which the call by the third general conference by the Islah party. The regimes initiative is nothing but a result of a crisis it is suffering from in several axes; political, economic and security. The protest demonstrations against the sales tax and what is happening in Saada and security failures are considered the most prominent and clearest image of the regime's crisis.

I think there is another reason that pushed the regime to launch its call for dialogue. It is the presidential and local councils elections due in approximately a year. This has forced the regime to seek for outlets so that there would not be a real electoral competition, particularly in the presidential elections. It has therefore headed for deceiving the opposition and drowns it in dialogues resulting in agreements and charters.

The regime itself is the first to violate. Nevertheless, there must be a stress that any dialogue with the ruling party without practical controls would only be a contribution by the opposition to prolong the regimes' stay in power with all the aspects of corruption and squander of the public property.

One of the most important controls is to separate between the ruling party, as a political organization, and the state institutions because those institutions are not a monopoly for a certain party.
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