Al-Thawry [Archives:2007/1023/Press Review]
8 Feb. 2007
Main headlines
– Confrontations between government forces and al-Houthi followers continue, The military solution is of no avail
– Yassin calls changing the issue of Saada into a national one
– YSP secretary general calls for party bodies appraise their activities
– Parliament tackles price rise with recommendations
The newspaper editorial written by Abubakr Bathib mentions that there is no topic now more controversial among large portions of the Arab public opinion than the dialogue that is no longer confined to one country other than others. Maybe that is ascribed to the state of tension, oppression and frustration the Arab countries are experiencing as a result of closed political, economic horizons in addition to the dangers of domestic fighting, sectarian and ethnic sedition threatening to undermine the national social fabric in a number of our Arab societies.
There is no doubt that this feeling of the need for dialogue among factions of the national action is an evidence of health and an expression of a national awakening required urgently at the difficult times and at the same time it is an indicator of deterioration reflecting depth of the crisis these courtiers experience at more than one level.
In Iraq, as in Palestine as well as Lebanon, for instance, the matter transcends just a crisis. The unity of this country and adherence of its national fabric are exposed to danger. Also, the United States and the West's feverish endeavors to flood these countries in chaos dictate on the political forward forces to join their ranks for surmounting the existing impasse.
And in this context, with difference in circumstances and reasons, we can understand requisites of the call for dialogue that has been recently launched in Yemen in a statement by the General People's Congress in Yemen. It is no longer a secret to mention that the political system in our country is exposed to many pressures. The severe economic strain under whose burden the poor masses of our people groan and the state of frustration they live under a tangible political stagnation and absence of political reform projects in addition to other indicators heralding dangerous consequences on the later development in Yemen, all together give this call a legitimacy. It is the call to which the opposition parties replied with the seriousness and interest it deserves.
Away from skepticism in the intentions of the owners of the call, the dialogue is a complicated process and in order to be fruitful it requires openness and willingness by all concerned parties taking part in the dialogue, abandonment of subjective visions and a serious orientation of giving preponderance to the public interest. What is more important is respect of the plurality of idea of whatever nature and a genuine commitment to what results that are reached.
In our view, the reason of floundering of some previous experiments of dialogue is the feeling of the ruling party that it possesses the capability of passing over any topic it submits regardless of the others' stand. Those rounds of dialogue were almost skipping to failure had it not for saving the matter as much as possible at the final moments.
Finally we are looking forward to serious dialogues establishing new relations between the authority and the opposition to be built on transparency and positive interaction of ideas. Dialogues not be taken a decors but they must be a means for reaching common visions and creation of new formulas able to be responding to challenges of democracy, embodiment of citizenship rights and enabling the poor segments on the road of reforming all tracks of the developmental our country.
——
[archive-e:1023-v:14-y:2007-d:2007-02-08-p:press]
