AL-USBOU’: Sanaa weekly, 1-10-98. [Archives:1998/40/Press Review]

(Independent)   Main Headline:
1- Parliament demands the trial of the satirical writer Al-Razihi for “belittling MPs” in an article he wrote about the Lewinsky scandal.
2- As part of austerity measures, the government decided not to employ 6,000 Yemeni graduates. Unemployment rate stands at 36%.
3- The Foreign Ministry is to deduct 3% from the bank accounts of Yemenis at the Sanaa branch of the Rafidain Bank of Iraq, which were previously frozen and now released by the UN Sanctions Committee. The deducted amount, some $100,000 will be paid to the Yemeni delegation that went to the UN requesting the release of the funds.
4- Around 600 Somali and Ethiopian refugees have arrived recently in Yemen.
5- Boss of the drivers union in Taiz shot dead a fellow trade unionist when he tried to stop him from firing in a new taxi terminal. The union boss strongly opposes the move to the new depot.
Article Summary:
Partisan Crisis in Yemen
By Saeed A. Al-Janahi
The partisan crisis in Yemen manifests itself in several ways:
– Party programs are mere theories.
– Putting party interests before national interests.
– Lack of internal democracy within party structures defeats the calls for democracy at the national level.
– Real contact with masses is lacking.
– Opposition is seldom exercised within parliament.

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