Comedy scene in Sabeen Square [Archives:2006/979/Opinion]

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August 7 2006

Abubakr Al-Saqqaf
Since the story of “I will nominate myself, no I will not,” which was an early electoral propaganda, campaigning has been in fits and starts. The whole story ended up with the comedy scene in the Sabeen Square in Sana'a so the tragic side of it to start since the first day of the new-old presidency tenure, which is pursued by the democracy of periodical elections that was replaced by democratic elections and its institutions and laws.

This presidency term is necessary for its owner for certain reasons, the important of which is that if he is absent, he would be the last Zaidi president of this country. As it is told he said he retracted from his previous decision because he wanted to protect the republic against the return of the Zaidi-Adnani monarchy and that is a confirmation of this “strategic” goal that concerns all the family of Qahtan, which is a goal organically connected to the former objective of bequeathing. Continuation of the army in honest hands is a guarantee of the political stability and protection of the country against evils of military coups, as he once stated to a journalist from NBC, as if he did not come aboard a military tank and is still on board of it. He equals the crown prince to the family, tribe and all Al-Qahtan. A crown prince is guarantor of this “historical” pursuit, he is also a continuation of the tribe role and the president consider it the origin and aim of history. Despite the difference on other matters, the representatives of the Adnani-Zaidi political Islam share the same opinion. What sultanate state is it without the South? Therefore the third goal is the preservation of the unity that had been stamped with blood and defeat of all secessionists. He is saving all our modern and contemporary history.

It is not difficult to notice the army is at the center of politics and is the source of powers and the military coups are the sign of (Mawerdi) domination in contemporary image. The new state of the Sultan that the Sunni legal scholars were keen to distinguish from the Caliphate – it is a fait accompli they adapted themselves and accepted and called for declaring allegiance to it in protection of the state of Islam and as well as the protection of the Sunnis and he Group. Since the first military coup in Iraq by Bakr Sidqi in 1936 we returned to the state of the Sultan that abolished the constitutions of the 20's and the experiments of modernization and liberalization in every field. With that alteration began our defeats leading to today. Coups abolished beginnings of the civilian political state.

Those of the Joint Meeting Parties complain about their political adversary turning to the army. This routine work has not stopped in almost 29 years. And it is quite enough to remind them about that theatrical show before the war of 1994 when the president and the sheikh of Takfir exchanged the roles and positions. He went to soldiers to practice a legal doctrine, sending him to military barracks to publish the slogan of war on the infidel. The political life is immersed in the mentality of force and oppression. The army and security manage elections and launch civil wars, they practice oppression in kidnapping, killing, torturing and imprisoning. Not to see this panoramic picture with its blood color is the worst type of color blindness, making one unable to distinguish between the differences between the parliamentary system and the presidential system.

The beginning of beginnings and the first thing of change and the first of all conditions is to embark on the civilian life. It is dangerous to assume both the presidency of the state and the command of the army. What increases the ferocity of this composition is the marriage between state and tribe.

This relationship adds to the evil, the functional inability resulting from structural and formational cause in the tribe and the tribesman when the tribe integrates with the state in conditions of fathomless historical backwardness. It is the reason behind absence of an elite possessing cultural, political and ethical heritage capable of running the country in terms of the age. The civilian politics seem to be a condition for the very concept of the state. Without that it is not possible the state based on logic of power, safeguarded from inside, and the balance of the international environment, that guarantees its stability with absence of sovereignty as something able to continue. This situation is a crisis of existence of the state and the unity.

The absence of this big issue in the Achilles heel of the JMP platform because it is following the orbit of the Sultan system and mechanisms of the Sultan state.

The Freemen Constitutional Movement, especially its first creator Ahmed Mohammed Nouman, focus was on the constitution and its association with freedom. It is a concentration on historical goals regardless of success or failure. Oppositely, it seems that the avoidance of focusing on the basis of the Sultan state structure in the Yemeni politics appears as failure in contemporary diagnosis of this structure. Perhaps among the reasons for an implicit agreement with the state by some parties of the JMP. It is also obvious the JMP is precisely not one opposition but rather oppositions. However, let's point to the keenness displayed by more than on side in the JMP concerning the ruling out of the idea of boycotting the elections under pretext that the required thing is a positive boycotting, whereas this has not been prepared for and not talked about even casually. Political thinking and working was carried out in accordance with the logic of retail sale rather than the wholesale. Thus the main issue was absent for years, or as the official political term necessitates. Now even collection of garbage has become more dangerous than our peaceful nuclear program. When the simplest conditions for beginning democratic change are not available, positive boycotting will be an excellent democratic choice.

It is required to make the army a target for political enlightenment. If we exclude a small privileged group from it, the low-rank officers and soldiers are in very miserable conditions sharing misery with their fellow countrymen of tribes, workers and very poor people. The latest product was the bloody events of July 20 and 21 one year ago when demonstrations came unprompted because our political parties do not wish to provoke authority.

It seems politics in our country are waiting for a modern power to put forward questions and thus not going avoiding problems. The politics is not a game of musical chairs. I wish to be mistaken in this estimation and that the JMP is capable of achieving positive boycotting to tear up all the fig leaves with which the Sultan state democracy is wrapping itself.

The statements of the parties mentioned, ” They express their strong regret for practices of violation of the agreement since the very first day of signing it in a way exceeding texts of the agreement to violation of constitutionality and legality of electoral procedures.” Then the statement counted aspects of violation that included the constitution and laws with regard to reform of electoral management, including the right to vote for those living abroad. It also included the question of electoral record, including suggestions proposed by international bodies, impartiality of the media and neutrality of the armed forces and the security.

After a compositional expatiation meaning nothing against the flood of violation and control we read in the statement “and if in this regard the bodies of the JMP reached a deadlock they would be forced to consult the leaders of their political parties to determine the final stand concerning the elections according to the options to be decided by leadership of the JMP.”

The way is still not a deadlock – there is still hope. After all the criticism, participation in the elections seems to be for love of elections. Or this is according to dictates of the general interest, on which Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar said in justifying participation in the elections though they are rigged, and that was in reply to a question by radio Monte Carlo before the elections of 1997. At that time the higher interest was giving electoral legitimacy to results of the war of 1994.

What is the interest this time?

Abubakr Al-Saqqaf is a Yemeni writer, thinker and a well-known academic.
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