Consequences of the formal democracy [Archives:2008/1184/Opinion]
Raddad Al-Salami
When the top decision maker in the country behaves in a way as if he knows everything in the everyday life, his country begins to tremble and enter a critical phase of endless crises. This is the case of our nation throughout three decades of governance by the same ruler, under the reign of whom the country couldn't stabilize despite the available resources, which, if exploited wisely, would help restore security and stability to the nation.
Although the nation's wealth is wasted and its resources run out in the purchase of allegiance and loyalty with the ruler in order to ensure his survival, this will never be feasible, particularly citizens' living conditions continue worsening.
The ruler of this nation is accustomed to make decisions alone without realizing the risk associated with this procedure.
As a result, it has become impossible for the country to get rid of the consecutive crises and persistent backwardness. Yemen's top decision maker proved to be skilled in controlling the tune of contradictions, which generate from his strong desire to stay in power for a longer time period, as well as bequeath power to his children.
These contradictions, however, grew and continued to grow. Consequently, they began expanding until they exceeded the limit of the ruler's desire to remain in power or bequeath its rule, which is accompanied by endless conflicts and sharp crises, to his sons.
The state of nothingness in the political behavior couldn't produce guarantees to maintain unity of the nation, and a strong proof in support of this is the escalating conflicts and protests in South Yemen and other parts of the north. Citizens of the south are also enraged by the formal democracy the ruler shaped and converted into a faked decoration to cover his negatives.
The ruler deceives will of the people through introducing his formal democracy that continues to create sharp crises and dire situations in the nation. His democracy did nothing for the people as much as it increased their sufferings and hardships.
Democracy in Yemen proved to be passive and helpless because awareness about it did not reach the extent of having strong faith in it as indispensable culture. Under a totalitarian and oppressive regime, democracy changes into a formal concept that lost its essence and real content.
The opposition cannot escape the blame
The Yemeni opposition, on the other hand, is overwhelmed by the memory of past conflicts and faked conspiracies. It has an ugly face as a result of this formal democracy. This opposition is controlled by the awareness of opportunistic leaders, who are only interested in making personal gains and influence.
The opposition leaders don't respect the principles of their parties, nor do they respect rules and regulations governing operations of their parties. They only work on serving their personal interests. As a result, simple grassroots, who seem to support opposition parties, live in a state of extreme frustration, poverty and deprivation.
Yemen's opposition appears to have signed deals and a package of concessions with the government in exchange for protecting personal interests of its leaders. This is one of the negative consequences the 1994 Civil War left behind.
Source: Al-Wasat Weekly
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