Mr. Jarallah Omar: “There Has Never Been a Peaceful Transfer of Authority in our Country…the only remaining opposition is the YSP” [Archives:1999/28/Interview]
July 12 1999
The upcoming presidential election is one of the focal points of discussion for the Yemeni people nowadays.The fluctuating position of the opposition parties and their inability to come up with one candidate is very disappointing to the people. This demonstrates the marginalized position of the opposition parties in the Yemeni political life, which makes the competition between the current president and any potential challengers merely a farce, as everyone knows who will win.
Q:With reference to the upcoming presidential elections, do you think that it will cause radical changes at the political and economic levels in the country?
A: We are doing our best to work to create such changes. However, we should be practical and see things on a down-to-earth basis. We all know that there has never been a really peaceful transfer of authority in our country, but we are trying to make that happen. This is a constitutional right, and we need to change the deeply-rooted, stock understanding of the despotic heritage of the past in order to create a new awareness in people’s minds.
Q: Does the Socialist Party have any previous demands in respect to the national reconciliation that will enhance the unity of the country? Why did not the Socialist Party choose a more public personality in the Yemeni arena in order to create real competition in the presidential elections?
A: We actually have lots of demands, but this time we will introduce them to the people and through the people. It is true that we are not leaving any stone unturned in order to achieve national reconciliation, for it is an international trend. It is actually a universal preoccupation to talk about reconciliation and democracy. We will introduce all this to the people in order to choose a more public person. Regarding our choosing of a more famous person, I think that this is a relative matter which we will examine in the coming elections. We will also be in contact with the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party, who has a good reputation as a voice against despotism, in order to select the proper person. Moreover, what we think is that it is not necessary to choose a person who is favored by the authorities, on the contrary, we see that people are more qualified and a better for our purposes when they are not favored by the authorities, and this the case with Ali Saleh Obad Mokbel.
Q: It is said that the Secretary-General is now hospitalized in Britain, and he may not be able to come in the due period to be elected. Could you elect him while he is abroad?
A: He is coming back on July 11, 1999. He has just had an operation on his eyes, and he finished all other check-ups yesterday. Besides, there are some new illegal articles that were passed by the parliament. Actually, they aim at any serious opposition in the arena. However, we will try to apply these illegal articles, because we would like to make people realize the truths of law, and we would also like to prove to the world that we, the opposition, are still alive and kicking, even though playing on an unfair playing field in difficult circumstances.
Q: A number of the local and international political supervisors would agree on the issue that the environment necessary to ensure the upcoming elections’ success has not yet been created. They also say that the circumstances are not right for the opposition to enter the battle for the presidential elections, and the authorities should start from the beginning. What do you think?
A: As you know, the authority refuses to discuss anything about that, despite the fact that the Emerging Democracies Forum just finished, and they signed the Sanaa declaration. For the time, being we are interested more in making the public understand us, and we will struggle to create a good stand that will enable the opposition to effectively compete in the elections. Within the coming two days, we are going to declare our candidate, who will be introduced to the public not in the name of the Socialist Party but in the name of the coordination council of the opposition parties. So what is important is to prove that there is opposition. It is self-evident that after the Yemeni Congregation for Reform and the rest of the small parties declared their alliance with the People’s General Conference Candidate, the only remaining opposition is the YSP.
Q: What are the objectives and procedural grounds that have been proposed by the opposition? Other than to have an institutional amendment that enables parties to announce their candidates freely and without the authority’s guardianship, to ensure the impartiality of the media and the use of the public money to serve the candidate only, is there anything else you are looking for?
A: Yes, we request all that. We requested the constitutional amendment which terminated the terms of the 30%. We also demand impartiality in choosing public workers, and that the media should serve the interests of all parties without prejudice as they are financed by taxation, but the other parties are against all this. Therefore, we see that in order to have a real democracy we have to pass through a long course of struggling and suffering. So we depend upon the people and what comes out of the electoral boxes, while others depend on the power and money they have.
Q: Any concluding comment?
A: I would like to ask all those who support freedom and democracy to stand by the opposition in the upcoming battle. We are pushing our way through uncountable challenges, but we are going to go on because this is our mission. All our thanks go to the Yemen Times, which has always been a strong advocate of democracy and human rights.
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