Press Review [Archives:2000/32/Press Review]

Controversy over Al-Thaqafia newspaper and its Chief Editor with attempts to contain the crisis between the authority and Zindani, freedom of expression and local government are the main trends characterizing news and news reports in Yemeni press this week.
Perhaps the recently sensational news is that of discovering a private jail at Sana’a University Campus. In addition: there are many various news items, mainly domestic, headlined on front pages of Yemen’s newspapers of this week.
Main Headlines:
-Media Men Hold Zindani Responsible for Fomentation against Them
-President Saleh Reiterates Yemen’s Support of Palestine Cause
-Oil Companies Resume Activity in Yemen
-Al-Jifri Focuses on Tackling Internal Dossier
-RAY Leadership Meets NDI Delegation
-Prosecution Subpoenas Zindani for Interrogation
-Private Jails in Sanaa University & Economic Institution, Discovered
-Journalists Brought before Prosecution
-Al-Balagh Newspaper Impugns Earlier News Against Iraqi Teacher
-Al-Eryani, Vice-President of World Bank
-Overland Transportation Syndicate Suspends Strike
-PGC & Islah Agree on Containing Crisis between Authority & Zindani
-Plan on Yemeni Labour in Saudi Arabia
-Businessmen Attempts to Undermine Cement Industry in Yemen
-Serial Murderer Trial, Resumed Saturday
-12 Yemeni Fishermen, Retained in Djibouti
Excerpts from main articles published by some Yemeni newspapers this week tackling various internal themes preoccupying the public opinion.
On the forthcoming phase of Yemen’s history, RAY weekly, organ of Sons of Yemen League, August 1, 2000 has editorialized that the coming period in Yemen’s history would have an unprecedented characteristic. This stage is based on the success scored by conclusion of the borders treaty with Saudi Arabia. The treaty has turned over a long chapter of dispute and tension in relations between the two sisterly countries; Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Signing the treaty comes as a wrapping up the last of border dossiers that included those of Sultanate of Oman and Eritrea .These successes came to enhance confidence in soundness of the political approach in that the future stage is rather extraordinary. It should therefore be dealt with by special decisions governed by a vision based on taking into consideration the supreme interest of the Yemeni homeland.
Under this concept and out of it we view the ”goodwill” initiative launched by the executive committee of the National Opposition Front ”Mawj”. The initiative stipulates freezing of the Front’s opposition media activity. For, undoubtedly the coming stage would be prevailed by the language of dialogue and contact as a civilized mechanism compatible with this phase. Mawj’s goodwill initiative represents a kind of marriage between the suspension of opposition media propaganda and a call for inauguration of objective serious dialogue.
From Al-Mithaq weekly, organ of the People’s General Congress party, July 31,2000 we have chosen an article on ”Importance of Local Authority Law”. Local authority law constitutes big and significant qualitative transfer on the road of stabilizing democratic practice. It also embodies the principle of the public’s large-scale participation in building the state of law and order. Issuing and approving of this law and then enforcing it, would be coinciding with preparations for local councils elections and parliamentary elections scheduled next year. Achievement of this historic accomplishment acquires its importance from being an embodiment of the goals and contents of democracy.
Local authority law has given local councils extensive authorities for preparing plans of development and economic projects. It has also authorized them to oversee their implementation and watch areas of failure in a manner guaranteeing the gradual application of financial and administrative decentralization.
Al-Wahda weekly of August 2, 2000 has tackled rather the same theme. In one of its leading articles it has dealt with the establishment of ”Local Authority”.
The article says that the ministerial commission assigned with preparing for the stage of building the local authority has been finalizing final touches on the bill. These cover regulations related to financial and executive bill and administrative structure in application of Law No. 4 of 2000. It would enable our country to speed up carrying out a new political people’s revolution. This revolution would expand people’s participation in taking decisions, and running local affairs in economic, social and cultural development by means of local councils.
This project comes in context of Yemen’s option of democracy founded on peaceful transfer of power, respect of public liberties and ensuring political multi-party system. It aims at consolidation Yemen’s democratic experiment leading to empower the citizens practice their full political rights, running their local affairs away from strict centralizaion and bureaucracy.
The law clearly defines authorities of the central institutions regarding apparatuses of administrative units in terms of planning up general policies, enacting regulatory and audition laws and implementation of projects that could not be carried out by local councils.
Editorial of Al-Balagh Independent weekly of August 1, 2000 has tackled the question of the ” Freedom of Expression”.
Undoubtedly, there are gains achieved during the reign of president
Ali Abdulla Saleh. Some gains have actually been realized, such as the unity, others are still at the beginning like plurality and freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is a great principle, the editorial affirms. But to practice it, there should exist a sort of cooperation on part of the government with those who want to express their minds, criticise or point out an immense violation. The government should not wield a big stick against whoever talks or expresses his opinion versus any of the substantial issues or big breaches. To preserve the principle of freedom of expression, the government must entertain magnanimity towards criticism and condemnation of wrongs. That does not mean that those who talk under slogan of freedom of expression should misbehave and disregard the existing traditions. Therefore, constructive cooperation between the government and those who want to express their opinions must be done in an atmosphere of forbearance. There should be no recklessness or offense against any of the two parties.
ATTARIQ independent weekly of August 1, 2000 has in one of its articles touched on a very interesting and sensitive internal question. It is the question of the nature of relationship between the state and opposition parties.
It has praised the decision taken by the national opposition abroad on freezing its propaganda against the regime as a gesture of goodwill.
The article supposed that the stage following the conclusion of the borders treaty with Saudi Arabia unveiled a number of major terms by which the two parts of the political equation could be balanced. Topping these conditions is holding a national democratic dialogue between the government and the opposition. The dialogue is aimed at drawing the features of future national action and rules of the political game, away from consequences and impact that entailed the 1994 war. This should follow measures taken by the two parties to solve all pending problems to ensure a safe return of those in exile. There must be steps taken to tackle situations of those suspended from work. There also must be a permission for genuine partnership in political action pursuant to the constitution and the valid laws.
Other procedures should include consolidation of democratic experiment, safeguarding social relations and building political institutions in the synthesis of the rule or the opposition. Crowning all that is the deepening of the principles of national partnership based on the constitution in a way leading to enhancement of democratic approach in the country.
An article published in 26 September weekly, organ of Yemen’s armed forces, August 3, 2000 tackled the problem of negligence in the state institutions. The writer has taken the serial crimes committed by criminal Adam of Sanaa University medical faculty morgue as a stark example of negligence. The article says that the trial of the serial murderer Mohammed Adam is in fact a prosecution of negligence taking place inside government institutions. It is a trial representing the justice that every citizen yearns for seeing it applied. The public opinion consensus on the necessity of solving this issue in a just way, means that social values have been exposed to a powerful shock. Realities and events of the crime and the number of victims arouse many queries about how all that could happen. The crime has attracted attention to the sites and spots where negligence and carelessness are prevalent. This needs surgical elimination, provided that the measure must include all government institutions and facilities.
The article concluded that sacrificing a handful of corrupts was much better and beneficial than sacrificing the gains of the homeland achieved throughout long years of hard work.
Ath-Thawri weekly, organ of the Yemeni Socialist Party, August 3, 2000.
In an article on corruption, the newspaper says nowadays every one has been cursing corruption and complains of its aggravation and spread. Complaining of corruption is no longer confined to the people and the opposition. It has extended even to the authority that has the power and means to solve this problem.
Our problem with corruption here is not mainly in its presence, but rather in existence of those who adopt, protect and provide it with convenient climate to grow and flourish. There is much difference between the two situations.
Corruption is there in any of the human societies, and the corrupt are to be found in any political party, whether in power or not. The community that suffers from corruption differs from that suffering from existence of forces protecting and preserving the corrupt.
Such care makes it too difficult to remove those corrupts. Corruption could be simply and clearly defined as the abuse of power, public property and national riches. This leads us to say that authority, any authority, is a source of corruption, therefore detecting corruption and fighting it should begin there.
Al-Raie Al-Aam independent weekly of August 1, 2000.
In its column ”Our Weekly Talk”, the newspaper published an article on the political pluralism in Yemen. The article says that our mass media claim that there is democracy and political pluralism in our country , but the fact and practice view that differently. There is neither democracy nor pluralism but rather a decor of democracy, the article alleges. As for pluralism, it is no more than numerousness of names. Casting a scrutinizing eye on conditions of political parties in our country, one would find out that they are just names. Many of these parties are merely representation of a small-sized publication issued every week, dealing mostly with trivial themes.
The article maintains by saying that if one of these publications dares to tackle a certain subject, it would do it with much diffidence and fear. The article says we have not tangibly seen any activity by these parties in political, cultural and economic fields in Yemen. They are very far away from the people’s suffering. As for the opposition parties the article claims that they are still keeping their old leaderships that exercised mistakes even against their own parties.

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