Silver LiningReform is a must to avoid collapse [Archives:2005/900/Opinion]

By Mohammed Hatem al-Qadhi
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I do not really find any reason for the exaggerated outrage of the political regime over the opposition's initiative for political reform announced last week. These parties have been accused of being agents for foreign forces, being opportunists, attempting to blackmail the regime and betray the country with the support of foreign agencies and many other ready-made long list of accusations we are all accustomed to.

These parties have done nothing wrong deserving such kind of attack by the ruling party and state-run media. As opposition, these parties have the right to produce such a document, presenting their views on how the current situation can be reformed.

I am not trying to defend these parties for their own sake because I do not belong to any party. However, I believe this is the first time that these parties do something good that concerns the people since a long time. I believe there have been a number of concerns raised by the initiative that most of the Yemeni citizens and international community share and this is the reason it outraged the regime.

The situation in Yemen is scary and we are truly in a fix that needs a real political and economic project to address. This is, of course, not just the unfavorable discourse of the opposition parties which are “blind to the reality”” and the rosy picture painted by the state-owned and ruling party media. It is rather donor agencies and international community which are concerned about the deteriorating situation too. There is fear that the system might collapse if things continue this way and the result will be catastrophic.

The number of the poor and unemployed is soaring up every year. State institutions are not functioning properly and corruption is becoming the forcing drive of our life. The number of the influential and tribal figures enriched by the abuse of power is increasing. The sell-off of the natural resources underground is a clear example of how pervasive problem corruption is becoming.

Given the fact that the Hunt Oil company sought the international justice in its dispute with the Yemen government over the Safer oil field