The first step on the right path [Archives:2007/1074/Opinion]
Ali Al-Sarari
Once again, the peaceful sit-in, which included thousands of retirees in the in Khour Maksar area in Aden, succeeded to deliver a clear message to the authorities revealing the ugly policies followed by the state toward the rights of civil and military citizens in the southern governorates.
The message clearly explained the massive crime the regime committed against the national unity and its national democratic project because the protestors selected the 7th of July to voice their issue. The intentional selection of this day implies the strong condemnation of the 1994 Civil War and rejection of its results.
Knights of the majority war have turned comatose since the forged victory in 1994. They believed that what has been achieved in their favor at that pessimistic day represents the end of history. Over the past 13 years, they scorned everything and have been convinced that their victory grants them the right to abandon all the national obligations, as well as gives them complete freedom to behave in a way contradicting the national responsibility, respect for human rights, public interests, and the country's need to be governed fairly and justly by the law.
As those who fraudulently won the war remain priding their forged victory, the oppressed retirees kept on protesting patiently and awaiting the moment of hope in order to overcome the false promises that misled them. Regretfully, they couldn't come to the right path while the oppressed retirees got more trouble and their voices could not arouse any kind of positive feelings on the part of the majority of those running the country, as they (the rulers) are extremely engaged in the illegal earnings. They have no national or patriotic feelings. They were deceived by their behaviors, as well as their ability to change they way the country was progressing.
Symbols of the regime are needed to seriously read movement of earth under their feet as they turned to exercise lies and exchange accusations without any fear of the consequences. Since the 1994 Civil War, the 7th-of -July regime started implementing ugly policies that concentrated on eliminating partners of the national unity and transferred the southern governorates into permissible places for lootings. In addition, the southern governorates have been changed into an open hall for chaos, whims, and all the forms of human right abuses and violations. They turned to exercise countless practical procedures, loot any available wealth and resources, and dominate public and private sectors' installations and fire workers. They also plundered lands, looted public and private property, fired the military and civil workers, fomented tribal wars and revenges, deteriorated the living standards of people and forced people to eat from under their feet.
The protests and sit-ins that included thousands of military and civil retirees, who were referred forcibly and illegally to pensions, were not a surprising behavior. They weren't fabricated with aim of extorting property. These protests were the right means for voicing and claiming legal demands, particularly as protestors have proved that their lines can not be penetrated when they refused to accept bribes of giving them higher ranks and partial solutions, stating that hundreds of them be reinstated. Frankly speaking, they announced their strong rejection of dividing their problems and delaying their demands.
The most important thing to be perceived by symbols of the regime is that protests and sit-ins, which began in the southern governorates, are armed with a strong will and determination. In the meantime, protesters' ferocity has originated from a bitter experience during which they faced various kinds of trouble and humiliation. Had Formed the insults exercised against them, they learned that the only means for deliverance depends on organizing their lines and continuing the peaceful struggle in order to restore their rights and put a limit to the arbitrary behaviors exacerbating their lives.
In addition to their strong determination, the protesters were armed with awareness and alertness, thereby foiling the malicious attempt to fragment their solidarity and invalidate the campaign of misleading rumors exercised by some media means loyal with the regime. The malicious attempt aimed to fragment the solidarity and unity of protestors, alleging that the protests and sit-ins staged on July 7, in Khour Maksar- Aden, were machinated by a group of Abyan locals related with the former President Ali Nasser Mohammed. It described this group as secessionist.
The pro-regime media went to grant the qualities of patriotism and unity to the groups belonging to Al-Dhale', Yafe' and Radfan in an excessively fabricated propaganda, the goals of which weren't revealed to anyone. The foolish slogans, raised by some of those having relations with the regime, have been of no avail. Since the very beginning, the protestors bore in mind that there is a malicious attempt to deviate them from the right direction.
As long as the protestors will remain armed with such a kind of determination and awareness, this means they have secured victory for their glorious movement. Now, we can say that the real moment has come. It is time for the real unifiers to insist on restoring their legal rights, via which they express their commitment to the national issue of their country and reject all the means of fragmentation and revenges. On the contrary, the fraudulent unifiers bet on spreading the mechanisms of fragmentation, hatred and animosity among natives as they believe that by these means they ensure their stay in power for a longer period of time.
At such a real moment, the protestors confirmed that the country's fate and restoring the spirit of the 22nd-of-May Unity depends on their peaceful struggle and their awareness about national issues. This moment exposed the fragility of intents machinated by those who deceived the national unity, killed its national and democratic project and transferred the noblest national issue into a cover for lootings and extortions. The protestors have succeeded to take the first step on the right path and then head toward the image of new Yemen.
Ali Al-Sarari is a Yemeni Journalist and a well-known politician. He is the head of the information department at the Yemeni Socialist Party.
Source: Al-Thawri Weekly
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[archive-e:1074-v:15-y:2007-d:2007-08-06-p:opinion]
