Saleh Follows Suit in Yemen as Egyptian President is Urged Down

President Saleh has been in office for 32 years, ruling both the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and Republic of Yemen (North and South Yemen)

PRESIDENT Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has announced that he will not contest the general election, due to be held in Yemen in 2013. He has also made clear that there are no plans for his son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, to succeed him, despite earlier speculation that he had been grooming his son for the Presidency. Also in this announcement has come the news of postponement of the Parliamentary elections, due to be held later this year in April. 


President Saleh said "I make this compromise today for the sake of the country, Yemen's interest come before personal interests." 


The speech comes following unrest in the Yemeni Parliament, with the opposition coalition, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), calling for fellow adversaries of the Saleh regime to take to the streets in a nationwide protest, scheduled to take place tomorrow. The protest is expected to gather one million people nationwide. Thousands of security forces kept control on the country's capital, Sanaa, today, to ensure safety and peace during the Presidents speech earlier today. 


It can be believed that this comes following the incredibly high level of unrest just over the Red Sea in neighbouring Egypt, where protesters, Anti-Mubarak and more recently, Pro Mubarak, have been aggregating on the streets of Cairo, and most importantly, Tahrir Square, in order to represent their views. President Mubarak was forced by looming threat of the protesters to declare that he would not contest the Egyptian elections to be held this September, and also was forced to confirm that his son, Gamal Mubarak, would not "inherit" the Presidency. 


Perhaps President Saleh has taken this as a step of precaution, and is trying to minimise the threat of an uprising within Yemeni society against his regime, and rather than acting "for the sake of the country", is instead acting to save himself from the humiliation and hate, which Hossni Mubarak has recently become subject to? Only Saleh will know that answer to that question, but one thing is for sure: If the planned protest goes ahead tomorrow, Saleh may find himself in a situation akin to Mubarak, and will perhaps find himself ending his regime a little earlier than expected.