Saturday, July 16, 2011

Yemen Transitional Council...Finally!





After six long months of stagnation and suffering, Yemen's Revolution finally made a long awaited move and sparked a lot of hope to Yemenis. Tawakol Karman, Yemen's leading female activist headed a youth coalition which formed a transitional council consisting of 17 members of former government officials and society leaders to run the country. The shadow government aimed to create a unified protest reflecting a varied political spectrum of leaders in Yemen and in exile. Tawakol Karman in a press conference in Change Square in Sanaa called the International community to respect the decisions of the youth revolution and to recognize the institutions of the revolution and to end all forms of cooperation with the remnants of Saleh's regime because they do not represent the country. Karman also added that the council will appoint a technocratic government and 501 member shadow parliament to draft a new constitution.
The names of the Transitional Council members are as follows:

Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, 
Huriyya Mashhur 
Jamal Muhammad al-Mutarrab 
Sa’ad al-Din bin Talib
Sadiq Ali Sarhan
Sakhr Ahmad al-Wajiha
Abdullah Hasan al-Nakhibi
Abdullah Salam al-Hakimi
Ali Nasser Muhammad
Ali Hussain ‘Ashal
Aydarus al-Naqib
Mohsen Muhammad bin Farid
Muhammad Salim Ba Sindwah 
Muhammad Said al-Sa’adi
Muhammad Abdul Malik al-Mutawakil
Muhammad Ali Abu Luhoum
Yahya Mansur Abu Asba’i

حيدر أبو بكر العطاس
حورية مشهور
جمال محمد المترب
سعد الدين بن طالب
…صادق علي سرحان
صخر أحمد الوجيه
عبد الله حسن الناخبي
عبد الله سلام الحكيمي
علي ناصر محمد
علي حسين عشال
عيدروس النقيب
محسن محمد بن فريد
محمد سالم باسندوة
محمد سعيد السعدي
محمد عبد الملك المتوكل
محمد علي أبو لحوم
يحيى منصور أبو اصبع

Whether the council will be approved by all factions, have legitimacy across Yemen and be recognized among the international community remains to be seen. Many will deabate about it, nevertheless it is certainly a move in the right direction and a promising one indeed, especially since it is headed by a woman which is synonym with the change needed in Yemen. 
The news of the transitional Council are amidst news of Saleh's return to Yemen. Saleh was appointed as president in July 17, 1978 and planned to return to Yemen on his 33rd anniversary. News of his return are as usual always conflicting and nothing is confirmed until it is reported by Saudi Alarabiya News Channel.
It has been half a year since Yemen's revolution started, calling for an end to Saleh's 33 year rule. Could the transitional council formation be the turning point? Or will it be just a list of names on paper? The coming days will be decisive in Yemen's revolution and history.

1 comment:

  1. Yes forming a transitional council in Yemen is a good step and it is the starting point. This council will have the full approval and legitimacy by majority of Yemeni people but will face many obstacles from the international community and the Arab governments especially the neighbouring countries, Saudi regime in particular in recognising this council in my opinion. This council needs to go ahead peacefully fighting and resisting all sorts of difficulties and must not dispair.

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