Yemen president in Riyadh to attend ceremony of singing power transition deal

By Nasser Arrabyee

The Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived Wednesday  in the Saudi capital Riyadh to attend the signing ceremony of the GCC deal for power transfer.

Earlier, the Yemeni conflicting parties have finally agreed  to end their 11-month political crisis.

 The UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Bin Omar, thanked the them  on Wednesday for reaching an agreement to implement the UN resolution 2014 which called the conflicting parties to peacefully solve the problem on the basis of the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative(GCC).

"All parties have agreed to implement the GCC deal, and I would like to thank all parties for their cooperation," said the UN envoy, Bin Omar in a very short brief to journalists  in Sanaa late Tuesday.

Although the signing of the GCC and its implementation mechanism  did not happen until Wednesday November23rd, the UN envoy seemed very confident that the conflicting parties would sign after he and the American and European ambassadors finished the arrangements of signing.

The documents of the GCC deal and its implementation mechanism would be signed in both the Saudi capital Riyadh,and the Yemeni capital Sanaa to appease all parties.

The three representatives of the opposition who would sign the documents already arrived in Riyadh late Tuesday,November 22nd.
They  are the secretary general of the socialist party,Yaseen Saeed Noman,who is also the chairman of the supreme council of the Islamist-led  opposition coalition, and the secretary general of the Islamist party,Islah, Abdul Wahab Al Ansi, and the third representative is the chairman of what is called  the national council of the revolution forces, Mohammed Salem Basandwa,  who represents  the  defected tribal forces, particularly Al Ahmar family.

The three representatives from the government side, are expected to arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday.

They are: vice president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, the political advisor of President Saleh, Dr. Abdul Kareem Al Eryani,and the foreign minister, Abu Bakr Al Querbi.

The UN secretary general himself, Ban Ki Mon,thanked president Saleh for reacting and responding to the UN resolution 2014 and also for  his responsible leadership.

On his part,president Saleh thanked Ban Ki Mon for all efforts to solve the Yemeni crisis peacefully.

According to the State-run news agency, Saba,  in the telephone conversation, Salehb said that the UN must continue to monitor the implementation of the GCC deal after the signing.

However, the protesters in the streets criticized the opposition parties for agreeing on the GCC deal saying it will be only in the interest of President Saleh.

 But this refusal is viewed by observers as kind of maneuvering to
strengthen the opposition to have more  political gains while negotiating, as more than 90 percent of those protesters are members of the opposition parties and they listen and follow the instructions of their parties.

The Islamist party, Islah, that leads the opposition coalition, which includes Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserite, has the overwhelming majority of the partisan protesters in the streets.

The implementation mechanism of the GCC deal to be signed, would be divided into two stages:

The first stage is  from the moment of signing until a new president is elected within 90 days. 

The second stage is from the time of announcing the results of election until the end of the transitional period two years later when a  referendum on a new constitution starts and then new elections. 

In the first stage, President Saleh will keep as president but without real powers.

Saleh will transfer his constitutional powers to his deputy Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi.

Mr. Hadi will entrust a person chosen by the opposition to form a national unity government which will be shared by the ruling party with fifty pet cent.

This government will not allow any member from the ruling party or from the opposition of those who are accused  of violence and violation of human rights.

Then, the parliament will issue a law that will protect  both  members of the opposition and  Saleh's  regime from any prosecution.

The government will form a military and security committee chaired by Mr Hadi to remove the check points and military positions from the streets.

The commanders of the military and security forces will remain in their positions including the son and nephews of Saleh and also the defected general Ali Muhsen, at least until a new president is elected after 90 days from signing.
Mr. Hadi, who is from the south, and who is respected almost by all parties, will likely be the compromised candidate  for both the opposition and the ruling party.