No Egypt-style protests in Yemen, says Mujawar
The Source: SANA'A/hadhramaut.info/sabanews.net - 08/02/2011
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Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar has said that there is no Egypt-style protests in Yemen.
"Yemen is not Tunisia or Egypt," Mujawar said in an interview with CNN.
"Yemen has its own different situation... Yemen is a democratic country. Through all the stages, elections took place. And therefore this is a democratic regime."
He accused opposition parties of "trying to duplicate what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, and act as if it should be imposed on the people here in Yemen".
President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that he would not seek re-election in 2013 and won't install his son to replace him. He also has asked his political opponents to re-engage in dialogue in hopes of reaching a sustainable and reconcilable political agreement.Prime Minister Mujawar said that if the opposition responds negatively to the president's initiative, "democratic life in Yemen will continue because it does not rely only on the opposition of 'joint meeting parties.' We have the people of Yemen who want to see the implementation of their constitutional entitlements through parliamentary elections."Asked whether political turmoil in Yemen could benefit al Qaeda, Mujawar responded, "Absolutely -- everything is possible. Those extremists who are in Yemen found a suitable environment where there is poverty and unemployment.
"By the way, they also take advantage of Yemen's terrain, which is complex and difficult -- it is mountainous and has widespread desert areas," he added. "They are now spread in rural areas and therefore, the size of their attacks are not frequent and they happen at specific times in the cities".
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