Thursday, February 03, 2011
Mohamed Sudam
Reuters

SANAA: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh indicated Wednesday he would leave office when his current term ends in 2013, after three decades in power.
Saleh also vowed not to pass on the reins of government to his son and appealed to the opposition to call off protests as a large rally loomed.

“I present these concessions in the interest of the country. The interests of the country come before our personal interests,” Saleh told Parliament and members of the military.

“No extension, no inheritance, no resetting the clock,” he said, making reference to ruling party proposals on term limits that had been seen as designed to enable him to run again.

The move was Saleh’s boldest gambit yet to stave off anti-government turmoil spreading in the Arab world as he tried to avert any showdown with the opposition that could risk drawing people into the streets in deeply impoverished Yemen.

Saleh’s remarks came a day before a planned large opposition rally, dubbed a “day of rage,” seen as a barometer of the size and strength of the Yemeni people’s will to follow Egyptians and Tunisians in demanding a change of government.

Yemen’s biggest opposition party, the Islamist party Islah (reform), said Thursday’s rally in the capital Sanaa would still go ahead.

U.S. President Barack Obama administration officials described Saleh’s declaration as “positive” and “significant,” but said it remained to be seen if Saleh would fulfill the pledges.

“I call on the opposition to freeze all planned protests, rallies and sit-ins,” Saleh said. “I call on the opposition after this initiative to come and form a national unity government in spite of the ruling party majority. We will not allow chaos. We will not allow destruction.”

Opposition spokesman Mohammad al-Sabri rejected the call and expressed doubts about Saleh’s pledge not to seek re-election. Sabri said Saleh made a similar promise in 2006, but then failed to fulfill it, ran again and was re-elected.

“The calls for dialogue are not serious and are merely meant to be tranquilizers,” Sabri told The Associated Press.
About 5,000 government supporters held a rally in a sport stadium in a suburb of the capital Sanaa Wednesday, some carrying signs that read “No to sabotage, yes to security and stability” and “Yes to unity, no to separatism.”
Saleh promised Wednesday to delay parliamentary elections due in April to conduct reforms to bring the opposition on board by persuading them the vote would be fair. The delay was not expected to last more than several months.
He also pledged to re-open voter registration in an apparent response to opposition complaints that around 1.5 million Yemenis had been unable to sign up. Saleh also renewed an offer for a unity government with the opposition.

Saleh also promised direct election of provincial and local governors, which would give Yemenis more say, and put on hold all proposed constitutional changes, including on presidential term limits, pending talks with the opposition.
The current Constitution would require Saleh to step down when his term ends in 2013, and the opposition had feared the Constitution would be amended to extend the time he could spend in office, as was done in 2004. – With AP