Yemen ruling and opposition elites depend on foreign support

By Nasser Arrabyee/20/04/2010


Both of the Yemen ruling and opposition elites depend mainly on foreign support for their political conflicts, said a prominent politician and politics university professor Tuesday.

Five wrong and backward conceptions have always been behind the political conflicts between Yemenis who used violent means to take power over the last few decades, said Dr. Mohammed Abdul Malik Al Mutawakel, assistant secretary general of the opposition party, federation of popular forces, an Islamic party not represented in the parliament.


The ruling elite monopolizes the power for itself and controls over the nation's wealth and deprives others and represses the opposition, said Al Mutawakel in an 8-page assessment on the political situation in Yemen.

The first and foremost concern of the opposition has been always to demolish the ruling elite and those loyal to them, and then they rule the country in the same previous way or even worse, said Al Mutawakel who was one of the founders of the current ruling party in Yemen before he turned to opposition.

When a group jumps to power, they completely controls the money and weapons and also dominate the rich and business people to prevent any financial support for the opposition which in turn start to look for support from abroad.

The ruling elite lose its sovereignty and independence of decisions by relying on foreign forces to continue in power.


The ruling elite, the fifth wrong conception, uses absolute centralization and marginalizes the local communities, said Al Mutawakel.

Among the right conceptions, in his opinion, the right of the people to choose the ruler, and hold him accountable, and not to obey him if he is not abiding by the constitution and laws.