GCC chief arrives in Sanaa Saturday

Source: Yemen official news agency,29/04/2011

Well-informed sources have said that that Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul-Latif al-Zayani will pay a visit to Yemen on Saturday. 

During the visit, al-Zayani will invite the Yemeni government and opposition to attend the ceremony of signing an agreement of the GCC initiative to solve the Yemeni crisis on next Monday in the Saudi capital Riyadh. 

The ruling General People's Congress party has announced its agreement to the GCC initiative to resolve the current crisis, stressing that it conveyed to GCC officials its agreement, together with its allies, the National Alliance Parties, to the content of the initiative. 

The following is the complete text of the GCC initiative. 

The Basic Principles: 

-The solution that will stem from this agreement will lead to the preservation of Yemeni unity, security, and stability. 

-The agreement will respond to the aspirations of the Yemeni people for change and reform. 

-Power has to be transferred in a smooth and safe way within national accord that spares Yemen slipping into chaos and violence. 

-All sides have to commit themselves to removing the factors of political and security tension. 

-All sides have to commit themselves to halting all forms of vengeance, hunting down, and monitoring through giving guarantees and pledges for this purpose. 

The Executive Steps: 

-From the first day of the agreement, the president authorizes the opposition to form a national accord government with 50 per cent of the seats for each side. The government has to be formed within a period that does not exceed seven days from the date of authorization. 

-The new government starts to provide the climate suitable for achieving national accord and removing the factors of political and security tension. 

-On day 29 from the beginning of the agreement, the House of Representatives, including the opposition, ratifies the laws that grant the president and those who worked with him during his period in power immunity from legal and judicial prosecution. 

-On Day 30 since the beginning of the agreement, after the House of Representatives including the opposition ratifies the guarantees, the president submits his resignation to the House of Representatives, and the vice president becomes the legitimate acting president after the House of Representative ratifies the president's resignation. 

-The acting president calls for presidential elections within 60 days according to the Constitution. 

-The new president (meaning the elected president) forms a constitutional committee to supervise the drafting of a new Constitution. 

-Following the completion of the drafting of the new Constitution, it is submitted to a popular referendum. 

-If the Constitution is agreed in the referendum, a timetable should be drawn for new parliamentary elections according to the rulings of the new Constitution. 

-Following the elections, the president asks the leader of the political party that won the largest number of votes to form the government. 

-The GCC countries, the United States, and the European Union will be witnesses to the implementation of this agreement.