EU welcomes Yemen agreement on national dialogue

Source :Saba
19\07\2010

- The European Union (EU) welcomed on Monday the agreement signed between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on national dialogue.

“I welcome the recent Agreement reached in Yemen between the General People’s Congress (GPC) and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) on national dialogue.

I also welcome the announcement by President Saleh on the implementation of the confidence building measures first signaled in his speech of 22 May 2010’’, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, said in a statement.

‘’These are important steps forward in the national dialogue process, which offers an opportunity to unlocking progress on many issues, from economic and political reform, to national reconciliation’’, Ashton added.

The EU official called on all the parties to implement the new agreement, reiterating the EU’s readiness to support the dialogue process.

‘’I also take the opportunity to restate the full support of the European Union for a democratic, united and stable Yemen”.

On Saturday, under sponsorship of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the GPC and the JMP signed the agreement to apply a February agreement signed by both sides in February 2009.

Upon the agreement, the two sides agreed to give a chance for all political parties and civil society organizations to discuss constitutional amendments on the political and electoral systems.

The two sides also agreed to name their representatives in a joint committee for preparing the national dialogue. According to the agreement, the GPC and the JMP should comply with decisions of the committee and its meetings’ outcomes.