President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has agreed to step down under a 30-day transition plan aimed at ending violent unrest over his 32-year rule.
Officials in the capital Sanaa confirmed the government had accepted the plan drawn up by Gulf Arab states.
Mr Saleh will hand power to his vice-president one month after an agreement is signed with the opposition, in return for immunity from prosecution.
At least 120 people have died during two months of protests.
The US has welcomed the announcement; a statement from the White House urged all parties to "swiftly" implement a peaceful transfer of power.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13178887
-I think the fact that Mr. Saleh has accepted to step down and is the third leader to step down because of popular resistance may help influence other democratic movements elsewhere. One thing that I am curious about is the proposal by several states. In it they propose immunity for Mr. Saleh, his family and aides. I would like to see how the people are taking that piece of the proposal and whether or not it will be accepted.
The people are still protesting and they accept the proposal to step down but they want everybody to held accountable for their actions. The protester are still protesting and they want justice. The same way that the former leaders of Tunisia and Egypt are being held accountable for now.
ReplyDeleteMohamed Ali
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ReplyDeleteLike in every story there is a good and a bad thing, and this report is no exception. The good thing is that Mr. Saleh is stepping down after 32 years in power, the bad thing now is that he is getting immunity. This means that he won’t get to go to trial for the crimes that he has committed. The people of Yemen didn’t only want to have him kicked out of power but to also have justice for all the wrongs that he has done. The only reason why he is stepping down is because he got offered the opportunity to be given immunity, not because he wanted the riots to end. Lets be honest when a political figures knows they have done something wrong they won’t want to step down that easily, Mr. Saleh was offered the golden ticket out and he took it.
ReplyDeleteKaren Ledezma--- Armel 10 am
Its incredible to see the impact the protest movement has had in Northern Africa, although there was bloodshed (120 deaths)the effort of the people was not in vain, and the people made a winning victory with the resignation of President Saleh.
ReplyDeleteBringing Saleh to court for the crimes he has committed while in office should be deferred for the time being, and the main focus of the government and the people can rather be placed into the upcoming elections and promote the dismantling of Salehs cabinet in favor of a newly created cabinet and President.
Th peoples alternative focus can help ensure that none of Salehs potentially corrupt official remain in office, and potentially form a new administration free from Salehs influence/ideals.
Julio Rodriguez
Armels 1pm Friday class.
It is interesting to think that social networking had positive power that helped start revolutions in the Middle East. Although we think that the leader stepping down is a good thing, it has a negative side to it as well. Just like every other country that had their leader step down or was taken down by other leaders, it brought a lot of controversy. People think that the country will recover quickly after the bad leader is taken down, but we have seen that is not the case. Just as it took a while for the revolutions to occur after years of suffering it will also take a while for the recovery to fully take place.
ReplyDeleteRita Shabo
Ryan 1pm