Issue 26- June 29th thru
July 5th 1998, Vol VIII
By: Adel Moqbil
AL-WHADAWI: Sanaa weekly, 23-6-98.
(Nasserite Unionist Party)
Main Headline:
1- Army troops besiege Sanaa University and turn Yemeni cities
into huge army barracks.
2- The government is to start liquidating major public-sector
establishments and industries: cement, medicines, Aden oil refinery, communications,
and transport.
3- Opposition parties in Hadhramaut call for public rallies
and demonstrations in all governorate centers.
Article Summary:
Hurricane of Anger
By Abdullah Al-Khawlani
The Nasserite Party has always warned against the blind adherence to
the fickle dictates of the World Bank and the IMF. True reform does not
mean raising the prices of basic food commodities while the people are
already hungry. Reform must extend to all: rulers and ruled. It must include:
1- Forming a supreme national committee for reform with the
participation of all national powers;
2- Enforcing the laws that will curb corruption;
3- Forcing corrupt officials to return what they have stolen;
4- Attaching the Control and Audit apparatus to parliament,
not to the executive authority;
5- Ensuring the independence of the judiciary; and
6- Obliging officials to declare their assets before and after
assuming their posts.
AL-SAHWA: Sanaa weekly, 25-6-98.
[Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Islah)]
Main Headline:
1- Opposition parties call on the government to reverse its
decision to raise prices.
2- The University of Sanaa was closed to prevent any possible
student demonstrations.
3- Report submitted by the fact-finding mission, sent to investigate
the killing of 2 men and the wounding of others in the 27-April Mukallah
demonstration, is quite deficient.
4- Teachers at Aden and Sanaa universities give a one-week notice
for their demands to be answered before going on strike.
Article Summary:
Rejecting Impoverishment
Islah is against the government's latest decision to raise prices for
the following considerations:
1- Reform has become almost exclusive to instituting price hikes
in fuels and basic food commodities. Other elements of the reform program
are ignored.
2- The burden of price increases is almost exclusively borne
by the poor. It is essential to establish a social safety net to help alleviate
some of the suffering.
3- It really seems that there is no urgent need for such price
increases, considering that other very important administrative and financial
elements of the reform program are still not implemented.
4- The extra resources generated by price hikes will almost
certainly be misused. As before, most of the money will probably go to
non-developmental projects.
5- There is no absolute economic necessity for raising prices
at this particular moment in time. Local fuel prices have actually exceeded
international levels.
6- Impoverishment and unemployment are likely to lead to untold
social maladies, the treatment of which is almost impossible.
AL-TAREEQ: Aden weekly, 23-6-98.
(Independent)
Main Headline:
1- Public unrest due to price rises causes a rift between parliament
and government despite the preponderance of the People's General Congress
in both.
2- 7 dead and 16 wounded in public demonstrations of protest.
3- Authorities order Tele-Yemen to suspend mobile phone and
pager services in fear of the situation getting out of hand.
4- Political organizations and trade unions support public protest.
5- British parliament expresses concern over increase of violence
in Yemen.
6- A 12-classroom school in Tareem costs YR 49 million!!.
Article Summary:
Tribal Intermediation
Late in the night of Saturday, 20 June, six Italian tourists - including
two women were released after two days in captivity. They were kidnapped
in the Bir Ali tourist resort in Shabwa by armed men from Al-Suleiman of
the Marazeeq tribe.
The release came following intermediation efforts by other prominent
members of the Marazeeq, in return for promises of a car and the implementation
of public service projects.
The captives were taken from the area of kidnap to the Amad mountainous
region.
AL-UMMA: Sanaa weekly, 25-6-98.
(Al-Haqq Party)
Main Headline:
1- The government refuses to reverse its decision on price increases,
and severely quells public demonstrations of protest.
2- Parliament calls for bringing corrupt people to justice before
instituting price reform.
3- Seera Primary Court bans the publication of the trial proceedings
of those accused of the Aden bomb explosions.
Article Summary:
Two Ships Confiscated
The Public Funds courts in Hodeida and Hajja have convicted 6 Egyptians
and ordered the confiscation of their two ships for fishing illegally in
Yemeni territorial waters.
A fine of $130,000 was imposed on the 6 men, in addition to YR 350,000
by way of legal fees.
Crew on board both ships were caught using explosives and internationally
banned fishing nets by the Yemeni coast guards .
AL-SHOURAH: Sanaa weekly, 21-6-98.
(Federation of Popular Forces Party)
Main Headline:
1- Tanks and armored vehicles block the streets of major towns
and cities.
2- Opposition parties in Aden reject security instructions to
acquire permission before conducting any public activity.
3- Opposition in Dhali' calls for the instigators of the recent
armed confrontations between the army and tribesmen in the area to brought
to justice.
4- 10% of the people in Yemen are infected with Malaria.
Article Summary:
Teachers Intend to Leave
By Ahmed Al-Zakari
New teachers come full of hopes and ambitions, only to have their aspirations
crushed by a deteriorating system. With meager salaries, our teachers have
become unable to provide a decent living for their families. The state
does not seem to be concerned with the education system, both in terms
of school curricula and the teachers' academic and living standards.
Some new teaching graduates who started their work at their appointed
schools since the beginning of this academic year have not yet received
their salaries. The teachers' problems are exacerbated by the increasing
violence at schools, where several incidents of students physically attacking
their teachers took place recently.
So many teachers are now seriously contemplating leaving the country
to work abroad, not necessarily in teaching. The problems plaguing Yemen's
education system must be seriously and urgently tackled.
26 SEPTEMBER: Sanaa weekly, 25-6-98.
(Yemen Armed Forces)
Main Headline:
1- The President: "Infiltrators crept into the demonstrations to
divert them into acts of rioting and destruction."
"We have covered a big stage in the border talks with Saudi Arabia,
aiming to reach a final settlement satisfactory to both sides.""It
is very astonishing to the stick methods used with Arab countries, while
generous rewards are bestowed on Israel."2- The Council of Ministers
endorses the inclusion of the poverty alleviation project within the Social
Safety Net, at a cost of $40 million with contributions from international
donor organizations.
3- Minister of Interior: "Rioting has left 5 dead, 12 injured and
extensive damage to property. Preliminary investigations have revealed
that certain political parties were behind the unrest. The President ordered
the release of all detainees."
4- Minister of Planning: "Half of the oil revenue goes to subsidize
wheat and flour."5- Minister of Agriculture: "Price reform will
help support Yemeni farmers, and, hence increase their capabilities to
support food security."6- Governor of Aden : "Development projects
in Aden cost more than YR 1.5 billion.)
Article Summary:
Why the Price Reform?
By Ibrahim Al-Ashmawi
The 2nd Gulf war and the return of a million Yemeni immigrants who
used to send more than $1 billion a year presented a powerful blow to the
Yemeni economy. Following the 1994, the balance of payments deficit rose
to $760 million, the individual income growth became zero, employment rose
to 35%, and the state's revenue covered only 80% of its employees' salaries.
Due to the general regional and international conditions, there were
not many alternatives open for Yemen. Donor countries met in Paris and
Brussels in 1996, and decided to provide a loans worth $550 million and
later on $1.8 billion. They also decided to cancel 80% of Yemen's foreign
debts.
To remedy the deteriorating economy, drastic measures were needed.
The reform program called for a gradual lifting of subsidies off some basic
food commodities and fuels. This is essential for stopping the rapid depletion
of national revenues and hard currency reserves.
Reforms proceeded swiftly. Budget deficit and inflation were brought
to all time low and kept under control. The 1998 budget was drawn on the
valid assumption of an oil revenue of $1.5 billion (oil revenues form 65%
of the overall national revenue). However, world oil prices dropped from
$18 to $13 per barrel, depriving the Yemeni treasury of a precious $236
million. During this year the imports bill totaled $307 million, compared
to $128 million in 1997.
The budget deficit rose from a projected YR 4.4 billion to an actual
YR 36.2 billion.
Price reforms were scheduled to start in a gradual manner from January
of this year. However, political circumstances within the government delayed
that. Price hike cannot be described as a great achievement, but a bitter
drug that must be administered.
AL-BALAGH: Sanaa weekly, 23-6-98.
[Islamic Action Movement (being formed)]
Main Headline:
1- Anger demonstrators loot 170,000 sacks of flour and condemn
the government. Opposition parties demand the immediate return of money
misappropriated and deposited by corrupt officials abroad.
2- Border agreement with Saudi Arabia will be signed by the
end of this year. A summit meeting will be attended the President and King
Fahd.
3- Foreign Minister Ba-Jammal denies that the USA has requested
military bases in Yemen.
4- League of the Sons of Yemen warns against the policy adopted
by the government.
5- Tax Authority sources said, the President pays the annual
tax on all his property and earnings. He has no big fortune, they added.
Article Summary:
Food, Qat & World Bank
The ready-made prescriptions written by the suspect international twins
- the World Bank and IMF - hit people where it really hurts, their subsistence.
This what happened in Yemen. The number of poor people sharply increased
and unemployment has become endemic.
The twins' famous doses are surely leading to a slow death: the poor
become poorer and the rich richer.
Why target basic food commodities, while there are stuff and crops
such as qat? Tax on the growing and consumption of qat can be increased
many folds. Then farmers my resort to other food crops.
The tax system is also in urgent need of reform. The state only gets
about 30-40% of the amount it should get from tax payers. Other sources
of hard currency squandering must be addressed such as the huge salaries
paid to IMF and World Bank experts who come to Yemen to assess the economic
situation. The huge wages given to Yemeni diplomats abroad are also depleting
the country's hard-currency reserves. Why start with basic food stuffs?
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