Al-Sahwa [Archives:2005/831/Press Review]
31 Mar.2005
Main headlines
– New oil scandal, the government squanders hundred million dollars
– In new clashes with the government, a number of al-Houthi followers fall dead including the leading figure Ahmed al-Daie
– In an incident deemed the biggest, the marginalized people camp in the capital catches fire
– Eritrean authorities arrest 14 Yemeni fishermen, seizing their boats
– The government offers impractical conditions to university professors
– Teachers union intends to file lawsuit against the ministry of education
– Security authorities in Ibb raise their military campaign
– Tribes of Nahd and Al Sulaiman wrap up their disputes
Columnist Zaid al-Shami wrote in his article that the constitution gives he citizen the right to express his opinion with legitimate peaceful means and the law has defined controls of expressing by demonstrations and marches. The law allowed that on condition it would not change into a means of chaos or riot or damage public and private properties. The law also obliged security authorities to take necessary measures and arrangements to protect the demonstrators and provide security for them on condition the side organizing the demonstration should notify the security authorities about the demonstration or the march.
Two weeks before limited demonstrations took to the streets I a number of major cities to protest to the sales tax law that the official media rushed to herald its benefits. The ministry of interior, security committee and official press speedily accused parties of the JMP holding them responsible for consequences of those demonstrations. To that, the parties of the JMP denied categorically any relation to that, confirming at the same time the citizen's right to peaceful demonstration to express his opinion. It was expected that the government would receive that denial and welcome it to indicate that the demonstrators do not represent a certain a large segment of the people. Wisdom dictates that the government should have called parties of the JMP, the private sector and trade unions to dialogue on the sales tax in order to come out with joint vision. To the contrary of that the official press readily expressed astonishment of the JMP denial of having any relationship with the demonstrations and made the parties of the JMP target for its campaign holding them responsible for all bad conditions of the past, the present and future. This means that opposition parties now have no other choice but to go ahead to lead the masses with peaceful means and legally-guaranteed methods to express resentment towards the bad living conditions, the aggravation of poverty and absence of justice and equality.
——
[archive-e:831-v:13-y:2005-d:2005-04-07-p:press]
