As Yemen’s Vice-President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi is about to launch his presidential campaign under the slogan “together we will built Yemen,” judges began their protests, calling on the government to carry our reforms of the judiciary.
Despite the quick intervention of Prime Minister Mohamed Salem Basendwa and his promises that he would comply with their demands, the judges, who have learned that words in Yemen mean little, are refusing to end their strike, threatening to escalate the matter.
Under the current regime, the judiciary is not independent, with judges being mere pawns in a power play, often forced to pass judgment under duress or simply corrupted enough to accept money for services rendered, sources say.
With tensions escalating across much of the country’s institutions and growing concern over the presidential election’s unpopularity, with tens of thousands of protesters calling the millions of dollars spent “an outrage,” arguing that this money could have been spent towards feeding the nation rather than setting up ballot boxes, especially since Yemenis “already know the outcome of the vote,” many feel that the country is a tragedy in the waiting.
To make matters worse, Air Force soldiers and officers are still besieging VP Hadi’s residence, warning that if the government continues to side with General Mohamed al-Ahmar, al-Dalaimi Airbase Commander and half-brother to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, they would consider other avenues to achieve their goals.
The veiled threat was accompanied by a show of force, when the men paraded down the nearby street to remind the government that as military men they knew a thing or two.
A high-ranking officer told Bikyamasr.com that the current government was literally “walking on egg shells,” warning that if they failed to meet “at least some of the people demands” things could degenerate very quickly. “People are tired of waiting … the situation here is very bad, with more civilians losing their livelihood every day. The stress of this past year it’s taking its toll and Yemeni are running out of patience. It is palpable in the streets, anger is bubbling to the surface and politicians are turning a blind eye. If something radical is not done soon to prove to protesters that their cries had been heard we might end up with a violent counter-wave revolution. The thing with Yemenis is that they are so resilient and so capable of enduring hardship that people forget that underneath our peaceful demeanor lies the heart of a lion, do not wake him up,” said the Colonel.
via Yemen judges go on strike – Bikya Masr.