Yemen drowned in ignorance and deliberately deepening illiteracy by monarchy; suffered from military coups and assassinations of its leaders from moderate, communist and dictator trends; and witnessed civil, unity and tribal wars. Now, Yemen is living a state of imbalance despite the patience shown by a great nation with poverty, insecurity and the division among various trends.

Ali Abdullah Saleh accepted the Gulf project and gave up power in return for no prosecution, but he turned to be a thorn and a player from the inside by help of his supporters, hoping that the new rule would lose its grip and he could return as the savior. But there are those who accuse him of being behind the new impasses; strengthening the influence of al-Qaeda, calling for separation of the South, and dividing the army into tribal units.

Abdu Rabu Mansur Hadi realizes that he has hard tasks and that Saheh's legacy is serious and complicated. He therefore started to clean the army from the aides of the former regime leadership and structure of which were based on relatives and supporters, and this made Hadi's stock high inside Yemen. The Gulf countries know that direct support for the new government is essential, including fighting al-Qaeda and preventing Iran from creating a loyal faction of the Houthis. The US looks at the situation in Yemen directly, it is even a partner in combating al-Qaeda and strengthening the current government.

The battle in Yemen is open to all possibilities. But the new rule is not an outsider that is away from the course of events; the President has experienced all civil and military situations, and his moderateness among opposing parties made him close to the people and the choice of the majority of them. This led Saleh to accept him as a successor to power, perhaps assuming that he would fail. However, things – despite their complexity – brought him to the front line being the one who can run the new transitional period with wisdom of an experienced man who looks forward.

The current situation cannot be a cause for pessimism, but also one should not be excessively optimistic as long as the knot of the situation is the former president; he is the one who agitates crises in Yemen with his Republican Guards still playing a complicated role. Yet, the image is not that bad, since Yemen has leaders that can overcome whatever difficulties.

President Saleh can make his role a patriotic one and leave Yemen as a citizen who gave up power willingly to quit mandate and assume the responsibility as the one who wants to maintain a historical entity he took part in its rule and reunification, but it is neither logical nor objective for him to remain an opposition leader with the powers of a shadow president. Saleh is better to follow the example of Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab who preferred to keep a low profile by leaving power along with its lights and glamour after he led a coup in Sudan in the hope that a democratic system would be achieved gathering a full spectrum of his people. Ali Abdullah Saleh understands that he is the knot of the phase, so honesty implies that he chooses to be a nationalist symbol instead of setting fire in a country in an urgent need for its people to stand together with power leaders to avoid any slide leading to an explosion of situation, that serves no one.

Source: The Saudi cccc in Arabic