POLITICAL DIALOGUE ground to a halt in Yemen yesterday as ailing president Ali Abdullah Saleh and his adversaries tried to outwit each other in the rush to gain the allegiance of the tribes amid growing anti-government protests.
On the eve of planned demonstrations by the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), the coalition of opposition parties yesterday rejected president Saleh’s offer to form a unity government within 24 hours. Today’s demonstration will be the first time the JMP have officially taken to the streets since the fall of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak on February 11th.
“Saleh’s interim government offer is in anticipation of tomorrow’s protests,” said JMP spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri. “Numbers will be huge as we come to pay tribute to all the protesters that have died,” he said.
But in Yemen, where tribes exert greater power than political parties, the backdrop to the political wrangling has been a battle for the hearts and minds of the tribes and their ruling sheikhs.
The kingmaker of Saleh, Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, was leader of the president’s Hashid tribe – the most powerful in the country. Saleh came to power with his backing in 1978 and the allegiance of the Hashid remained secure until his death in 2007. The loyalty of its members has since been less certain. Sadeq al-Ahmar, eldest of Abdullah’s 10 sons, does not hold the authority of his late father to call on the whole of Hashid.
Younger brother Hussein al-Ahmar, a close supporter of Saleh, turned his back on the troubled president on Saturday as he addressed tens of thousands of tribesmen in the city of Amran, the heartland of the Hashid.
“I’m announcing my resignation from the ruling party, the party of corruption,” said the sheikh. “I am joining the revolution of the young people until this regime is toppled.” Hussein’s departure is one of the most dramatic to date and follows 10 other MPs who quit the ruling General People’s Congress party last week.
Civil war is now looking like a possibility, according to leading political analyst Abdul-Ghani Al-lryani. “The signs are ominous. It is a very dangerous time right now, unless the al-Ahmars call off the tribes,” he said.
The most outspoken of the al-Ahmar brothers has been Hamid, the leader of the Islah Party – the largest of the opposition parties. He said the time for dialogue was now over.
Yemen’s tribes previously sided with those who offered the greatest financial reward. Hamid al- Ahmar is a prominent multimillionaire, owner of Yemeni mobile phone network SabaFon, with interests in oil as well as the Bank of Saba.
Amid the unpredictability of the tribal undertow, Mr Saleh has sought to rally support. On Sunday, several tribal sheikhs announced their backing for him as he declared his intention to fight “with every drop of blood”. He has blamed “outside forces, mercenaries and colonialists” for the violence in the southern city of Aden, where at least 20 people have died at the hands of the security forces.
Thousands of demonstrators calling for the end of Mr Saleh’s 32-year rule continue to camp on the streets of the capital Sana’a and the highland city Taiz. This evening’s demonstration is expected to have the largest turnout yet.