JUNE 06 Newsletter

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Support for Democracy in Sana’a

Maria Dayton

The International Conference on Democracy, Political Reforms and Freedom of Expression that convened in Sana’a, Yemen on June 25th and 26th, 2006 was jointly organized by the Yemeni government, the Human Rights Information and Training Centre (HRITC), and No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ). It brought together 500 participants, including politicians, parliamentarians, academics, intellectuals, activists, NGOs, and media representatives as part of the ongoing Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD), a G-8 sponsored forum on democracy, political reform and freedom of expression. Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim represented the Ibn Khaldun Center and spoke on civil society and reform. Participants critically reviewed the achievements made within the Region since the launching of the BMENA initiative, highlighting the Forum for the Future held in Morocco in 2004 and Bahrain in 2005, as well as other achievements made within the framework of the DAD project. The conference’s final communiqué, which extols democratization in Yemen as well as the government’s commitment to building civil society, was undermined, however, by the announcement on June 24th by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that he would seek re-election despite prior promises to the contrary. The Yemeni president has been in power since 1978.