President: Power can be reached democratically through voting

President: Power can be reached democratically through voting

By Fatik Al-Rodaini

Sana'a- Feb 21, 2011, President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Monday that whoever wants to reach power has to behave democratically through the ballot boxes either in the parliamentary or presidential elections away from chaos.

In a press conference in Sana'a today, he said that "the Yemeni people is a great nation and can differentiate between what is good and bad," adding "those people are copying others and the more concessions we provide, the more demands they ask for."

We ask those to come to dialogue table to make understanding clear, he said.

Saleh pointed out that the freedom of opinion is guaranteed by peaceful and democratic means and those who demand the regime to leave, they should go for voting boxes and respect the will of the Yemeni people as power is a responsibility and not a merit.

The president said that "we provided a package of reforms but the JMP, in particular, increased the ceiling of their demand to topple the regime which is unacceptable."

He thanked security systems for stopping clashes between the opponents and supports of the government, noting that they have strict directives not to use violence except in case of self protection.

The president expressed sorrow for what happened in Aden by some rioters who cased harm to state and private properties.