Sultan Barakani: "We Will not sign the GCC Proposal"

Sana'a, November 9, 2011- The Emirati newspaper, Al Ithihad, quoted Sultan Barakani, the Secretary General of the GPC (General People's Congress) as saying that President Saleh would not sign any agreement before the "contentious issues" were well and truly resolved.

The "issues" Barakani is referring to are Saleh's reservations towards an immediate resignation since he wishes to remain president of Yemen until the next presidential elections and the clause which condition some of his family members who hold key positions within the country's armed forces to resign immediately.

Ahmed Ali Saleh, the president's eldest son heads the elite corps of the Republican Guards, Saleh's nephews are leading respectively, the Central Security Forces, the Presidential Guards and the National Security Agency and his brother is the Commander in Chief of the Air Force.

In just a few words, Barakani shattered the hope of many politicians and Yemenis alike, as all were hoping that the GCC proposal would be signed on Thursday, as scheduled in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Only last week, al-Zayani, the Secretary General of the GCC had called for all parties to meet up in Riyadh to finally ink the proposal, moving Yemen towards the road of recovery after nearly 10 months of blood bath and insurgency.

Barakani maintained that for the GPC or the President for that matter to agree to any GCC proposal, all sticky points needed to be addressed in a correct manner as to respect the Yemeni Constitution and the state's republican institutions.

Jamal Bin Omar the UN envoy to Yemen is said to be holding further talks with the regime, still pushing for Ali Abdullah Saleh to comply with the 2014 UN Security Council resolution adopted on October 21st.

Source: Yemen Post