Yemen president to step down
October 8th, 2011 - 10:00 pm ICT by IANSSana’a, Oct 8 (IANS) Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh Saturday said he will leave power in the coming days, Xinhua reported.
In a speech, addressed to a gathering of high-ranking parliamentary officials in Sana’a and aired on state television, Saleh said: “I always reject power and I will continue to reject it, and I will leave power in the coming days.”
Yemen has been gripped by a more than eight-month-long political crisis since the eruption of protests in late January to demand an immediate end to Saleh’s 33-year-old rule.
Protesters demand that Saleh end his three-decade-long rule because of his perceived lack of democratic reforms, alleged widespread corruption and human rights abuses carried out by him and his allies.
On May 18, 2011, Saleh agreed to sign a deal with opposition groups, stipulating that he would resign within a month. On May 23, Saleh refused to sign the agreement, leading to renewed protests and the withdrawal of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from mediation efforts in Yemen.
Born in 1942, Ali Abdullah Saleh is the first President of the Republic of Yemen. He previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) from 1978 until 1990, at which time he assumed the office of chairman of the Presidential Council of a post-unification Yemen.
He is the longest-serving president of Yemen, ruling since 1978.
- Hadi elected as Yemen's new president - Feb 25, 2012
- Gulf Cooperation Council calls for power transfer in Yemen - Apr 11, 2011
- Yemeni President Saleh calls for early presidential elections - May 21, 2011
- Yemeni President Saleh says he will 'soon' return to his country - Aug 17, 2011
- Yemen witnesses anti-Saleh protests, people seek his immediate departure - Apr 25, 2011
- Saleh not to sign power-transfer plan in Qatari envoys' presence - Apr 29, 2011
- Yemeni government welcomes Riyadh's conciliation call - Apr 06, 2011
- Yemen president won't seek reelection - Feb 02, 2011
- Hundreds of anti-Saleh protesters injured in Sana'a - Apr 10, 2011
- Yemen may witness signing of power transition plan Saturday - Apr 27, 2011
- Yemeni tribes not to join protest - Feb 27, 2011
- Yemen opposition insists Saleh quit, president digs in - Mar 22, 2011
- Yemen to get over $3 billion Saudi Arabian aid - May 24, 2012
- Emergency declared in Yemen, 41 killed in police firing (Third Lead) - Mar 18, 2011
- Yemen's Saleh hands over power to new president - Feb 27, 2012
Tags: ali abdullah saleh, allies, democratic reforms, first president, gcc, gulf cooperation council, human rights abuses, mediation efforts, north yemen, opposition groups, political crisis, president ali abdullah saleh, protesters, protests, republic of yemen, state television, unification, xinhua, yemen arab republic, yemeni president