MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti) – The experience in Yemen has proven that conflicts can be solved peacefully and democracy cannot be imposed from outside, Assistant UN Secretary-General and Special Adviser to Secretary-General on Yemen Jamal Benomar said in an interview with the Voice of Russia radio station Wednesday.
“Yemen’s experience demonstrated that conflicts could be solved peacefully, that conflicting sides can agree during the talks, that democracy cannot be imposed artificially from outside, and local powers should find a decision themselves. And finally that the international community can be efficient,” Benomar said.
Yemen is in a political transition following the events of the so-called Arab Spring, which started in 2011 with the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule.
“The Yemeni experience is something exceptional in the Arab world. The country is going through the process of national reconciliation through dialogue among different national powers,” Benomar said. “They have agreed upon the timing of a transitional period and about how to share powers of authority. According to these agreements, the reforms should be conducted by the Yemenis themselves, there should be no external imperiousness,” Brenomar stressed.
The only third party allowed into the process was the UN. “As a result, Yemen became the only Arab country where the sides launched a national dialogue and worked out a roadmap for the transitional period,” Benomar said, highlighting that the roadmap set the precise timing of the steps that followed.
Internal political dialogue started last year as the National Dialogue conference kicked off in Sana, the Yemeni capital. Representatives of various political parties and forces, including non-governmental organizations, and women’s and youth associations, addressed a wide range of issues within the country, including the new constitution, as well as parliamentary and presidential elections.
The UN adviser also pointed out that Yemen avoided “a seemingly imminent civil war” and that political issues are being resolved through a national dialogue.
“Compared to other Arab Spring countries, the situation in Yemen overall looks reasonably good,” Benomar added, commenting on fighting terrorism in Yemen.
Al-Qaeda took advantage of the fall of the central authority in 2011, starting an uprising and seizing large swathes of the south and east. The terrorists staged attacks across the country including in the capital.
