Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh To Quit in 2013

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh tells parliament he will step down in 2013 upon the conclusion of his current presidency. According to President Saleh, his concession is "in the best interests of the country and comes before his personal interests." Saleh has been in power for three decades and also pledged his son would not pass on power to his son. In January, Saleh proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow him to stand for next re-election in the next presidential ballot in two years time. Interestingly, Saleh has appeared to have changed his mind after seeing the impact of public demonstrations across the region. Yemen suffers from high population growth, 40% unemployment, rising food prices, and acute levels of malnutrition. The Yemenis may take this decision with a grain of salt while starting to view Saleh as a broken record. Before the Presidential Election of 2006, Saleh had made a similar promise to stand down, but eventually reversed this position.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12343166

Dennie Whitlow