The Fake Election In Yemen
After a year of bloody protests the people of Yemen could today enjoy the Saudi/US arranged elections for a new president.
Ballot for today's election in Yemen
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Despite the demand in the Yemeni constitution that there must be, at least formally, several candidates, the sole candidate is Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who has for 17 years served as vice-president under President Saleh. There isn't even a Yes and No vote to gauge his support. The only candidate is Hadi, the only vote is a Yes and there is no way that he will not win by a 100% majority.
Then again, is there really much difference for policy choices in presidential elections in the U.S.?
The dictator Saleh, who ruled for 33 years, got immunity for all his crimes as part of this election deal. He is currently as a U.S. guest in New York but will be back after the election to "attend the inauguration" of the new president and he will certainly keep pulling the strings. His son and his nephew are still controlling major parts of the security establishment in Yemen.
Obama’s top counterterrorism advisor John Brennan said “Yemen has proved ability to move from the past to the present via ballot boxes”. Unlike me, Einstein might have had ideas why moving from the past to the present would not have happened without this sham election.
In a letter to Hadi Obama said that Yemen has become a model for peaceful transition in the Middle East. He did not mention the thousands of people maimed and killed during the last year up to this fake change no one can believe in.
The southern separatist, who were betrayed by the southerner Hadi when he joined Saleh to be made vice-president, the defected general Ali Muhsin al-Ahmar and his tribe, the Salafist and AlQaeda groups in the south and the Houthi tribes in the north boycotted the election. Some polling stations were attacked and at least 4 people were killed today.
The U.S. missed the chance to use the movement against Saleh for some real transition in Yemen. This will come back to bite it.
Posted by b on February 21, 2012 at 19:05 UTC | Permalink
Imagine Zionist/militarist reaction if Assad tried this!
Posted by: JohnH | Feb 21 2012 21:10 utc | 2
Good point well made.
The US democracy-model America try to impose on other countries, sometimes by force, is very far from perfect. To me as a norwegian, it looks like a scam, even though our democracy is not perfect either. The two real alternatives you have to vote on, seems very much like different puppets controlled with the same strings. The bad (democrats) and the ugly (republicans) in reality do much the same things when they get to power, as amply demonstrated by Obama. Of course, senate seems to ruin Obamas attempts to do anything, so it looks like he has rolled over and surrendered. I.e. Guantanamo, which shattered all illusions that USA was a siviliced country. If he can't even correct that, what power does the position president of USA really hold?
A form of direct democracy, where every bill would have to be approved by engaged voters, is emerging as a technical possibility, as online voting becomes tried and true. Direct democracy will stop senseless laws being approved, and only really important and sensible decitions at all could be made into law.
The US constitution has been subverted by corporate money. The laws are not made in the intentions as the constitution and it's amendments, and I believe the founding fathers are spinning right now.
@JohnH
Actually, I think Yemen got the idea from Syria. Here is an article on Assad's 'election' victory in 2007:
http://www.sana.sy/eng/141/2007/05/29/120564.htm
Posted by: Majd | Feb 21 2012 21:55 utc | 4
How about some voices from the Yemeni people themselves?
Here is what high school teacher Mariam Hussein Aboubaker al-Attaf had to say on todays vote.
I am choosing not to vote in Tuesday’s elections because in my opinion, it is not a democratic process. What is democratic about voting for a single candidate? We independent opposition members, aren’t the only ones who believe the elections are a masquerade. The Houthis [Shiite rebels in northwestern Yemen] have also condemned it, as have the separatists in the south [the southern independence movement has called for a boycott of the vote, and declared Tuesday a “day of disobedience”].
It’s a game of musical chairs – we are trading Saleh for his Vice President Mansour, but the system remains intact. We didn’t protest in the streets for this. We wanted a real change. The elections took place in part because of United States and Saudi pressure, which is unacceptable. We are planning to organise a march from Al-Hodeida to the Saudi border on February 25 to protest against Saudi Arabia’s policy regarding Yemen”.
Another Yemeni, Ahmed Abbas Al Bacha, who protested in Taiz over the last year had another viewpoint.
It’s true that these elections seem more like a referendum because there is only one candidate. It is also true that the vote violates the constitution, which dictates that a presidential election has a minimum of two candidates. But I feel that the very unique situation we find ourselves in today justifies this exception. What’s most important is to get out of this crisis and to turn the page on the bloodshed and violence we’ve seen up until now. Even though a few months ago I was against the power transfer deal, I now realise that there is no other way to move forward, and that even half of a solution is better than no solution at all.
It’s true that a number of Saleh’s family and allies are still in power, particularly in the Defence department. But we’re counting on the new president to carry out all the terms of the power transfer deal, which stipulate that Saleh’s relatives must step down. We are also counting on former military deserters who have returned to the armed forces to help drive institutional reforms”.
Personally think Ahmad is going to be disappointed. You don't leave the fox in charge of the chicken coop. And Salehi's Vice President since 1994 is certainly a fox.
Posted by: Colm O' Toole | Feb 21 2012 22:12 utc | 5
"In a letter to Hadi Obama said that Yemen has become a model for peaceful transition in the Middle East."
I wish the people of Yemen all the best,but really, a model for what? Another leader to rubber stamp US/NATO policies in that part of the world? More peons for the global plantation, coming up.
Posted by: ben | Feb 22 2012 1:14 utc | 7
Following the Maine Republican caucus farce? We better be worrying about our OWN fucking "fake elections", never mind Yemen.
Posted by: PissedOffAmerican | Feb 22 2012 3:01 utc | 8
Although to call it an election stretches the definition, the process is seen by most as necessary to get rid of Mr Saleh.
http://www.cfr.org/yemen/national-election-only-one-man-can-win--but-yemen-used/p27393
"It is a very unique kind election, but it will begin what we hope is a process of substantial change in the society over the next two years that will culminate in February 2014 with what we anticipate will be a full, fair, and free democratic election,” says Gerald Feierstein, US Ambassador to Yemen."
http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-elections-only-one-choice-still-progress-151302032.html
So it looks like the chance for real transition will come in 2014.
Posted by: Calig | Feb 22 2012 7:03 utc | 10
For comparison, the ballot for the vote on whether or not Austria should rejoin Germany under Hitler. At least this one included a tiny “no” option.
Posted by: P.P.A. | Feb 22 2012 8:58 utc | 11
Following the Maine Republican caucus farce?
Nope. Why bother? There's more value in listening to Charlie Manson philosophize.
Posted by: Morocco Bama | Feb 22 2012 12:11 utc | 13
That photo is fabulous. Is it an Yemeni ad for hair plugs?
Posted by: Morocco Bama | Feb 22 2012 13:08 utc | 14
Expanding on POA comment....
Yeah, like the European leaders are elected by democracy. Just look at Athens burning.
Banksters, the whole lot of em - and Merkel supports putting more debt on the Greek people. Democracy my ass.
Posted by: Rick Happ | Feb 22 2012 13:37 utc | 15
As if the market needed another bizarro catalyst to ramp even higher courtesy of an even more pronounced drop in corporate earnings courtesy of soaring energy costs, that is just what it is about to get following news of further deterioration in the Nash equilibrium in Iran, where on one hand we learn that IAEA just pronounced Iran nuclear talks a failure (this is bad), and on the other Press TV reports that the Iran army just started a 4 day air defense exercise in a 190,000 square kilometer area in southern Iran (this is just as bad). The escalation "ball" is now in the Western court. And if Iraq is any indication, after IAEA talks "failure" (no matter how grossly manipulated by the media), the aftermath is usually always one and the same...
Posted by: Morocco Bama | Feb 22 2012 14:19 utc | 16
"Nope. Why bother? There's more value in listening to Charlie Manson philosophize"
Yep.
'Bout as valid as an MB Swan Song.
Posted by: PissedOffAmerican | Feb 22 2012 15:12 utc | 17
And yet, b digs other countries in which voters only have one person to vote for: Syria, Libya, Russia. Iran.
It's almost like b is a hypocrite, or something.
Posted by: slothrop | Feb 22 2012 15:46 utc | 18
What hasbaritic nonsense;Russia and Iran had multiple candidates,despite Ziomic BS to the contrary,and the other two nations have been partners with US in our war of terror,it's the criminals in charge here that let them stay in power there and backed them at various times when it suited our interest.A worldwide prime directive is an absolute necessity in this world of Machiavellian madmen with learning disabilities.
And look at our Kabuki theater of only Zionist approved candidates receiving any type of fair coverage from the Ziomic monster press.Sheesh,the Nazis and Stalin were more democratic.
Posted by: dahoit | Feb 22 2012 17:17 utc | 19
folks, please ignore Slothrop
he/she/it is a troll. nothing more. not even a very good one.
Posted by: dan of steele | Feb 22 2012 19:17 utc | 20
I'm beginning to think it, dan. No self respecting human could continually generate such humongous turds in public and still have enough self esteem to be able to sleep at nights let alone live with oneself. Whoever is recharging it's batteries, forget it. It has become a self defeating and totally transparent virtual drone. I guess I have to thank b for not filtering it's crap out because it allows us to see how pathetic the psychopaths trying to destroy true humanity really are.
Posted by: juannie | Feb 22 2012 19:46 utc | 21
Juannie, as my mother once told me: be kind to people with brain injuries.
Still, the contradiction is undeniable. b praises those totalitarians who ostensibly oppose the US. He condemns those totalitarians the US supports. b is a hypocrite. even more, this post is disingenuous to the point of farce given the fact that b has vociferously defended the Iranian oligarchy in general denouncement of the value of democracy, claiming that such totalitarianism is defensible in the aim to oppose the US. And then, b unashamed by his own serial hypocrisy, wheels around in posts like this screaming at the top of his lungs about the travesty of Yemeni democracy.
Just extreme bullshit for anyone who has a brain & who has read this blog over the past three years.
Posted by: slothrop | Feb 22 2012 23:12 utc | 22
put another way, I should be kind to juannie, given his publication here about his unfortunate brain damage.
Posted by: slothrop | Feb 22 2012 23:14 utc | 23
slothrop, I too know you must speak gently and softly to people who have brain problems, so please now calm down and listen:
1) b hasn't an agenda of exporting democracy; at most, of opposing Us bullism
2) so, there aren't any double standards by his standards: we (may I join in?) oppose this super-bullism (call it imperialism, colonialism, anonymous globalization riding on Us tanks and bombs, etc, as you wish) and defend self-determination: simple, verifiable criteria
3) it's those who talk of exporting democracy, responsibility to protect, etc that should explain their contradictions (if you need explanations on this point, please feel free to ask for examples)
your insistence in pretending to not understand this point is getting ridiculous
be careful, now I'll speak up a bit:
you are simply trying to demonize the Us-enemy-of-the-day with your use of the term "totalitarian", but people are getting immunized against such elementary propaganda, so superficially and repetitively proposed, of which you appear to be victim; the closest example of "totalitarianism" (if the term has a meaning) we have today maybe is Saudi Arabia, certainly not Syria (a classic lay dictatorship sometimes useful or necessary to keep a state together, so similar to those that fill modern European history) nor Iran (a mix of theocracy and democracy, where Ahmadinejad represents the democratic side of the mix); btw, voters are offered a real choice in Iranian elections much more than in the Us (Yemen really is closer to the Us more than Iran from this point of view, which might explain the Us interest in this "experiment"); you see, the perfect system hasn't been invented yet; when it will be, you won't need bombs to export it
anyways, some arguments you use are disgusting; it's obvious you aren't here to make a point, however unpopular, but just to provoke, and to spread dirt and suspicion so as to keep the occasional lurker at a distance from this "community"; (see, I'm still trying to find traces of rationality, albeit evil, in your attitude)
I'd conclude with a soft, gentle, heart-felt, politically-motivated F.Y.
Posted by: claudio | Feb 23 2012 0:25 utc | 24
I don't disagree in the least that the service of totalitarianism in the interests of the US, or anyone, is perniciously contradictory to any claim of a defense of "democracy."
What I'm saying it should be clear to anyone who reads this blog is that b steadfastly defends (by omission or otherwise) the interests of the Russians or Chinese to support dictators, or the interests of theocratic mullahs who stone women for adultery, for that matter, old because these oppose the US.
You're pretty stupid if you ignore your own witness to b's dismal daily reproduction of this hypocrisy.
Posted by: slothrop | Feb 23 2012 1:32 utc | 26
Your pretentiously nuanced argument about dictatorship is completely irrelevant, in any case needed to simply understand why b says what he says. All you need to understand is that the same arguments are never applied by b to, for example, defend a presumably necessary dictatorship in Egypt to achieve social stability. You never heard b make that argument. And I daresay, you would never make that argument, claudio, because the argument is much too inconvenient for you.
Posted by: slothrop | Feb 23 2012 1:41 utc | 27
Why b doesn't just ban the fuckin' asshole Slothrop is beyond me. Its obvious Slothrop is just here to irritate, malign, and derail.
I realize that banning someone for their opinion should not be done.
But the piece of shit Slothrop doesn't offer true opinions. He offers incendiary comments designed to incite anger. He designs his comments with a malicious motive.
Posted by: PissedOffAmerican | Feb 23 2012 3:26 utc | 28
In europe, most people don't support savage governments that exercise;
killing civillians
using torture in interviews
jailing people without trial and justice
executing criminals that often are innocent
censorship and propaganda
kidnapping civillians in other countries
assacinating other countries leaders
giving immunity to leaders guilty of warcrimes
supporting dictators and terrorists with weapons
using antipersonnel landmines and clusterbombs
using depleted uranium in projectiles
using white phosphorus projectiles
occupation of other countries
threatening to use weapons of mass destruction
using nuclear weapons
not all, but mostly everyone.
Posted by: Alexander | Feb 23 2012 15:28 utc | 29
Oh, and racial segregation and apartheid, though USA abolished that allmost 50 years ago.
Posted by: Alexander | Feb 23 2012 15:37 utc | 30
I don’t know really, as my familiarity with Yemen is like nil - but my hopes for Yemen are considerably higher than what was implicitly expressed in the top post.
This one vote in itself (like a referendum) isn't detrimental, if the participation was ‘good’ and the votes not rigged. It is some kind of step forward, or sideways, in any case.
Jamboree pre-planned US type elections don’t suit everyone, and forcing fakery on others is evil, and often merely pointless.
And models of what is just and ‘ideal’ can’t just be exported or superimposed.
What needs to be cleared up is, who actually owns /commands the security apparatus in Yemen? Amongst many other things.
Saleh armed with foreign money after 9/11 - da terror threat - that is no secret.
Whether Yemen ‘improves‘ (whatever that might mean to various readers) is very much incumbent on Arab States, and not on various Western so called Democratic principles or ‘ideals’.
Posted by: Noirette | Feb 24 2012 16:20 utc | 32
The comments to this entry are closed.
This goes beyond rigging to faking an election. It's a travesty; but this is what the elites have to offer now. It would appear that chaos and social upheaval is part of their plan. What is next?
Posted by: Copeland | Feb 21 2012 20:54 utc | 1