.
In a recent interview Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Salah vowed he will leave office ‘within 90 days’ of an agreement with the regional Gulf Cooperation Council. Yemen, like many countries in the region, has been swept up in the Arab spring and has for months been the scene of protests and violent crackdowns as the protesters demand the removal of Saleh after 33 years of holding office. During his interview President Saleh of Yemen said: “I will not hang onto power. Whoever hangs onto power, I think, is crazy”
Well this is awkward. I don’t know exactly how Saleh’s Baro-meter works when it comes to how long is to long for someone to hold office for….but 33? Come on, surely once you get into the double digits you must be thinking to yourself ‘maybe just maybe I’m pushing my luck’. When you have been in power long enough to see the fade of boys jeans trend start from waist high to barely-ankle high then you know you have overstayed your welcome. And is it just me or does Saleh seem to have the wrong definition of what counts as ‘hanging on’? Because as I recall this guy had massive unprecedented protests erupt on his streets on a weekly, if not daily, basis for months, then got attacked in his compound by a bomb, then because of said attack had to jet off to Saudi to have burn surgery, then had his country erupt into joyous protest when he left… BUT yet this guy still decided to return EVEN though no one was really missing him/asking about him/In the least bit interested in his existence. This is not forgetting the fact that Saleh has appeared on countless occasions to be on the verge of agreeing to hand over power only to change his mind last minute.
Hanging on to power? No no, Clinging-tightly-to-powers-legs-as-your-dragged-through-the-Mud-&-dirt….Yes.
Dignity Saleh… Get some.
