Push for federalism in Yemen faces hurdles amid widespread revolts

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/29/push-for-federalism-in-yemen-faces-hurdles-amid-widespread-revolts/



Push for federalism in Yemen faces hurdles amid widespread revolts
By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 16:46 EST

Reconciliation talks have outlined Yemen’s future as a federal state, but its leaders now face the challenge of implementing change in an impoverished country grappling with multiple revolts.

A political transition stipulated by a UN-backed deal that saw long-ruling president Ali Abdullah Saleh step down in the face of Arab Spring-inspired protests was supposed to culminate this February with a new constitution and free elections.

But a national dialogue that is part of the same agreement concluded four months late on Saturday, extending the transitional period and allowing an extra year to draft a charter and vote on it.

In the meantime, Sanaa has struggled with an increasingly assertive separatist movement in the south, deadly clashes between Shiite rebels and Sunni Islamists in the north, and a string of attacks on security forces blamed on a powerful Al-Qaeda affiliate, all feeding a sense of crisis in the Arab world’s poorest country.

[CFLDem]

1. Nothing a hard-nosed crackdown can't solve.

It is impossible to have democracy without first having order.