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Reforms in army key to Yemen reconciliation, stability

By Fuad Rajeh: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, March 28, 2012

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Remarkable progress has been seen in Yemen since a power transfer deal was signed in late 2011, but there is still a lot to be done for the country to go ahead towards sustainable development and a true civil state.

Restructuring the armed forces in Yemen remains the focal point at the moment to ensure a successful political reconciliation, achieve stability, hold a national comprehensive dialogue, and implement the remaining steps of the power transition deal.

The entire process, however, needs a long time and depends on new legislation and amendments to the national constitution.

All indicators reveal this process is not easy, with replacing senior army commanders who are loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh including his relatives seen as the most difficult part within it.

Many senior army commanders are still loyal to Saleh and are enabling him to continue to maintain influence in the country which saw mass protests in early 2011 demanding his departure and now his prosecution.

Another problem lies in the current status of the national forces being abused by groups and individuals for political purposes.

When the crackdown against protesters intensified last year, the Yemeni forces divided into pro- and anti-protests parts, which fought each other sporadically.

Observers and the public including protesters see priority should be given to reconsidering the leadership of the military and security authorities whatsoever this costs and seems complicated at the present time.

Mohsen Khasrouf, a retired major general, said it will take a long time to reform the army and security forces in Yemen in a perfect way. "Meantime, the current situation requires starting the restructuring of the Yemeni forces with reconsideration into the current army and security leadership to straighten out the status of the military and security authorities," he said.

"There should be national, united forces in Yemen to ensure a productive dialogue and then to ensure the entire process will continue perfectly," he said.

"All commanders and forces under them should be under the order of the Defense and Interior Ministries or the Yemeni government. The current status of the army and security authorities should end because the forces must serve their country, not political groups or persons," he continued.

The military committee in charge of the restructuring process and maintaining security has started to accomplish this mission, focusing on organizational, administrative aspects to carry out reforms in the national forces.

Saeed Ubaid, the spokesmen for the committee, said restructuring the national forces is not restricted to removing commanders and should not occur in the way some forces want. " Removing commanders is very important but remains an easy part," he continued.

"Now, we are working on documents focused on organizational, administrative aspects to ensure building a neutral, united army, and for this, during the first stage we give priority to rehabilitating the Yemeni forces and ending the divisions among them," he said. Furthermore, he revealed that the committee is looking forward to the outcomes of the national dialogue and amending the constitution that will help restructure the Yemeni forces.

But observers argued that the stay of the current military and security commanders in their posts might take Yemen back into violence.

Abdul Salam Muhammad, head of ABAAD Center for Strategic Studies, said the stay of pro-Saleh commanders in their posts will not serve the political solutions in Yemen and raises concerns of more violence.

"If pro-Saleh commanders including his relatives are not removed first, the restructuring process will start in a wrong way, " he said. "The longer these commanders stay, the worse the situation becomes."

Mustafa Nasr, head of Studies and Economic Media Center, said the restructuring of the armed forces is an urgent mission that the new leader in Yemen should accomplish.

"The abnormal status of the armed and security forces, especially under the senior commanders loyal to the former president, is very dangerous at this juncture and a quick, effective restructuring is crucial to avoid taking Yemen back to the zero point," he said.

Muhammad al-Thahery, a politics professor at Sanaa University, said the reconstruction of the Yemeni forces is very important at the moment to achieve stability and the political reconciliation process.

"National dialogue requires a united army built on national bases to convince the political forces to trust each other and then contribute effectively to addressing key issues," he said.

The process also includes other stages such as ending the divisions between the armed forces, after some key divisions and units defected to the opposition last year, and the issue of building a united, neutral army based on national bases.

Anis Mansour, a political analyst in the southern port city of Aden, said restoring peace and stability in the country is bound to reconstructing the armed forces, though the international community has become the true decision maker in Yemen under the GCC deal.