The autocratic government of Yemen, the poorest Arab country which is also ravaged by price inflation and inequality, now mirrors Egypt.
Ali Abdullah Saleh's lackeys in parliament tried to pass a constitutional amendment to make him president for life. After death, Saleh would have been succeeded by his son. That didn't go over so well: "mass protests" in capital city Sanaa, according to reports. After urging protesters to cease, Yemenis only became more outraged. Saleh now pledges to step down in 2013.
He has been president for three decades. A movement hopes to bring it to an end:
Activists and opposition supporters have staged several protests in Sanaa, the capital, boldly asking for Saleh's removal and decrying reports he plans to install his son in power.
Yemen's biggest opposition party described the package of concessions by president Saleh as positive but said a large opposition rally would go on as planned.
Some commentators here are already pissing on the events as if they could possibly be any more cynical about Mideastern politics than Arabs. Yemenis are definitely not taking anything for granted
"Thursday's demonstration will continue as scheduled," Mohammed al-Saadi, undersecretary of the religious political party, al-Islah (Reform), said.
"We consider this initiative positive and we await the next concrete steps. As for our plan for a rally tomorrow, the plan stands and it will be organised and orderly," he said.
"This is a peaceful struggle through which the people can make their voices heard and express their aspirations."
Mohammed al-Sabri, of the Common Forum opposition alliance, added that Saleh's call to halt protests was "unacceptable".
Tensions soared in Yemen after parliament, dominated by the president's General People's Congress, endorsed the draft constitutional amendment that, if approved, would have enabled Saleh to stay in office for life.
A major cause of the protests is inflation. Yet before the fiscal crisis, Yemen had the highest rate in the Arab world, surpassing 15% according to one report. In 2010, its inflation rate was still over 12%.
A significant portion of the population in Yemen abides on less than $1 per day--compare that to $2 in Egypt. Yemen's also among the countries with the largest family size--7 members per family--and the country grows in population by 3% per year. That's really high, even by Middle Eastern standards. How poor is Yemen? Enough that child marriages are common.
This morning, Noam Chomsky commented on the Mid East's uprisings on Democracy Now!
Apparently, some commentators are missing the context. No one trusts President Saleh anyway. What matters is that he knows he cannot continue business as usual without risking the wrath of the people--so he's trying to bide his time by promising to end things. But he's an older man, and the protests are continuing regardless of the pledge.