Friday, December 31, 2010

YemenWatch: Friday December 31, 2010

It's been a hell of a year for Yemen, especially the last few months.  The next year looks to continue things, especially with the elections in April.  The election situation is getting crazier and crazier.  The leader of the Yemen Socialist Party who was arrested has been ordered released.  Saleh and the GPC have formed a panel to "dialog with the opposition."  The GPC is also working on some amendments to the Yemeni constitution, like increasing seats in parliament for women.  One of them decreases the presidential term from 7 years to 5 years, but also gets rid of the 2-term limit.  Some people are worried that could make Saleh president forever.

About 460 Houthis were released from prison in Sana'a and Saada provinces.  Qatar has been mediating a ceasefire between the Houthis and the Yemeni government.  There may be more Houthis released soon.  The government got back 10 military vehicles in return.

An unknown fever is making people sick in al-Hudeidah.  Most of the sick people seem to have al-Dhanak (I think that's dengue fever).  IRIN (humanitarian news) says there was an outbreak of Dengue Fever over the summer.

The government has banned some companies from trading, because they didn't pay their taxes.  And many others aren't even registered.

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