Election fever - Middle East style!

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  Sana'a, Yemen
Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Hello all,

I am now back for a third and (likely) last time in Yemen and will be here until just before Christmas. Yet again I managed to stay back in England far longer (three months) than planned (6 weeks), though at least this time I used my time productively - researching for Islamic Relief - as opposed to watching Frasier ad nauseam like last time. Unfortunately, my Arabic during this time escaped me faster than a Yemeni dinner, so I've got some catching up to do. Anyhoo, I'm hoping it'll all come back to me in the next couple of weeks and then I'll be back on the long and winding road to proficiency.

The journey here wasn't that great. I decided in my infinitely bad judgment to drink as much alcohol as possible on the Birmingham-Dubai flight on the basis that I'd arrive around midnight feeling a wee bit drunk and thus more able to sleep on an airport chair for the 7 hour wait for the connecting flight to Sana'a

al ra'ees 1

. The flight from B'ham was empty and I had the four-seat middle aisle to myself. In this respect I was able to masterfully work the stewardesses for alcohol from both aisles, conducting them like an orchestra to the score of my own drunken opus. Unfortunately, by the time we reached Dubai, a drinking-in-the-day hangover had set in and I was unable to sleep anyway. By the time I caught my flight to Yemen the following morning I was feeling distinctly groggy.

Anyhoo, I have arrived back to a full-to-bursting school in which the previously close-knit, familial atmosphere among the students has been replaced by one more reminiscent of a large office, in which nods of acknowledgement from those outside your immediate department are the order of the day. That's perhaps a little harsh because there are some really nice people here with whom I'm sure I'll become good friends. But I'm also looking forward to October when the exodus of summer students should see a return to the more intimate atmosphere to which I'm accustomed.

I have also arrived back to the peak of election fever with the presidential election taking place this Wednesday. It's certainly an interesting place to be right now... experiencing 'democracy' Middle Eastern style. It ain't just the weather that's hot here right now folks

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! A quick politics lesson: Yemen is a 'democracy', yet the rampantly corrupt President Saleh has held office for 28 years, receiving 96.5% of the vote at the last election in 1999. However, this coming election is the first time that Saleh will have faced a genuine and realistic opposition candidate and so he's a little bit worried as to how he can ensure victory (which is a given) without it seeming a bit sus.

Indeed, in the few days that I've been here, over 50 people (mostly children) were killed in a stampede during a Saleh campaign rally - the children (who can't even vote anyway... well actually apparently they can if they vote for Saleh) were bussed in by Saleh from local schools to improve the rally turnout. Since then, Saleh's motorcade also ran over and killed a couple of school kids - an incident the President was quick to attribute to his presidential opponent. There are also a lot of quite amusing Saleh campaign posters adorning the city's streets (that is in addition to the standard picture of the president that adorns the wall of every business establishment in the country without exception). Attached are a few photos to give a flavour of the election poster campaign.

So basically I'm just looking forward with anticipation to the coming days proceeding the election itself because, depending on the result (ie, by how much Saleh wins) there could be a helping of civil unrest in the country for a short while. Could be interesting!

On top of election fever, we've also had a couple of (suspected al-Qaeda) foiled suicide bombings on oil and gas installations in the south-east of the country (not very close to me in Sana'a so not to worry)

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. This comes just days after al-Qaeda's second-in-command al-Zawahiri, issued a warning of attacks on western and oil interests in the Gulf states. Plus there were reports yesterday of a seven hour gun and grenade battle here in Sana'a between government forces and escaped al-Qaeda operatives. Woohoo - fun times! I'm painting a worrisome picture, but I can honestly say I still feel totally safe... and any unrest that may follow the election will not be aimed in any way at westerners. As long as I heed the standard Foreign Office advice to stay away from public demonstrations, I should be just fine.

Well, I think that about covers things for now.

Tom

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al ra'ees 4	al ra'ees 6	Motorbike guy	School
Souq	Street	The opposition candidate

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