Yemen power transfer: Saleh’s party delays vote

Yemen’s ruling party delayed on Tuesday an anticipated vote to approve a modified Gulf-brokered power transition plan which aims to pull the country out of its bloody political deadlock. Abbd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, vice president and acting leader in President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s absence, said the party meeting would continue on Wednesday. Unlike the original Gulf plan, the new mechanism requires a restructuring of the military within three months of Saleh signing the deal. Saleh gave the green light for his party to accept the modifications to the Gulf plan in a speech last month. But Saleh’s General People’s Congress party is still divided over the modifications.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th,  2011.