MP Sakhr Al-Wajih:

Yemen Post: Can you talk about the biggest kind of corruption Yemen faces today?

Wajih: Organized corruption is the biggest threat to the country today. What I mean by that is the officials who are involved in corruption. When they were chosen for the position, they were not ready to serve the nation, and used their status to join the group of corrupt officials spread throughout the country.

Also administrative corruption plays a big role in the country's bad situation. The right people are not put in the right positions, and those holding the position now, a number of them are not doing what they are supposed to do. We can add to the list of corruption the elections and how it takes place illegally. Political corruption is major as well.

Another example is the parliament which is supposed to be the voice of the people. Only a handful of Members of Parliament (MP's) do what they are supposed to do and express their opinion on how matters should be taken care of. The reason why the parliament is a failure is because 80 percent of the seats are controlled by the ruling party, and the members obey the party's orders.

YP:You being part of the General People Congress (GPC), do you feel that fellow MP colleagues go against you when they see that you are aggressive?

Wajih:I resigned from the GPC, and I don't consider myself a member of the GPC anymore.

YP:Were you pressured to resign?

Wajih:I had no pressure to resign, but I did not feel happy to be part of a group of politicians who are not doing their job. I tried to change the party from within, and advised members that we should be working for the benefit of the country and not the party.

YP:Do you consider yourself part of the opposition now?

Wajih: I consider myself an independent who works to help the people. I have no intention to consider myself an opposition or to join them. I feel I can help more by being independent, because both parties work for the better of the party and I am against that ideology. We were chosen by the people to serve the people.

YP: Do you believe that the parliament has the power that it is given, and can it be independent?

Wajih: You have to understand that democracy in Yemen is only in shape and picture.  It is not practiced in real life. In result, the parliament suffers from this and in no way can it become independent. The parliament has power only on matters which are small, but the big issues are decided and agreed upon before being discussed in parliament.

Most of the ruling party (GPC) members have no voice. They do what they are told by those higher than them. How can such a parliament give positive change to the country. They feel that since they were chosen by the GPC to run for parliament, they need to be loyal to them in order to repay them.

YP: To what extent does President Saleh control the parliament?

Wajih: The president controls that parliament completely.  He rules the parliament 100 percent. The parliament is only a structure with no power.

YP: The anti corruption committee, do you think they have complete authority?

Wajih: The law gives them complete authority, but in reality they have far less authorities. Personally, I hope that they can do complete work, but from what we see they do not have the authority. They cannot do the work needed to help the country due to the restrictions they have.

YP: The country's oil wealth, is it really stolen from the people and taken by high ranking officials?

Wajih: The oil wealth in Yemen is under great theft. The oil is limited and officials want to have a share in the distribution.

YP: Can you give me a percentage of how much oil is stolen?

Wajih: I cannot give you accurate numbers, but I am sure that the amount is very high. The biggest proof that shows that officials are taken the wealth of the people is the big mansions and villas officials have. They were not born rich, and many of them were raised in poor families. How can they suddenly own houses costing millions of dollars? Also, their lifestyle is very high, and the salaries they receive could never be enough to give them what they have today. The cars and the security guards that follow them are not cheap. For those who say they are not corrupted, I want them to explain how they got their riches and wealth.

YP: From the GPC, name me some of the biggest corrupt officials?

Wajih: I don’t like to mention names, but if one looks around he can see them easily. However, this matter is wider than many think. An investigation would be needed if names and numbers are to be disclosed.

When president Saleh was running for presidency, in one of his speeches he said that he does not want to be an umbrella for the corruption in Yemen. By him saying that, it proves that there is corruption in Yemen.

YP: From the opposition party Islah, can you say that their leadership is corrupt?

Wajih: Corruption is strong in Yemen and it is also seen in the opposition. Big members of the opposition are also corrupt. I am not saying all, but a big number of the opposition members are also corrupt. However, the number of corrupt opposition officials is far lower than what the GPC has. The GPC breaks the board with the most corrupt officials.

YP: In your opinion and experience, do you think the MP's are loyal to their party more than their country.

Wajih: Yes definitely. 90 percent of the time they do what they are ordered to do by the president. Their voices were bought long time ago.

YP: Why isn't the ruling party giving any ministries or high ranking positions to the opposition to ease the current crisis?

Wajih: If the opposition agree to join the ruling party, they would be doing the country a great catastrophe. The opposition tried that in the past, and had a number of high ranking seats but it did not do the country any good. The opposition can tell you that the times they joined the ruling party were very negative. They were forced to accept what they did not like. The opposition should be looking at changing the government and making it better. To remove corrupt officials from their seats and not join them.

YP: The protests in the south that were organized by the opposition called against the unification of Yemen. Do you think that the opposition parties are using the south to put pressure of the government?

Wajih: The opposition was not calling to put an end to the unity, they want change. The entire country wants change. There might be a small number of people who use demonstrations as a chance to damage the unity of the country, but the opposition is not doing that.

YP:Do you have any final comments?

Wajih: No, and thank you for meeting with me.