Yemeni Vice President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi met on Saturday with representatives of the main opposition bloc in the country, the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), which were part of the GCC-brokered deal signed in the Saudi capital of Riyadh in November last year.
During the meeting, they reviewed the latest developments in the Yemeni political arena and evaluated what has been implemented in terms of the GCC-crafted power transfer deal for it represents the only viable exit of the current stifling crisis the country is experiencing.
The preparations for the early forthcoming elections, set to be held on February 21, were also touched upon in the meeting in details.
For his part, Hadi, the consensus candidate for the upcoming elections, has stressed the importance of implementing the GCC-brokered deal to the letter, and holding the elections on its scheduled time.
Under enormous pressure from within and out, Yemeni outgoing President, Ali Abdullah Saleh has signed a deal under which he relinquished power to his long time deputy and Vice President, Hadi, in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Saleh has left Yemen for USA to receive further medical treatment for wounds and burns inflicted on an assassination attempt in June last year, and he is most likely, according to political analysts, won’t come back.
Massive popular protests calling for an end to the autocratic rule of President Saleh, combined by al-Qaeda insurgency in the south, Shiite rebellion in the far north and increasing calls of separation of the south, has shaken Yemen to the bone, leaving thousands killed, pushing the economy to the brink of collapse, undermining security and triggering a catastrophic humanitarian disaster.