Yemen’s parliament enacted sweeping emergency laws yesterday after the country’s embattled president asked for new powers of arrest, detention and censorship to quash a popular uprising demanding his ouster.
The move escalates the showdown between Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the movement that has unified military commanders, religious leaders and protesting youth in demands for his immediate departure.
The state of emergency suspends the Constitution, allows media censorship, bars street protests and gives security forces 30 days of far-reaching powers to arrest and detain suspects without judicial process.
Youth leaders at the Sana’a square that has become the epicenter of the protests dismissed the move.
“It is the revolution that now decides the future of the nation,” said Jamal Anaam, one of the protests’ leaders. “We pay no attention to the measures.”
The accelerating conflict has raised fears that Yemen could be pushed into even greater instability.
Rival factions of the military have deployed tanks in the capital, Sana’a — with units commanded by one of Saleh’s sons protecting the president’s palace, and units loyal to a top dissident commander protecting the protesters.
The White House has been reluctant to weigh in on the situation in Yemen, except to urge an end to violence. Washington appears to be trying to avoid choosing between an increasingly unpopular Saleh and an opposition that the US doesn’t fully understand and could be hostile to its efforts in Yemen.
The adoption of the state of emergency was a virtual certainty because Saleh’s ruling party dominates the 301-seat legislature.
Opposition and independent legislators stayed away from yesterday’s parliamentary session along with dozens of lawmakers from Saleh’s own ruling party. Parliament said more than 160 lawmakers were present.
On Tuesday Saleh offered to step down by the year’s end, but the opposition rejected his offer.
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