Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down after 33 years at the helm on Tuesday, making him the fourth veteran Arab leader to fall in a year of mass pro-democracy demonstrations that have rocked the region.
Standing before a crowd of parliamentarians, tribal leaders and foreign dignitaries at the presidential palace in Sanaa, Saleh formally ceded power to his deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, pledging to support his efforts to “rebuild” a country still reeling from months of violence. “I hand over the banner of the revolution, of the republic, of freedom, of security and of stability… to safe hands,” said Saleh as he stood beside Hadi and gave a farewell speech carried live on state television. The main opposition coalition, the Common Forum, which currently heads the interim government, boycotted Monday’s ceremony, saying in a statement late on Sunday that Hadi officially became president after winning the February 21 election, not because Saleh handed him the post.
Hadi will serve for an interim two-year period under a Gulf-brokered transition plan signed by Saleh last November after 10 months of protests demanding his ouster. Saleh said that he would “stand… by my brother the president of the republic,” and urged Yemenis to rally behind Hadi in his fight against “terrorism, first and foremost, Al-Qaeda.”
“There is no place for terrorism,” he said. Hadi cautioned that the past year of turmoil that has crippled the economy and unleashed nationwide insecurity was not yet over, and appealed to Yemenis to “cooperate with the new leadership” to help the country emerge from the crisis.
He said he hoped that after his two years in office, Yemen could have a peaceful transition. “I hope we will meet in this room again… to bid farewell and welcome a new leadership. I hope that in two years, I will stand in President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s place and a new president will stand in mine,” he said.
