With protests looming in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced, during an emergency meeting of parliament on Tuesday, that he will not be running for president, and neither will his son stand, in the coming Yemeni elections.President Saleh has been the only president of the Republic of Yemen, since the North and South reunified in 1990, and had
previously served as President of the Yemen Arab Republic (i.e. North Yemen) from 1978 until reunification.
The announcement comes with Yemen’s own ‘Day of Rage’ looming, on Thursday, with Saleh requesting that all opposition leaders call for the cancellation of the aforementioned protests and to join talks with the government.
Opposition groups have rejected this call to cancel, and as such a counter protest in support of the government is expected.
