President Ali Abdullah Saleh sets historic precedent in the Arab states by leaving office voluntarily

The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh denied that his decision not to seek another presidential term of office next year came at the pressure of any one, rather was based on his personal convictions.

Saleh said in his speech on the occasion of the 27th anniversary for assuming power that his decision has not come under any pressures, calling for peaceful rotation of the presidency.

He expressed his hope that all political parties including the opposition parties and the People's Congress ruling party to nominate young leaders in the elections so as Yemen would get accustomed to peaceful transition of the presidency for the authority.

Saleh said "I call on all political parties and organizations to chose qualified persons because the homeland is abundant with qualified and honest people and is in need of new blood." He indicated that Yemen "was the first in consolidating the experience of unity, democracy and political and party pluralism and has now to consolidate the principle of 'peaceful transition of the presidency'".

Worthy mentioning that President Saleh who was born in 1942 won the presidential elections in September 1999. It was the first presidential elections carried out there by direct voting. President Saleh's decision is a historic act in the Arab states, where democratic peaceful transition of power of the top government positions is limited to an extremely small number of the Arab states. By leaving the presidency voluntarily, and under no constitutional obligations to do so, the Yemeni president is the first ever Arab state president to ever do so, as far as we can recall.