Despite Yemeni President Saleh’s statement that he won’t run again in 2013, demonstrations continued against the government.

A battle for hearts and minds took place in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a today as major demonstrations both against and in support of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime were held within a few miles of each other.

Yemen‘s opposition coalition went ahead with nationwide demonstrations in defiance of a plea from Saleh yesterday to freeze all planned protests, rallies and sit-ins.

Around 20,000 protesters, most of them young men, occupied three major roads around Sana’a University in some of the biggest anti-government protests Saleh has faced in his 32-year rule. Large-scale protests also took place in other cities across Yemen, including Ibb and Taiz.

“Together we fight against poverty, corruption and injustice,” the protesters at Sana’a university chanted, between intermittent bursts of music and speeches delivered by opposition politicians from Yemen’s Islamist, socialist and Nasserite parties.

Guardian UK

Concessions May Backfire; Oil Production Down; 27% Budget Deficit: Yemen Times

“People don’t revolt from hunger or poverty, they revolt when feeling toyed with,” said a political economist who requested to remain anonymous.

He explained that the promises made by Saleh are unrealistic considering the 27 percent deficit in the national budget and that by July this year the state will be unable to pay for its employees’ salaries, especially since Yemen’s oil production has declined since last year.

When the promised increase in wages fail to come through, analysts predict that it is that disappointment that could spark a revolution.

Journalists being attacked: Yemen Times

Journalists in Yemen are experiencing increased harassment amidst rapidly spreading street protests throughout the Middle East, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday.

“The governments of Sudan and Yemen are physically attacking journalists in an effort to disrupt the free delivery of news to local and international audiences, said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.

“Those governments seem to not have learned anything from the mistakes made by the governments in Tunis and Cairo.”

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