Nobel laureate lays out plans to build modern state

Tells fellow activists to vote for the vice-president.

Sana'a: In a dimly lit tent in Yemen's Change Square, Nobel peace laureate Tawakul Karman has laid out a blueprint of her country's future: a modern state with equality and rule of law.

Tawakul, a passionate 32-year-old, has toned down her once inflammatory rhetoric, no longer demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh be brought to international justice, and throwing her support behind Vice-President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who will replace Saleh after tomorrow's election.

"We support Hadi's election for an interim period of two years during which we will build Yemen," she told AFP in an interview in the Yemeni capital.

Tawakul said she has urged her fellow activists from Yemen's protesting "revolutionary youth" to vote for the vice-president and engage in the transition period.

Hadi will be the sole candidate in the presidential polls as stipulated by a Gulf-brokered deal which Saleh signed in November after months of mass protests demanding his exit and international pressure for him to step down.

Resting on cushions and flanked by her eight-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son, Karman said Yemenis "will begin to develop laws and legislation that will allow us to establish a modern state" as soon as Hadi takes office.

The first task should be to adopt a law for "transitional justice," that would emulate the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, to shed light on past crimes and ensure "victims receive compensation," she said.

The next step should focus on "drawing up a new constitution that guarantees equal rights for all citizens, the rule of law ... and recognises the principle of power transfer," she added.

These steps should be completed by the end of the Hadi's two-year term, Tawakul insisted.

Asked about the role of women's rights in the future constitution, Tawakul, who is also a member of the Islamist Al Islah (reform) party, said simply: men and women should be equal.

Political role

The first Arab woman to win the Nobel peace prize, Tawakul did not specify what political role she envisions for herself in a future Yemen.

She did however encourage the youth, who have camped for months in Sana'a's Change Square and who bore the brunt of last year's brutal crackdown, to create a united body to participate in the upcoming national dialogue. Tawakul, a journalist by profession, became the symbol of the youth's uprising against Saleh that began on the doorsteps of the University of Sana'a.

She stood side by side with the activists as they faced-off against Saleh's troops and armed loyalists who violently repressed the daily protests.

In February last year, she pitched a tent in Change Square, outside the university, which became the focal point of the youth protest movement demanding Saleh's resignation.

She still camps there, inviting activists in to discuss the latest political developments and at times, even providing aid to the wounded. She moved there with her husband and three children after being hounded at home by regime cronies who were threatening her life.

Published: 00:00 February 20, 2012

 Gulf News

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