Atlantic Council

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The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), hosted prominent Yemeni businessman and founding member of the Democratic Awakening Movement (TAWQ) Mr. Munir Daair for a discussion on May 14 on Yemen’s challenges as it moves forward in its transition process. More than 30 participants join the discussion including representatives from the US government, civil society, and think tank community. Mr. Daair is also the chairman of Injaz Al Yemen, a CSO created by Yemen’s business community and affiliated with the Pan-Arab group, Injaz Al Arab, dedicated to training youth to become tomorrow’s business leaders.

Download a detailed discussion summary (PDF)

Mr. Daair set the context with an overview of the current situation and described Yemen as experiencing the creation of its “third republic”. He noted that transition to a true democracy will take far longer than the two years allotted under the GCC initiative, and emphasized that the most important and precarious period will occur after this initial transitional period. At that point, the newly-created government will have engage with Yemenis in a real, representative democracy, while ensuring that state institutions and actors develop as non-partisan, all-encompassing institutions. Mr. Daair also addressed the importance of tribalism in the Yemeni transition, the significance of addressing past grievances in regions like the south, and how the international community can contribute positively to the Yemeni transitional period both economically and politically.