15th session of the YSP Central Committee

Text of communique issued at the end of the 15th session of the YSP Central Committee. Broadcast by Aden radio on 1 June 1989.

The YSP Central Committee held its 15th ordinary session from 18th to 31st May 1989, under the chairmanship of Comrade Ali Salim al-Bid, the Secretary-General of the party’s Central Committee. In an atmosphere of interest, vitality and greater democracy, the Central Committee discussed a number of matters relating to party and organisational matters and the economic, social and cultural situation. In addition it discussed internal and external policy issues arising from the political report presented by the Political Bureau and the Secretariat. The Central Committee also discussed comprehensively the aims of the political and economic reform plan and a number of other subjects on the agenda. The Central Committee stressed that its session had special significance at a time when the Yemeni people were approaching the 20th anniversary of the glorious corrective step of 22nd June, which propelled the revolution towards strengthening progressive economic and social transformations and was the real beginning along the path of social progress for our country.

The Central Committee hailed the intensive efforts over the period between the two sessions by party and government leaders, leaders of mass organisations and the rest of the toiling masses, at all levels and in every field. It stressed that theses activities, efforts and actions were undertaken on the basis of the organisations’ plans and in implementation of the Central Committee’s decisions. It hailed the lofty heroic spirit of the masses and their rallying behind their political vanguard, the YSP, in confronting the damage caused by the rains and floods to which our country was recently subjected.

It expressed geat appreciation for the sincere brotherly sentiments and all forms of support and assistance for their brothers who suffered from that natural calamity. It praised the measures taken by the Political Bureau and the government, as well as (word indistinct) shown by the party organisations, the local government institutions in the provinces, the mass and creative organisations, the military establishment and the news media in dealing with the effects of the calamity. They all demonstrated a true spirit of national solidarity towards their brother victims.

The Central Committee expressed its appreciation for the assistance provided to our country by fraternal and friendly countries and international and regional organisations with the objective of helping it overcome the ordeal.

It stressed the importance of intensive and energetic action to build popular homes for the families affected, and at providing machinery, equipment and building materials to repair and rebuild in those areas damaged by the rains and floods. It said that it was important that the masses were urged and organised, so that they participated energetically in the process of reconstruction and reparation following the destruction caused by the floods and rains. The Central Committee called for the (?implementation) of the necessary measures, by all quarters concerned in the party, government and mass organisations, to enable them to rebuild (word indistinct).

The 15th session of the Central Committee considered, with earnestness and through extensive democratic discussion, the basic aims of the political and economic reform plan. The members of the Central Committee stressed the importance attached to the formulation of the reform plan in the life of our party, revolution and government. A number of valuable observations and proposals were presented by members of the Central Committee and party cadres from the provinces to enrich this important document.

They also sought ways and means of transforming these aims into palpable reality, through the completion of studies into the various economic, social and political issues tabled, through the drawing up of programmes and implementation measures and through the ceaseless following up of these matters by the Political Bureau and the Central Committee.

The Central Committee stressed that comprehensive political and economic reform was necessary in order to tackle the shortcomings in the structures of the authorities, organisations and other institutions, in the relationships between the different parts of the political organisation including the vanguard role of the party – as well as in the relationship between the state authorities, one with the other, and the role of the mass organisations within the framework of the political organisation, in addition to the imbalances and errors linked to the economic, social and administrative fields.

It made clear that comprehensive political and economic reform proceeds from a scientific understanding of the fundamentals of the democratic national revolutionary stage, of its dynamic forces and the role of the social classes and groups within them, and of the necessity of correcting wrong concepts arising from poor scientific absorption of the essence and substance of the revolutionary process at the present stage – the evidence for which lies in the existing gap between theory and reality, and between word and action.

It also pointed out that the process of reform proceeds essentially from planned programmes, critical deductions and resolutions adopted by the general party conference, particularly in the form of the analytical and critical document. The translation of the document into practical terms must be ensured. The changes taking place aorund our national democratic regime, in the Yemeni, Arab and international arenas, must be taken into account. We must also define appropriate methods and forms for the administrative authorities and overcome the difficulites which have faced the revolutionary experiment since national independence.

The Central Committee stressed that comprehensive political and economic reform aims at estbalishing our party and people on the basis of scientific socialist ideology, and its accumulated expeirence – as well as the experience of the Arab and world liberation movement – and at understanding our society and it s characteristics. We must arm ourselves with a realistic vision of the struggle in order to safeguard the gains of the September and October revolutions and ensure their subsequent development and thus the achievement of the strategic objectives of the Yemeni revolution. It also aims at developing the party’s internal structure, extending the social base of the regime and correcting those mistakes which harmed the national democratic alliance and the level of participation of those social classes and groups who have an interest in the national democratic revolution.

We must formulate an economic strategy to uplift the national economy as a whole and improve the material and spiritual condition of the masses and develop a social system and system of government of an increasingly democratic nature to expand the participation of the masses in the governing authority, (passage indistinct)

During its discussions on organisational work within the party the Central Committee expressed appreciation at the successes achieved, particularly in developing internal party democracy, improving the party’s social sections and directing the development of the party information apparatus. It praised the election meetings of the grassroot organisations for 1988. The Central Committee believed that these elections crystallised democratic party practices and constituted an expression of the (word indistinct) level of the party members.

The Central Committee called on party members to safeguard the democratic tradition and to continue to develop it further. (Words indistinct) within the party, the Central Committee stressed that this question party organisations and of every member. Co-ordination between the Yemeni Socialist Fatah Youth Union and the party grassroot organisations on recruitment should be accorded special importance, both in proposing candidates and elevating them to membership of the party.

While the Central Committee praised the work of the party grassroot organisations and their lowerlevel leadership, it also appealed to them to develop their methods of operation in order to ensure that they were free of formalities and bureaucracy and that they reflected the spirit of initiative, personal responsibility and democratic practice within the party. While assistance should be forthcoming from the highest party structures, the party organisations should rely on the reality characteristic of each party organisation to solve these practical problems.
The Central Committee stressed the special significance of expanding and deepening the party’s links with the masses and of paying attention to the masses’ creative powers in order to ensure the freedom to express criticism and to exercise democracy.

On the economic situation, the Central Committee priased the methods adopted by the Political Bureau to tackle important and fundamental issues closely linked to the development of our national economy and the development of productive forces and relationships and the strengthening of the basis of the national democratic system, both economically and socially – including the Political Bureau’s decisions on agriculture, the policy of dealing with national expatriate capital, the development of fishing co-operatives and the investivagation into the motives and reasons behind economic sabotage.

The Central Committee stressed the importance of realising potentials, fostering the system’s strengths, self-reliance, curbing government expenditure – much of which is converted into foreign exchange – and arousing and encouraging a confrontational spirit in government institutions to tackle the economic situation. It stressed the importance of optimum utilisation of resources, guidance of expenditure, working towards increased production, and promoting exports and reducing difficulties obstructing exports. It also stressed the importance of maintaining public ownership and co-operatives with the aim of achieving higher growth averages in the production sectors with a view to satisfying the material and spiritual requirements of the Yemeni people.

The Central Committee registered its profound satisfaction with the continuing efforts to develop the methods of ideological, theoretical and educational work both inside the party and amongst the masses on the basis of scientific socialism and with the meticulous attention being given to solving the problems (word indistinct) the party and the masses, indicating the issues to which the Political Bureau addressed itself in the preceding period, including the question of training and re-training the party, government and mass leaderships and following-up the decisions of the 10th Central Committee session on education.
The Central Committee stressed the importance of taking practical steps to raise the level of general education to enable it to meet the requirements of economic and social development with national and qualified cadres. The Central Committee stressed the importance of continuing to organise expanded meetings of educational and youth groups and their leadership, and the relevant party, government, and mass bodies in order to examine the negative aspects and shortcomings which are still affecting this sector, including the phenomenon of dropping out of schools, failure to teach the curricula, and the numbers of teachers of social and scientific subjects. There is also a decline in educational standards. The committee pointed out that these phenomena should be attributed, mainly, to weaknesses in planning and organisation of the educational process, poor distribution of educational cadres and teachers, and weaknesses in the supervision of both local and central supervisory institutions.

The Central Committee stressed the importance of implementing the recommendations of the consultative meeting on educational and youth leaderships which should be adopted by educational institutions as a part of their daily activities, as well as by all other party and mass organisations, in order to affect a general mass awakening to executive participation in the process of raising education from the position of stagnation it is in and making a qualitative leap in educational institutions towards overall success.

The Central Committee praised the activities of trade union, youth, women’s sports and other organisations in the country recently, notably the extensive discussions on the draft law on elections to the Supreme People’s Council and local people’s councils, and the serious attention given by all workers and the toiling masses who contributed in their debates to enriching the draft law with numerous important and fundamental ideas and opinions and positive proposals aimed at improving the draft law and the more democratic and popular organisations of elections. These ideas and opinions helped to crystallise new ideas in the direction of overall political and economic reform.

The Central Committee urged the masses to participate effectively and energetically in the next people’s council elections and to exercise their democratic rights in electing their representatives to the local authority bodies so as to strengthen their democratic character.

Dealing with the situation in the Yemeni arena. The Central Committee stressed its great interest in consolidating unification moves between the leaders of the two parts of Yemen.
It expresssed its satisfaction with the existing level of understanding and fraternal dialogue with the brothers in the leadership of the northern part of the homeland and the convening of the ministerial committee under the chairmanship of the two Prime Ministers in March this year. That meeting expressed the shared wish of the leaders of the two parts of the homeland to continue their efforts and moves towards unity in a direction which will create conditions for unification work and further progress towards full Yemeni unity.

The Central Committee stressed in its analysis of the Yemeni situation that many of the common tasks bearing the imprint of national democracy should form the basis of future unification steps. We must persevere towards unity and create firm foundations for realistic policies aimed at the greater goal, guarding against difficulties and practices which impede serious efforts to achieve that goal. The unity on which the development and future of our people rests must be based on giving and taing, and a scientific understanding which takes into consideration the necessity of adding to the new unification structure on the one hand, and not ignoring the higher interests of the Yemeni people in democracy and economic and social progress on the other.

In the light of its analysis the Central Committee assessed that efforts must be continued towards unification by taking practical steps towards unity. This should be done by broadening common ties and interests which constitute a practical basis for unity. The Central Committee stressed the importance of continuing the struggle to achieve our people’s great objective, namely, the establishment of a single Yemeni entity in one democratic Yemeni state, an independent state created by the free will of the people, gathering within its framework free citizens who (word indistinct) equal rights and obligations and for whom equal opportunities are provided. In such a state Yemenis will enjoy full and undiluted democratic life. No excesses will be permitted, nor will civil, political, cultural social rights be denied.
The Central Committee considered the foreign political activities of the Political Bureau in the party, government and mass arenas. It expressed appreciation of the role and activity of the foreign policy institutions in strengthening the status of Democratic Yemen in the regional, Arab and international arenas, and their effective contributions to developing relations between our country and party and fraternal and friendly countries, parties and mass organisations. This has been reflected in a number of co-operation agreements and protocols in the party, economic, political and social fields.

The committee expressed its satisfaction at the outcome of the visits and meetings which have taken place at high levels with the fraternal Arab states, in accordance with our country’s policy of developing relations.

These visits and meetings yielded positive results which we hope will serve the common interests and strengthen solidarity and co-operation, and preserve security, stability and peace for all our Arab peoples in the face of the challenges from their enemies.

In this regard the Central Committee praised the outcome of the talks held by the Comrade member of the Political Bureau and Chairman of the Council of Ministers with the brother Prime Minister of Jibuti and brother Taha Yasin Ramadan, First Deputy Premier of Iraq. It expressed its satisfaction with the outcome of the meetings and consultations held by the member of the Political Bureau and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Council with the Arab Kings and Presidents at the emergency Arab summit. It expressed its appreciation of the positive results of the Summit conference in Casablanca. It considered them an important achievement in restoring solidarity and joint Arab action which will strengthen the Arab ranks in their struggle to confront the common challenge and threats and support for the Palestinian revolution and courageous intifadah, ensuring its continuity and the achievement of its national goals.
The outcome of the summit will help the Lebanese people to solve their crisis on the basis of national reconciliation between all their denominations and sects. It will bring about peace in Lebanon and safeguard its territorial integrity, Arab character and sovereignty. The Central Committee stressed the support of our party and country for the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples in their just struggle against the (words indistinct).

The Central Committee considers the outcome of the emergency Arab summit an important element in strengthening the Arab stand and giving an impetus to the peace process in the Middle East, through the convening of an international peace conference under UN auspices and the supervision of permanent members of the UN Security Council and with the presence of all parties to the conflict, including the state of Palestine, on equal footing.

The Central Committee devoted attention to the situation in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. It reiterated democratic Yemen’s concern and its readiness to continue its efforts with all parties in the search for a solution to the conflict in the region through peaceful means, and ways to strengthen co-operation, consultation and co-ordination between the states of the Horn of Africa in order to ensure security, peace and safety in the region, freedom of international shipping in the Red Sea, joint exploitation of natural resources and protection of the environment from pollution.

Within the framework of international efforts to strengthen peace and settle regional problems, the Central Committee stressed the importance of continuing to work towards eliminating hotbeds of tension. It expressed its support for the policy of national reconciliation being pursued by the government of Afghanistan and appealed to the parties concerned to respond positively and take practical steps to end the bloody (words indistinct) the people of Afghanistan.

The Central Committee expressed its support for the international efforts aimed at bringing peace to southern Africa and enabling the Namibian people to exercise their right to self-determination without any military or political pressures from the racist regime of South Africa, and in accordance with the resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council. The Central Committee expresses its support for the struggles of peoples and their liberation movements to achieve freedom, political and economic independence, and social progress. It voiced satisfaction at the growing relations between our party and national liberation movements. It praises the efforts of the Political Bureau and its meetings with numerous delegations from Arab and world liberation movements with the aim of strengthening relations with these forces.
On relations between our party and country and the socialist countries, the Central Committee expressed appreciation of the broad assistance provided by the USSR and other socialist countries and satisfaction with the positive outcome of the visit by the Comrade Secretary-General of the party’s Central Committee to the friendly Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia at the beginning of this year.

The Central Committee expressed its satisfaction with the trend of growing relations with countries of Western Europe in a common desire to develop relations in areas of economic, commercial, cultural and scientific co-operation.