A group of Yemeni politicians left a newly formed opposition council on Saturday, exposing divisions in the anti-government movement in a country convulsed by months of violent protests. President Ali Abdullah Saleh is clinging to power despite a wave of demonstrations against his 33-year rule in the volatile Arab nation where al Qaeda militants already have a foothold.
The opposition has struggled to unite into a strong movement and Saleh has so far defied international pressure to step down. The 143-member National Council was formed on Wednesday by two opposition groups in a bid to consolidate their fledgling movement. But on Saturday, two dozen of its members announced they were quitting in a row over representation.
"We have been marginalised and our position and point of view have not been considered," 23 opposition figures representing the oil-exporting south said in the statement. Despite their move, the National Council elected Mohammed Basindwa, a key opposition leader and former foreign minister from the southern port city of Aden, as its president.
They said they quit because of unequal representation between members from the south and the north of the country in the council. North and South Yemen united under Saleh in 1990 but southerners often accuse the north of discrimination. "Any national council assumes the responsibility of leading the peaceful revolution of the people to overthrow the remains of the system, and should be equally divided between the South and the North, and would strengthen mutual trust and mobilise all energies and capabilities to accelerate the revolution," they said in the statement. Popular protests against Saleh erupted this year during uprisings that ousted the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt.