Yemen: A Parallel Revolution from the Streets to the Institutions · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
Over the past few weeks, Yemen's revolution spread from the streets to institutions across the country, calling for an end to corruption in the governmental and public sectors.
@SupportYemen tweeted a link to the Washington Post article entitled ‘Strikes spread across Yemen as government employees rally against corruption':
Yemen's Revolution of Change spreads from the squares to the institutions to fight corruption. #Yemen #SupportYemen fb.me/11GwFAZIR
The article points out:
The strikes are following a pattern. Workers lock the gates to an institution, and then they storm the offices of their supervisors, demanding their replacement with bosses who are not tainted with corruption allegations. So far the scenario has played out in 18 state agencies.
@iiamelii tweets the same article published by the New York Times under a different title:
In #Yemen, Anti-Corruption Strikers Demand Dismissal of Managers: nyti.ms/vzVuh8
This video, posted by kashmim, shows soldiers striking and preventing police chief Mohammed al-Qawsi, a relative of outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, from entering the main police headquarters, chanting “leave, leave” and carrying a poster saying “we are the soldiers of the people, not the soldiers of al-Qawsi”:
More “revolutionary” acts follow. @Yemen411 tweets in disbelief:
FIRST TIME EVER, like EVERRR: #Yemen Military Weekly paper 26 Sept. accuses “On Print” its editor with corruption
In this video, posted by karot439, the people of al-Baydha march to demand the dismissal of their corrupt governor:
The most followed news page of the Yemeni revolution on Facebook @NewsOfYemeniRev tweets:
NYR | Uprising Against Corruption |Strikes are spreading to the banking sector in Yemen that witnesses the first… fb.me/1iEYwEb2v
@ArabsUnite writes about the spread of the strikes to the academic sector:
#Sanaa UNI Students protested at University campus demanding dismissal of the University's president for corruption: youtu.be/je884esy8p0
And NYR provides links to videos of student protests in Taiz, Dhamar and Sanaa on Facebook:
NYR | Uprising Against Corruption | Students protests in a number of schools and cities in Yemen demanding the dismissal of the corrupted in the Ministry of Education as well as school principles.
Taiz |
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usPj9gRWYX4&feature=youtu.be
Dhamar |
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVkIAEshMLI
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVkIAEshMLI
Sana'a |
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxPcPVvZlc
#Yemen #yf *2
@abubakrabdullah shares the link to his well written piece in Aljazeera English about the parallel revolution:
My piece for @AJEnglish on the anti-corruption strikes & protests in #Yemen aljazeera.com/indepth/opinio…
Brian Whitaker writes about Yemen's ‘Parallel Revolution‘ in his blog:
Even if Yemen's political transition leaves a lot to be desired, a general clean-up at the administrative level – which is what the Parallel Revolution is seeking – could make a huge difference to the way the country is run.
While I also wrote a post about the parallel revolution on my blog here. I note:
The “parallel revolution” demanded the immediate dismissal of “the untouchables”, the corrupt officials who  unlawfully exerted their authority, embezzled and terrorized their subordinates. Some of the institutions affected so far include, the National Airlines “Yemenia”, the State TV in Sanaa and Aden, the Police Headquarters, the Military Economic Institution, the Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department, the Agriculture and Irrigation office, the Coast Guard, the Naval Academy, the Traffic Police, Sanaa University, the Yemen Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the Thawrah Hospital in Taiz, the Central Organization of Control and Audit in both Aden and Taiz, and the Finance Office in Taiz.
The revolution in Yemen, through admirable passive resistance methods, is gradually bringing about the change desired to the most armed nation in the world and the poorest country in the Arab world, proving that Yemeni determination and perseverance is what will hopefully turn the slogan “the people want to topple the regime” into a reality.
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.