Statement by the Press Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the Inauguration of the New Yemeni Cabinet

December 9, 2011
Japanese

On Thursday, December 8 (Wednesday, December 7, local time), H.E. Mr Abdurabboh Mansur Hadi, Vice President of the Republic of Yemen, announced the inauguration of a national unity cabinet headed by Mr Mohammed Salem Basindwa, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, from an opposition party. It was also announced that the cabinet posts will be equally allocated to both the ruling and the opposition parties.
Japan welcomes this move as a significant step toward a peaceful transition of power in Yemen, in line with the recently signed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative and its implementation mechanism.
Japan hopes that the transition of power process will be carried out smoothly under Vice President Hadi and the new Basindwa cabinet, and that the stability in Yemen will be achieved.
Japan intends to continue its cooperation as much as possible in order to ensure the stability of Yemen.

(*The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

(END)