There is growing anger over President Ali Abdullah Saleh's grant of immunity under the Gulf Cooperation Council's power transfer deal with the Yemeni opposition groups.

Whether this anger evolves into a more turbulent movement remains to be seen but at present it is worrisome and threatens instability. The security forces recent crackdown on the protesters during their five-day-long “March for Life” resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people. As a result public anger has grown to an extent that tens of thousands more have now joined the protest in a show of defiance.

Calling for revenge and justice, their rallying cry is for Saleh and his family and associates to be tried for a number of accounts, principally for killing civilians during the anti-regime protests. Rejecting any guarantees and immunity to Saleh that was part of the power transfer deal, these protesters comprising a large youth population have now mobilised efforts to demand justice by putting to trial the now honourary president who has transferred powers to the acting Vice-President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi. But according to the aggrieved protesters, Hadi is controlled by Saleh. Similarly the transitional government’s preference of policies particularly the means of controlling and deterring the anti-Saleh protests is reminiscent of the past regime. Anger over the latest killing has prompted the protesters to even demand the resignation of Hadi in case he is unable to take action against those responsible for the killings.

How this impacts the parliamentary vote of confidence for the unity government scheduled for next week remains to be seen. But Saleh’s General People’s Congress party, a coalition partner in the new government is confident of securing the vote of confidence for the unity deal. Once this is done, Saleh gets the immunity from prosecution for himself and his close aides and family members. The transitional unity government however cannot discount the discontent and anger on the streets that could exacerbate in case of further bloodshed. There is also the possibility of Saleh and his party members trying to break the agreement if they feel that the opposition factions are hesitant to actually implement the immunity clause of the deal. That could further push Yemen’s political equilibrium on the edge. It is therefore hoped that reason prevails and the transitional setup refrain from inciting further unrest by holding fire. The opposition parties should also mobilise efforts to inculcate understanding of the necessity of political bargaining for the sake of national unity and interests — the principal reason why this deal was agreed upon.