The idea of establishing the Arab Social Democratic Forum (ASDF) was started by Dr. Hussam Zomlot from Fatah and Dr. Hussein Gohar from the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP), following the Arab Spring conference in Tunisia in 2012. Later that year, Fatah, ESDP and Ettakatol Party formed an Organising Committee. The Forum was inaugurated in Cairo on January 20, 2013. The second meeting of the forum was held in Rabat in June 2013 and witnessed the expansion of the Organising Committee to include the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) – Morocco and the Socialist Party of Yemen, in addition to the formation of the Forum Council. The idea of the Arab Social Democratic Forum is to create a focal point for solidifying and directing the social democratic movement in order to take the lead and compete in the Arab world through effective coordination on a domestic, regional and international level.
Statement by the Arab Social Democratic Forum
Member parties of the Arab Social Democratic Forum are following with great concern the war in Yemen. The ongoing war poses a grave threat to the national unity, the territorial integrity, and the stability not only of Yemen but also that of the region. This threat extends to the international peace and security with consequent risk of sectarian and religious conflicts.
The current war and the internal conflicts have caused serious violations of human rights and freedoms in addition to threatening the physical safety of the citizens. As a result of the civil war, major vital infrastructure facilities have been destroyed, residential neighborhoods have been bombed, prisoners have been executed, and disaster-relief assistance personnel were killed during armed confrontations.
Besieged several cities and the scarce food supplies in addition to air strikes targeting residential areas where the Houthis and Saleh allies are storing weapons points to an imminent humanitarian crisis.
We, member parties of the Arab Social Democratic Forum, express our regret over the tragic situation in Yemen and its citizens; we declare our absolute support to the Yemeni people in this ordeal. We appeal to and call on all the parties involved to work together for the restoration of national peace and unity and take the necessary measures to achieve this. In this respect, we demand the following:
