Yemen is at a critical juncture. The National Dialogue Conference (NDC) calledfor constitution drafting, a constitutionalreferendum, and new elections. The timetable has slipped, and, for the moment, no end date has been set.The question of the state's structure is tied inevitably to thesouthern issue – shorthand for the political, economic and social demands emanatingfrom the south, which had been an independent state prior to 1990. There, a looselyaligned mix of organizations and activists known as the Southern Movement (called Hiraak) is calling for separation or, at a minimum, a temporary form of a two-state federalism followedby a referendum on the South's future. Separatist sentiment is running high andappears to have strengthened over the course of the present transition process.
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