SANAA, Yemen, May 9 (UPI) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh warned against inflaming sentiments over the upcoming presidential elections, in which he has said he will not run.
Local newspapers Tuesday quoted Saleh as saying, during a tour of Yemeni provinces, "political forces in the country should coexist and deal with each other with reasonably by avoiding to add oil on fire."
Saleh lashed out at opposition parties, expressing regret that "certain groups are seeking to exacerbate tensions in political circles in advance of election fever, and they all have to assume their responsibilities and bear the consequences of their acts.
"It is necessary to always rely on reason, which is very close to madness. Those who choose reason will be preaching unity, cooperation and coexistence, and those who go for madness they will be inciting strife, divisions and hatred," he warned.
"We can always live together without igniting fires within the framework of rotation of power and airing different views in a reasonable manner," Saleh added.
Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for more than two decades, declared last year that he will not run for another six-year mandate, creating political confusion.
An opposition party threatened to resort to international justice to confront what it called the "government oppression of party members," warning against "the dear consequences of the regime's policies of marginalization and monopolization."
Presidential elections are scheduled for Sept. 23 and will be hotly contested following Saleh's announcement last July that he would not stand for reelection.
