The growing popular discontent with the Houthis' encroachment, the lax legitimacy and the decline of the coalition's role
English - Wednesday 14 June 2023 الساعة 07:03 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
Despite the Yemenis' joy over the relative calm that prevailed in the country since the signing of the April 2022 armistice, popular discontent began to escalate during the past months against the background of the economic war waged by the Houthi militia against the legitimate government and the parties under its banner.
Social media is full of indignant publications about the imbalance of the war equation and the faltering of peace efforts during this truce, which clearly appears to have strengthened the Houthi militia to the point of intrusion and weakened the position of the legitimate government, in light of the decline in the role of the Arab coalition led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The role of the Arab coalition in fighting the Houthi militia declined for several factors, the first of which was the signing of the armistice in April 2022 and its three renewals, and then its commitment with the legitimate government to efforts to end the war and reach a formula for a political settlement between the warring parties. The rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran last March, under the auspices of China, reinforced the desire of the Arab coalition to establish peace and move to strengthen the economic structure and long-term investments of the two countries of the alliance, which is evident through the Saudi-Chinese and Saudi-American meetings over the past two months.
Popular discontent in Yemen is centered in the south on the deterioration of public services and the collapse of the national currency, and in the north on allowing the Houthi militia to infiltrate businessmen and the private sector and creating new names for levies, even at the level of small shops.
The recent measures taken by the Houthi militia amount to declaring an economic war, which it insists on launching in parallel with the military attacks it continues to launch on several fronts in Hodeidah, Taiz, Al-Dhalea and Ma'rib, in addition to the drone attacks on the liberated areas.
While the Houthi militia is practicing these measures, the situation appears to have been completely reversed. After the legitimate government, supported by the Arab coalition, was clamping down on the Houthi militia economically, the latter has become the one that strangles the government economically, sometimes by targeting oil export ports and sometimes by forcing merchants to receive their imported goods through a port. Hodeidah instead of the port of Aden, and at a third time by replacing locally produced domestic gas with imported gas supplied by Iran, and at the same time threatening to strike gas production facilities in Marib and Shabwa.
Despite the Houthi militia's actions that contradicted the statements of its leaders of their desire for peace, the international and regional community contented themselves with condemning these actions without taking decisive steps to force the militia to stop its economic war against the legitimate government, citizens and the private sector in the areas under its control.
And the head of the legitimate government, Maeen Abdul-Malik, said, on Sunday, in a remote video interview with ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Yemen, that the state and the government will not stand idly by in front of the economic war waged by the terrorist Houthi militia against the Yemeni government and people and affects the daily lives and livelihood of citizens, pointing out That all options are on the table to deal with that.
In the same context, the media of the local authority in the Ma'rib governorate stated that the governor of the governorate and a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Sultan al-Arada, met with the president and members of the Presidency of the House of Representatives and heads of parliamentary blocs, and discussed with them the repercussions of the Houthi threats to target oil and gas sources in the Safer area in Ma'rib. The meeting called for the unity of the Yemeni ranks in facing the Houthi threats and working to restore the state in ways that are commensurate with the nature of the armed militia, while Al-Arada called on the political forces and national components to work with the Presidential Leadership Council and the government as an integrated political system to restore state institutions.
It is not clear that the regional and international community is exerting any pressure on the Houthi militia to stop its behavior that contradicts peace efforts, while the Presidential Leadership Council is under great and continuous regional and international pressure to continue its commitment to the terms of the armistice and restraint. On the other hand, there are no indications of decisive positions by the active countries in the Yemeni file that can stop the Houthi intransigence and arrogance, which puts the Presidential Leadership Council, the government and the two countries of the coalition in the face of the reckless behavior of the Houthi militia in peace efforts, and in the face of an escalating popular discontent.
