Accusations of the Secretary of the Houthi Shura Council of plundering and stealing members' salaries and the council's budget
English - Sunday 04 October 2020 الساعة 05:50 pm
Sanaa, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
Sources in the Shura Council, which is under the control of the Houthi militia, the Iranian arm in Yemen, confirmed that the newly appointed Secretary-General of the Council, Bilal Muhammad al-Hakim, is seeking to stop the salaries of a number of members of the Council who are affiliated with the General People's Congress bloc, independents and some outside Yemen.
The sources told NewsYemen that the Council’s Secretary General Bilal Muhammad al-Hakim prepared a list of more than 61 members of the Shura Council, some of them are outside Yemen, and some are in the capital, Sana’a, but they do not attend the council’s sessions because of their illness, and that he stopped their salaries and sought to confiscate them and transfer them to his custody, which sparked a dispute with the Presidency of the Council and its members.
Bilal Muhammad al-Hakim, appointed as general secretary of the council, is the son of the former socialist leader who is currently affiliated with the Houthi militia, Muhammad Muhammad al-Maqaleh al-Hakim. He was appointed by a decision by the head of the Supreme Political Council after he was nominated by the militia leader and council member Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, and he insisted on his appointment as a compliment to his father, Muhammad Al-Maqaleh, who was a member of what was called the Supreme Revolutionary Committee headed by Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi after the militia coup against power in the capital, Sanaa.
The Presidency of the Shura Council and the members of the Council were counting on the appointment of a Secretary-General who enjoys the confidence and acceptance of all after the dismissal of the former Secretary-General of the Council and the leader of the Houthi militia, Zayed Al-Riyami, who raised wide differences with the Chairman and members of the Council after he stormed the office of the Speaker and demanded that the General People's Congress and its members be dissolved because they are remnants of the Afash regime, and practiced large-scale corruption operations from the Council’s budget.
The sources confirm that the new Secretary General of the Shura Council, Bilal Muhammad Al-Hakim, did not differ in his manner of work and behavior from the previous Secretary-General, as he seeks to rob the salaries of some members under the pretext that they are absent from attending the sessions, as well as disbursing the so-called operational expenses of the Council, which are estimated at more than 15 million riyals per month without Knowledge or approval of the Council Chairman, Muhammad Al Aidarous or his deputies.
According to the sources, Bilal Al-Hakim is not satisfied with the robbery and looting of the salaries of the members and the operational budget of the Council, but rather he intends to practice the same methods of his predecessor through his attempts to intervene and pressure to choose a specific figure as a substitute for the deputy head of the leadership council in the Houthi militia, Muhammad Al-Bukhaiti, who vacated his position as deputy chairman of the council after his appointment Governor of Dhamar, a matter that has stirred up disputes with members of the Council who see this as an unacceptable interference and a violation of the powers of the Secretary-General.
