A southern rejection of the “dose” .. the “presidential presidency” and the administration in the legacy of the “Hadi” regime

English - Wednesday 18 January 2023 الساعة 08:36 am
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:

Reactions have escalated, rejecting the recent decisions issued by the government to address the repercussions of stopping oil exports due to the attacks launched by the Houthi militia on export ports in the liberated areas.

In a meeting at the beginning of this month, the government approved a number of decisions submitted by the Supreme Economic Council, most notably raising the customs price on imported goods by 50%, in addition to gradually raising the consumption tariff for water and electricity services in the liberated areas, as well as raising the price of domestic gas sold to citizens.

These decisions met with widespread popular rejection, and importers rushed to implement a comprehensive strike by refraining from clearing their transactions at the customs campus of the free zone in Aden, while the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry described it in a statement as a "crazy step."

Politically, the voice of the Southern Transitional Council was the loudest and fastest in announcing its position rejecting these decisions, as the General Secretariat of the Council warned in a meeting last Tuesday of "catastrophic consequences" of these decisions, calling on the Presidential Leadership Council to take measures to ensure the urgent cancellation of these decisions.

On Saturday, a press release issued by an emergency meeting of the Transitional Council bloc and a number of southern ministers in the government confirmed that these decisions "were not sufficiently studied by specialists, and were not discussed with those concerned in the Chamber of Commerce in the capital, Aden, and others."

The press release revealed that these decisions were discussed in the Council of Ministers "without a quorum, and in the absence of many specialized ministers."  This indicates a lack of consensus within the government on these decisions, which was indicated by previous statements issued by the transitional government's ministers.

In mid-December, the transitional ministers issued a press release objecting to the issuance of a statement on behalf of the government supporting what was stated in the statement issued by the Council of the European Union, which alluded to the existence of a negative role for the transitional council within the Presidential Leadership Council.

Where the transitional ministers confirmed that the government's statement supporting the European statement "was issued without consensus or deliberation," hinting at the involvement of government agencies in providing false information against the transitional government to the European side.

Observers believe that the issuance of these official objections by one of the most important components of the Presidential Leadership Council, the Transitional Council, against the performance of the government, reveals the most important shortcomings and imbalances that the Presidential Leadership Council faces in normalizing the situation in the liberated governorates.

They explained that this is represented in the absence of a comprehensive change in the government, which represents the most important executive tool for managing the situation in the liberated areas, as the announcement of the transfer of power through which the Presidential Leadership Council came last April stipulated its survival, and the matter was limited during the last period to partial changes of some ministers.

Observers point out that the formation of the current government and the selection of its ministers represent the legacy of the previous regime that ruled during the period of former President Hadi, and is responsible for the disastrous situation that the liberated governorates have reached today, and does not reflect the true balance of the forces that made up the Presidential Leadership Council, led by the Southern Transitional Council.

They emphasized that bringing about a radical change, by forming a government of new competencies agreed upon by the forces affiliated within the framework of the Presidential Leadership Council, is one of the keys to resolving the situation in the liberated areas and normalizing conditions there.