Analysis: Where does the local, regional and international movement lead to the fate of unity?
English - Tuesday 23 May 2023 الساعة 05:31 pm
Al-Mocha, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The twenty-second of May this year falls amid the escalation of political and popular debate over the fate of Yemeni unity on its 33rd anniversary. While the majority of the north celebrates the anniversary of unity, which was celebrated throughout Yemen until eight years ago, the majority of the south celebrates the twenty-ninth anniversary of the declaration of disengagement, which was mentioned in the speech of the last president of the state of the south and the first vice-president of the unified state, Ali Salem Al-Beidh on May 21, 1994. .
The 33rd anniversary of the declaration of unity this year coincided with the convening of the sixth session of the National Assembly of the Southern Transitional Council in the city of Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout Governorate, as part of the movements of the Transitional Council and the southern political components united with it in the context of the demand for the "restoration of the former southern state" of unity.
The sessions of the sixth session of the National Assembly of the Transitional Council opened, on Sunday, in the presence of the President of the Council, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi and his newly appointed deputy, Faraj Al-Bahsani, and a number of leaders of the Transitional Council and the components of the Southern Movement. Based on an official invitation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the members of the Presidential Leadership Council, an invitation also addressed to Brigadier General Tariq Saleh, member of the Leadership Council - Commander of the National Resistance Forces and head of its political bureau.
These rapid developments at the national level were accompanied by regional and international developments regarding the Yemeni unity, as the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, received telegrams of congratulations on the National Day of Unity from the leaders of several countries, most notably the United States of America, France, Saudi Arabia and Russia, which observers considered messages from the international community regarding his continuation in Supporting the path of political settlement within the framework of a unified Yemen.
It does not seem that the President of the Transitional Council and his deputies, who are also members of the Presidential Leadership Council, have failed to notice these messages and take them into account. Where Al-Zubaidi affirmed, at the opening of the sixth session of the National Assembly, "full support for all noble endeavors that guarantee the establishment of just and sustainable peace in our country and the region." However, in the same context, he sent messages on his part by reminding that "those efforts will remain mere attempts, unless they prioritize addressing the central issues, and at the forefront of that is addressing the issue of the people of the south, in a way that embodies its roots and meets the aspirations of our people and their right to restore their state along its entire recognized borders." internationally until May 21, 1990. He added, "We affirm that our people are the master of their land and the owner of their decision, and will never allow the passage of any incomplete settlements that do not meet their aspirations or express their will, and this is our role that we will not hesitate to do in all circumstances."
While the regional and international position on the unity of Yemen still lacks a vision of a political solution that could be accepted by the components that are considered political bearers of the southern issue, attention is directed not only to the outcomes of the sixth session of the National Assembly of the Transitional Council held in Mukalla, but also to the results of the visit of Al-Zubaidi and Al-Bahsani. And the rest of the members of the Presidential Leadership Council to Riyadh, where it is expected that the meetings of the President and members of the Council with Saudi leaders will witness discussions regarding the southern issue as one of the priority issues, if not the first, in the ongoing peace efforts led by Saudi Arabia and under the auspices of the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the tense atmosphere as a result of the escalating debate about unity and disengagement appears to be one of the elements of the complexity of the Yemeni problem, especially if the political, cultural and media elites continue to attack the demands of the southerners to disengage and restore their state, or remind - explicitly or insinuatingly - of the slogan "unity or death," which had previously had counterproductive effects on unity and its stability as a national choice for the people in the south.
Northern components and personalities are launching an attack of varying intensity against the Southern Transitional Council and the components united with it recently, in return for a more moderate speech included in the statements of the leaders of the Transitional Council towards the northern components against the Houthi militia and expressing their willingness to support them in restoring the country hijacked by Iran's arm in Yemen nine years ago.
Observers believe that the escalation of the attack on the southern components calling for disengagement would give these components a stronger argument to continue the demand for the restoration of the southern state, especially with the inability of the northern forces to defeat the Houthis or, at the very least, to improve the conditions for negotiation with them to accept a political partnership based on national constants. And not on what they call a divine right to rule. A number of political activists expected on their pages on social media that the current stage would witness greater political openness by the forces of the south if the northern anti-Houthi forces accompanied the movements of the Transitional Council and the components of the southern movement with understanding and acknowledgment of the enormity of what the south was exposed to as a result of the 1994 war and the subsequent practices of the influential. Northerners in Southern Geography.
